Yesterday was a lost day in the blogging/photo scheme. Sue and Brian followed us as we turned in our car and then transported us and our baggage to the train station in Reading. Wonderful friends who took such good care of us. Arriving in London we charged up our Oyster cards, dragged our stuff on the Tube and headed to our luxury apartment near Tower Bridge. Next it was the housekeeping chores . . . grocery shopping at Marks and Spencer on "free" credit card vouchers and attempting to use a small device that claimed to be a washer-dryer all in one appliance. It took several searches on the internet to solve the puzzle of how to open the blasted thing and free my clothes that after an hour of drying were no drier than at the start.
A new day and we are back to carefree and doing wherever suits us. Several months ago Mike had arranged for a tour of Parliament. We had hoped to also climb the tower of Big Ben but we were excluded. Only Brit citizens actually residing in Great Britain can pass the security check for admittance. The vast Great Hall, where President Obama was invited to speak is over a thousand years old. The remainder of the building was rebuilt after a fire in the 1800's. This location was the site of the royal palace until the time of Henry XIII who desired a grander palace and gave it to Parliament.
The tour was very educational for me, the only foreigner in a group of twenty. No one can built palaces of over the top gold and splendor like European royalty. The building is divided into three sections, the House of Commons carpeted in green, the House of Lords carpeted in red, and the monarch's quarters carpeted, of course, in royal blue. Both houses have a chamber for meeting and discussion. For voting they have two anterooms. In the House of Commons they are for those voting "aye" and those voting "no". The Lords divide between the "content" and "uncontent". The language makes it sound so civilized. The ceilings, the frescoes, the paintings, and all of the pomp, ceremony, and formal clothing - "men in tights" as a policewoman remarked to someone standing next to Mike - make it seem like a past era. And then the guide explains the painted parallel stripes on the floor of the house that are two sword lengths apart. To prevent violence members of opposing parties are not allowed to step over their line, hence the term "toe the line".
After the tour we returned to the Central Lobby, the center room underneath the large spire. Everyday that the House of Commons is in session there is a ceremonial procession carrying the mace into the chamber. There are men in gartered tights with buckle shoes, others in formal wear, large medallions galore, and a squad of police lining the hall. No wigs in evidence today, but strictly no cameras allowed.
Lunch time was a nostalgic wander along the Southbank. All of the exciting markets, exotic foodstalls, wonderful sculptures, colored beaches, and gardens of last year had disappeared with the end of the Olympics. What remains is a cleaner city with even more cranes and construction than last year.
Our afternoon was spent at the London Transport Museum. London's Tube, the first underground railway in the world, is 150 years old this year. From its very beginning it has utilised poster art to publicise ever-expanding routes, attractive destinations for sports or leisure activities that tube travel made possible, safety messages for its own staff, and public safety propaganda during two World Wars. A hugely popular exhibition featuring some of these has been running this year, and has recently been extended a second time until early 2014. An amazing range of styles, talent and information reflecting cultural changes over one and a half centuries, and surprising to read snippets like 2 million tube journeys per week being made in 1948.
After the poster exhibition, we visited the rest of the permanent museum which covers the development of transport in London from river ferries when London had only one bridge, followed by hansom cabs, stage coaches, taxis, trams, buses, trolleybuses, steam trains and the electric underground. Large shiny examples stand in place on three floors, surrounded by interactive panels packed with information.
The day ended with a long, relaxed dinner with Mike's brother Brian.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment