No Worries, Mate!

Yesterday marked another excursion into London. The day started off fairly early as Thomas, Lynlee, Barbara, and I embarked for Reading Station around 9:30. The bus to the station was uneventful, however the train was nearly full when we boarded and Barbara and I were forced to stand for the 25 minute ride.

Arriving in London around 11, we decided that there was enough time for us to make it to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards, which takes place at noon. After taking the tube and making a few brief stops at a souvenir shop or two, we reached the Palace. We were about a half hour early, but already the sidewalk was full of people. You would think that for an event that happens five days a week, there would be a few less people. We ended up leaving shortly thereafter as it was difficult to see much of anything.

By this time everyone was hungry, so we started looking for a place to eat. We had got a couple of 2for1 booklets at the train station and one of the restaurants was Planet Hollywood. Turns out Planet Hollywood wasn’t too far away, so we set off for it. We had a delicious meal that ended up costing each of us about 5 pounds, which is almost unheard of for a full meal in London.  Our waiter turned out to be Australian who was constantly informing us that there were, "No worries."  At first it was funny, but then it got to be a bit annoying.  Think about that person that says, "Like," or, "Um," entirely too much, that was how it got to be.

After lunch, we decided to take a different route back to the tube station and ended up in Trafalgar Square. The Square is also where the National Gallery is and since admission is free, we decided to go in. The Gallery has some 40 rooms full of art and we spent at least an hour wondering through most of them. Also in the Square, are a couple of fountains, a spire, and four lion statues. Of course, the girls had to have a photo shoot on one of the lions.

We then started heading back toward Buckingham Palace to take some pictures with the Royal Guards. Only once we got to the Palace, we discovered there were no guards. We later found out that the pictures that you see in every tourist guidebook are taken at another palace, St. James Palace. Oh well, now we know.

At this point, it was time to meet up with the rest of our group for the tour of Parliament. As we were walking to the gate, I saw a Police Constable with a sub-machine gun and it got me thinking: I believe, I’ve seen more Police in London with guns than those without, some much for the myth that the Police don’t carry guns in England. Anyway, we had to go through a rigorous security screening (just as thorough, if not more so than at the airport) before entering Parliament. We were even given badges to wear with a picture of us on them.

We entered through Westminster Hall, a building nearly 1000 years old. The Hall is enormous and has been used for numerous events, including the trials of Charles I and Sir Thomas More. The rest of Parliament is more modern, most dating from the 19th century, but no less magnificent. Every wall is adorned with paintings and statues and the ceilings are covered in gold.

The walls, ceiling, and throne in the House of Lords were so covered in gold decoration that they nearly sparkled. The entire wing used by the Lords was similarly decorated. It was a huge difference between the ‘plainness’ of the U.S. Capital Building. Here, the rooms were as much a status symbol as they were a place of work. The layout of the room itself was different from the normal legislative chamber as well. Instead of the seats being arranged in a semi-circle, the benches were set up facing each other. This way, each party could look at one another when they were debating, making the debates much more heated and personal.

The House of Commons, on the other hand, was less ornate than the House of Lords. Where the House of Lords was decorated with gold, silk, and read leather, the Commons had a simple, yet elegant, scheme of wood and green leather. The chamber was set up the same way as the House of Lords, with the benches facing one another. The chamber itself wasn’t as large as you might imagine and our guide made a joke about Members of Parliament winning a seat, but not necessarily getting a seat. Apparently, it was first come, first served except for the senior leaders of each party.

After the tour, the four of us headed toward another restaurant in the 2for1 booklet as we weren’t interested in the Mediterranean/Turkish restaurant the rest of the group was headed for. The restaurant, Prohibition, was very close to the River Thames and London Bridge. Also, close by was the Tower of London, which looked great at night. We must have spent nearly 3 hours in the restaurant, a typical length of time for British diners as they like to sit and chat after their meal. The waitress almost seemed put off when we asked for the cheque, but unfortunately we were running out of time to catch the last train for Reading. Fortunately, we made it to the station quicker than we thought we would and were able to catch an earlier train. After a quick taxi ride back to campus, I was back in my room by 11.

-Justin

There hasn’t been much else going on, but since I’ve been asked, here’s an update on the other three days we’ve been here. We haven’t really done a whole lot, which is why there hasn’t been an update. However, the things that have happened include the following. I’ve gotten all my classes, I have one class a day Monday-Thursday for one hour, seems like it’s going to be real tough. My grades for both are based on two papers and that’s all…so I guess there’s going to be a lot of work to be done…not. Justin is still working his schedule out.

Also, I’m now a little glad I’m not in Justin’s hall, because the other night he was woken up at 3am by a fire alarm and had to stand outside while the firetrucks came and sorted it out. Not to worry, it was a false alarm.

We have explored the campus a little so we don’t feel as lost anymore. And usually when we walk somewhere there are people handing out flyers with discounts and coupons, so tonight we got some pizza with Lynlee and Thomas. We discovered that a medium pizza here is the size of a small back home, so I guess we’ll just remember to order more next time.

And if you want our addresses, our parents have them, so ask them, we’d love some mail from home (:

-Barbara

UPDATE: Pictures are now up on my facebook here