Well, yesterday was a very busy but extremely fun day for us. We started out a little later than we would have liked but we really felt that Jeremiah needed the extra rest to help him get better. We left the house a little past 9:00am and headed to our bus stop.
We decided this time to try riding on the second level in the bus since we now knew better where we needed to get off and could plan descending the steps better. We sat in the very front row in the bus on that second level and it was so cool. Being up higher I wasn't nearly afraid of the bus hitting the things around it and it did feel a little crazier but more fun. (This time it really felt like the night bus in Harry Potter).We got off at our stop and headed to the Underground. We got off at Queensway on the Central Line and came up near Kensington Gardens. We enter the park and it was beautiful! It was very big and green everywhere. As we walked around, we noticed that it seemed like this was the beach for the locals: men were lying around shirtless soaking in the sun and we even saw a woman wearing a bikini! It was a very beautiful and warm day out with a light breeze; just perfect for a stroll in the park.
We walked to Kensington Palace and first saw the gardens - very beautiful! Took lots of pictures. We then made out way into the house (paid our £12.50 each!) and started on their "free" audio tour. It started in the room where supposedly Queen Victoria was born and then moved into the other rooms on the first (or was it ground?) floor. These first rooms were a little disappointing as they were more like a museum talking about the clothes of different time periods that they had on display (although very interesting in themselves, just not what I was expecting) instead of what the room that we were in was actually used for. When we got up to the second floor, they switched into talking about the rooms and what they were used for and no longer had displays. This was what I was hoping for! We saw the different rooms where common people could be admitted if they were dressed properly and had the right etiquette.
There were three of these receiving rooms and then you got to the bed chambers (this group of rooms including the bed chambers were called the State Apartments). These were all elaborately decorated and just beautiful. One of my favorite places thus far was the King's Stairway leading up to these State Aparments. It was so beautiful I can't even describe it with words. It was dimly lit, which added to the beauty, with paintings of people and beefeater gaurds all along the wall from floor to ceiling as if they were watching you ascend the stairwell. The hand railing was a black iron cast - very beautiful - and there were large candle/lamp holders along the railing that I'm sure were in use back when they were needed. The stairs were painted black. All together, everything was just stunning.
Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures anywhere in the palace but I did end up buying the Guide Book at the end because it had more of the history and pictures of what we had just seen.
After the receiving rooms, we went into Queen Victoria (then Princess) and the Duchess of Kent's shared bedroom; they actually had Queen Victoria's bed just a few feet a away from us. There were a few long galleries with amazing paintings on them and in the King's Gallery, there was this particular painting above the fireplace that looked similar to a compass and was a painting of part of the world. The arm that was on this painting (similar to the minute hand on a clock) was pointing down. The audio told us that this was actually hooked up to a device on the roof that would tell it which way the wind was blowing and then move the arm accordingly. This was back from King William III's time - very cool invention/painting. We took our time looking at everything and were amazed that everyone else seemed to just be wizzing by us, hardly looking at much of anything. We were just trying to soak it all in and imagine what it was like during it's prime days.
We also saw the Queen Mary's bedchamber. The thing I thought interesting about this place was the small size of all the rooms. I would have thought for a palace that the rooms would have been much larger. But then I discovered that this was actually a house owned by a Duke I believe who sold it and the King and Queen bought it and expanded it; so it was never originally built as a palace.
The grounds around the palace was beautiful and there was a statue of Queen Victoria out front commemorating 50 years of reign.
There was also a beautiful pond/mini-lake that used to be part of Kensington but is now park of Hyde Park. We walked through the park a bit where there were more flowers and just soaked in all the beauty.
We made our way down to the Albert Memorial. Man, I had no idea how big this memorial was going to be and how ornate. But it does make sense as Queen Victoria dearly loved her husband and went into a slight depression after he died.
Across the street was the Albert Musical hall (I can't remember if that was the actual name or something similar to that). IT was ovalish-round in shaped and simply beautiful. We walked around to the front and there was another statue of Albert. We liked this one better as it was easier to make out his features (the memorial was made of gold).
We then walked a little ways to find the Natural History Museum. Free admission to this one! We spent most of our short time here looking at minerals and gems. We did spend a little bit of time in the Dinosaur, bird, and volcano areas. We only had a few hours here before they closed so we didn't get to see much. For me, I really enjoyed looking at the building and all the decorations. :) Across the street was the Victoria and Albert Museum - very large. We didn't go inside but did get some pictures.
We finally decided it was time to grab something to eat so we hoped on the Underground and rode to Piccadilly Circus. The area slightly reminded me of Times Square in New York. This is where all the Broadway shows are. We walked around for quite a while trying to find a place that sounded appetizing but not too expensive; this was the wrong place to do that. But as we didn't eat lunch, we weren't about to travel much farther before stopping to eat. (Through our walk, we did find some shady places and I was even asked for directions to someplace! Guess we look more like locals than I had thought). We finally stopped at a place called Pizza Express and got a couple of pizzas and let our feet take a much needed break.
We asked for water and surprisingly they brought us decent size glasses. When I asked for more, instead of coming back with another glass-full, our waiter brought back a pitcher! I think he must have encountered Americans before :) To make a point, we made sure to drink every last bit in that pitcher.
Also of note in the restaurant, they do not cut your pizza for you. I guess they figure they don't need to because you will be eating it with a knife and fork, just like a good Brit would. And all the Brits around us did. How English. The guy to the table behind didn't even eat his crust - the best part. He simply ate all the middle, leaving a ring of crust behind. I couldn't believe this! Another lady at a different table did similar. Someone needs to show these Brits how to eat a pizza properly!
After dinner, we started walking in a direction hoping to would bring us closer to Parliament. We ended up stumbling upon Trafalgar Square. Jeremiah had intended to bring me there today, not yesterday but we decided to check it out anyways and mark it off the list. When we got there we were expecting hoards of pigeons as it is known for that but only encountered lots of people and maybe a handful of pigeons; there were no feed places around even. Maybe they got sick of the pigeons and closed down the feed stations - no food, no pigeons. Well, we had a good time anyway without them. We climbed the statue in the middle and eventually got on one of the big lions and took eat others pictures (Jeremiah didn't have any problems getting on as he used his skills from Hume Lake and the log to hop up, but I needed a little help). We had lots of fun just enjoying the place and being kids in a playground. We took lots of pictures.
Just down the street, we could see Big Ben so we knew we were close to our destination. We walked down the street and you wouldn't believe it. We got asked for directions again! Although, this time it was a little scarier. The man that came up to Jeremiah said, "Are you from London?" and he was a little rough looking and we couldn't quite tell why he wanted to know. We both hesitated in our answer as we thought if we answered "No" then he was going to ask for our wallets or something (he also had some other males friends with him). Miah eventually said "No" and they asked if we knew where the Hard Rock cafe was. Fortunately, because we walked around Picadilly for so long trying to find a place for ourselves, I did see the Hard Rock, so I was able to give some sort of directions. I guess we must look like we know where we're going!
We continued down our street and found Downing Street where the Prime Minister resides. There was a gate and quite a few guards and cameras around. It was neat to be able to see the famous place.
We got to Big Ben and went in to the Visitor's entrance to Parliament. By this time it was about 8:30pm and luckily for us, Parliament has late hours. We went through security and got inside. Now this building was magnificent! The structure and decorations was so much to take in. It was amazing to think of all the history that has taken place in this building.
We took our time looking around. We did take a few pictures inside and then realized that they had "No Photos" pictures up. We then put the camera away.
We were ushered in to the House of Chambers to watch the current debate. There was no line or anything and not many people once we got inside. This was amazing to watch in action and we stayed until 10:15pm. We actually saw history in the making. They were discussing the Blasphemy Law and it was up for the vote to get abolished. It was amazing to hear members of the Conservative Party talking about their religious beliefs so openly in a government debate and how this law should not be abolished as they are a Christian country and founded on Christian principals. They truly felt that abolishing this law would send a bad message to the people of this country. They also felt that Christians are not treated equally and with the same tolerance as other religions and that this law should remain to help protect them. There was one gentleman from the Liberal party who was very adamant about abolishing this law and we found out later that he is the biggest proponent in Parliament right now who is trying to secularize everything, get rid of religion in the government, and expand the abortion laws.
There were not that many members of Parliament (MPs) at the debate, but the majority of the ones there were conservatives as they obviously felt strongly about this topic. They had a vote at about 10:00 that night and we also found out that they ring a bell during the vote. That way other MPs that are other places in Parliament can come from where ever they are and cast their vote. We met a gentleman in the viewing area who was explaining all of this to us. He said that sadly many MPs never even hear a debate and just vote where their party tells them to. The government in office also has what is called a Whipped vote where if you are part of that party, you have to vote for what they want you to. If you vote too many times against your party, they will kick you out. They also tell you that you have to stick around to cast your vote. The opposition has a free vote where they can vote as they please.
In the end, there were 370 odd in favor of abolishing the law and only 57 against. It doesn't seem like quite a fair government when the MPs don't even get to have a say in how they vote. It was amazing to see this happen right before our eyes.
While they were casting and tallying the votes, the gentleman I mentioned earlier was explaining all this to us. We later found out that he works for a Christian organization in Newcastle and his job is to report to that organization what is happening in Parliament. So he is a fairly regular attendee to the House of Lords and this was his second time listening to the House of Commons. (We also found out that he will be coming to the States in August but travelling along the East Coast - we did get his business card to stay in touch). We thought we should leave as it was getting late. We started heading out and then one of the guards asked us if we had visited the House of Lords yet. We hadn't so she showed us where to go. They started taking us up the stairs to the Public viewing area but then made us come back down when they realized they had already closed it for the night. We thought we were going to have to leave, when another man told us to follow him, so we did. He led us to a different stairway and up to a Members' Only viewing area. We stepped inside and boy was this different from the last area. Much more elaborate and ornate with a gold trimmed throne at the head of the room. They were talking about the uniting of the European Union. We only stayed for a little bit before we thought we had really better get going as we weren't sure when the last bus was.
We got on the Underground and were surprised at how many people were travelling so late at night, especially for a Tuesday night. We made it to our stopped and headed to the bus station. We got there with 3 minutes to spare before the last bus of night came.
After a few more minutes, we headed back to the house and up to bed. It was a long and exhausting day but so much fun. Jeremiah even said that this was one of this favorite days in London ever. He got to do so many things and see more places than he had before so he really enjoyed it all and I did as well.
Today we have another very busy day as we are going to try to hit Westminster Abbey first, then see the changing of the guards at Buckingham, and then go to the British Museum. We will be coming back earlier tonight than the last as we want some time with the Hambletons before we leave them for 2 weeks.
Ok, I really need to get going so we can start on our busy day. Will talk again later!
Love, S&J
P.S. Jeremiah is feeling mostly better; thank you for your prayers. He did get something in his eye yesterday and feels like it might be infected a bit, so if you could pray for that, we would appreciate it. Thanks :)
Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures anywhere in the palace but I did end up buying the Guide Book at the end because it had more of the history and pictures of what we had just seen.
After the receiving rooms, we went into Queen Victoria (then Princess) and the Duchess of Kent's shared bedroom; they actually had Queen Victoria's bed just a few feet a away from us. There were a few long galleries with amazing paintings on them and in the King's Gallery, there was this particular painting above the fireplace that looked similar to a compass and was a painting of part of the world. The arm that was on this painting (similar to the minute hand on a clock) was pointing down. The audio told us that this was actually hooked up to a device on the roof that would tell it which way the wind was blowing and then move the arm accordingly. This was back from King William III's time - very cool invention/painting. We took our time looking at everything and were amazed that everyone else seemed to just be wizzing by us, hardly looking at much of anything. We were just trying to soak it all in and imagine what it was like during it's prime days.
We also saw the Queen Mary's bedchamber. The thing I thought interesting about this place was the small size of all the rooms. I would have thought for a palace that the rooms would have been much larger. But then I discovered that this was actually a house owned by a Duke I believe who sold it and the King and Queen bought it and expanded it; so it was never originally built as a palace.
The grounds around the palace was beautiful and there was a statue of Queen Victoria out front commemorating 50 years of reign.
There was also a beautiful pond/mini-lake that used to be part of Kensington but is now park of Hyde Park. We walked through the park a bit where there were more flowers and just soaked in all the beauty.
We made our way down to the Albert Memorial. Man, I had no idea how big this memorial was going to be and how ornate. But it does make sense as Queen Victoria dearly loved her husband and went into a slight depression after he died.Across the street was the Albert Musical hall (I can't remember if that was the actual name or something similar to that). IT was ovalish-round in shaped and simply beautiful. We walked around to the front and there was another statue of Albert. We liked this one better as it was easier to make out his features (the memorial was made of gold).
We then walked a little ways to find the Natural History Museum. Free admission to this one! We spent most of our short time here looking at minerals and gems. We did spend a little bit of time in the Dinosaur, bird, and volcano areas. We only had a few hours here before they closed so we didn't get to see much. For me, I really enjoyed looking at the building and all the decorations. :) Across the street was the Victoria and Albert Museum - very large. We didn't go inside but did get some pictures.
We finally decided it was time to grab something to eat so we hoped on the Underground and rode to Piccadilly Circus. The area slightly reminded me of Times Square in New York. This is where all the Broadway shows are. We walked around for quite a while trying to find a place that sounded appetizing but not too expensive; this was the wrong place to do that. But as we didn't eat lunch, we weren't about to travel much farther before stopping to eat. (Through our walk, we did find some shady places and I was even asked for directions to someplace! Guess we look more like locals than I had thought). We finally stopped at a place called Pizza Express and got a couple of pizzas and let our feet take a much needed break.
We asked for water and surprisingly they brought us decent size glasses. When I asked for more, instead of coming back with another glass-full, our waiter brought back a pitcher! I think he must have encountered Americans before :) To make a point, we made sure to drink every last bit in that pitcher.
Also of note in the restaurant, they do not cut your pizza for you. I guess they figure they don't need to because you will be eating it with a knife and fork, just like a good Brit would. And all the Brits around us did. How English. The guy to the table behind didn't even eat his crust - the best part. He simply ate all the middle, leaving a ring of crust behind. I couldn't believe this! Another lady at a different table did similar. Someone needs to show these Brits how to eat a pizza properly!
After dinner, we started walking in a direction hoping to would bring us closer to Parliament. We ended up stumbling upon Trafalgar Square. Jeremiah had intended to bring me there today, not yesterday but we decided to check it out anyways and mark it off the list. When we got there we were expecting hoards of pigeons as it is known for that but only encountered lots of people and maybe a handful of pigeons; there were no feed places around even. Maybe they got sick of the pigeons and closed down the feed stations - no food, no pigeons. Well, we had a good time anyway without them. We climbed the statue in the middle and eventually got on one of the big lions and took eat others pictures (Jeremiah didn't have any problems getting on as he used his skills from Hume Lake and the log to hop up, but I needed a little help). We had lots of fun just enjoying the place and being kids in a playground. We took lots of pictures.
Just down the street, we could see Big Ben so we knew we were close to our destination. We walked down the street and you wouldn't believe it. We got asked for directions again! Although, this time it was a little scarier. The man that came up to Jeremiah said, "Are you from London?" and he was a little rough looking and we couldn't quite tell why he wanted to know. We both hesitated in our answer as we thought if we answered "No" then he was going to ask for our wallets or something (he also had some other males friends with him). Miah eventually said "No" and they asked if we knew where the Hard Rock cafe was. Fortunately, because we walked around Picadilly for so long trying to find a place for ourselves, I did see the Hard Rock, so I was able to give some sort of directions. I guess we must look like we know where we're going!
We continued down our street and found Downing Street where the Prime Minister resides. There was a gate and quite a few guards and cameras around. It was neat to be able to see the famous place.
We got to Big Ben and went in to the Visitor's entrance to Parliament. By this time it was about 8:30pm and luckily for us, Parliament has late hours. We went through security and got inside. Now this building was magnificent! The structure and decorations was so much to take in. It was amazing to think of all the history that has taken place in this building.
We took our time looking around. We did take a few pictures inside and then realized that they had "No Photos" pictures up. We then put the camera away.
We were ushered in to the House of Chambers to watch the current debate. There was no line or anything and not many people once we got inside. This was amazing to watch in action and we stayed until 10:15pm. We actually saw history in the making. They were discussing the Blasphemy Law and it was up for the vote to get abolished. It was amazing to hear members of the Conservative Party talking about their religious beliefs so openly in a government debate and how this law should not be abolished as they are a Christian country and founded on Christian principals. They truly felt that abolishing this law would send a bad message to the people of this country. They also felt that Christians are not treated equally and with the same tolerance as other religions and that this law should remain to help protect them. There was one gentleman from the Liberal party who was very adamant about abolishing this law and we found out later that he is the biggest proponent in Parliament right now who is trying to secularize everything, get rid of religion in the government, and expand the abortion laws.
There were not that many members of Parliament (MPs) at the debate, but the majority of the ones there were conservatives as they obviously felt strongly about this topic. They had a vote at about 10:00 that night and we also found out that they ring a bell during the vote. That way other MPs that are other places in Parliament can come from where ever they are and cast their vote. We met a gentleman in the viewing area who was explaining all of this to us. He said that sadly many MPs never even hear a debate and just vote where their party tells them to. The government in office also has what is called a Whipped vote where if you are part of that party, you have to vote for what they want you to. If you vote too many times against your party, they will kick you out. They also tell you that you have to stick around to cast your vote. The opposition has a free vote where they can vote as they please.
In the end, there were 370 odd in favor of abolishing the law and only 57 against. It doesn't seem like quite a fair government when the MPs don't even get to have a say in how they vote. It was amazing to see this happen right before our eyes.
While they were casting and tallying the votes, the gentleman I mentioned earlier was explaining all this to us. We later found out that he works for a Christian organization in Newcastle and his job is to report to that organization what is happening in Parliament. So he is a fairly regular attendee to the House of Lords and this was his second time listening to the House of Commons. (We also found out that he will be coming to the States in August but travelling along the East Coast - we did get his business card to stay in touch). We thought we should leave as it was getting late. We started heading out and then one of the guards asked us if we had visited the House of Lords yet. We hadn't so she showed us where to go. They started taking us up the stairs to the Public viewing area but then made us come back down when they realized they had already closed it for the night. We thought we were going to have to leave, when another man told us to follow him, so we did. He led us to a different stairway and up to a Members' Only viewing area. We stepped inside and boy was this different from the last area. Much more elaborate and ornate with a gold trimmed throne at the head of the room. They were talking about the uniting of the European Union. We only stayed for a little bit before we thought we had really better get going as we weren't sure when the last bus was.
We got on the Underground and were surprised at how many people were travelling so late at night, especially for a Tuesday night. We made it to our stopped and headed to the bus station. We got there with 3 minutes to spare before the last bus of night came.
After a few more minutes, we headed back to the house and up to bed. It was a long and exhausting day but so much fun. Jeremiah even said that this was one of this favorite days in London ever. He got to do so many things and see more places than he had before so he really enjoyed it all and I did as well.
Today we have another very busy day as we are going to try to hit Westminster Abbey first, then see the changing of the guards at Buckingham, and then go to the British Museum. We will be coming back earlier tonight than the last as we want some time with the Hambletons before we leave them for 2 weeks.
Ok, I really need to get going so we can start on our busy day. Will talk again later!
Love, S&J
P.S. Jeremiah is feeling mostly better; thank you for your prayers. He did get something in his eye yesterday and feels like it might be infected a bit, so if you could pray for that, we would appreciate it. Thanks :)
Posts
1 comment:
What a fun day in London! I am so glad you went into the Houses of Parliment--not many people realize you can do that. Did you happen to run into a judge with one of those old gray curly wigs on? Trippy. I've never been to Kensington Palace--it sounds really neat. I am gald you got photos on the Lions at Trafalgar Square--that is sort of a family tradition. Aunt Laura just sent me a great photo of Mark on one. I got Jordan and Charlotte on one. When you are in Trafalgar square, that big building facing it is the National Gallery. It is a wonderful, free, art gallery with art by Michael Angelo, Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gough, Vermeer (did Girl with the Pearl Earring)... It is worth the time to check it out when you are back in London if you did not already. Between there and Buckingham Palace is St. James Palace, (by the Royal Mews-where the horse guard was) and that is where they have the inspection of the guard just before the changing of the guard--it is really fun to see and you can get really close to it all. Isn't the bus ride a trip! It is like a Disney adventure. I love sitting on the top in the front seat and just hanging on!
Love, Mom
Post a Comment