Parliament

On Monday, January 30th, the group visited Parliament at the Palace of Westminster, which is the meeting place for both houses of Parliament – The House of Lords and The House of Commons. The Palace of Westminster is a beautiful building located right across from Westminster Abbey, and is literally directly off of the Westminster tube stop on the Jubilee line. The architect of the Palace of Westminster was a man named Charles Barry, who designed the building in a Neo-Gothic style. The Gothic style was reminiscent of the buttresses in the Westminster Abbey. Due to the rules and regulations of Parliament, we were unable to take pictures inside the building. There were these two murals of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Waterloo, which were beyond impressive. The murals took seven years to complete, because the creator used a technique involving painting on wet plaster, which he could only do during two months of the year, for the conditions weren’t appropriate during the remaining ten months.

While we were in Parliament, our guide briefly touched upon the plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 – For we were in the Prince’s Chamber, where underneath the floor, 36 barrels of gunpowder were discovered. Thank goodness no one mentioned the James McTeigue film “V For Vendetta”… I went into the film determined not to like it because I expected it to be a great deal of Natalie Portman crying and another role Hugo Weaving maybe shouldn’t have done.. However, I begrudgingly enjoyed it. We saw the room where The House of Lords meets (decorated with gold, ornate jewels, and paintings) as well as where The House of Commons meets (much more modest). Overall, it was a fascinating tour, considering groups of our size aren’t normally allowed in while Parliament is still in session (scheduled to be in session at 2:30 PM later that same day).

Faces So Sad – I Can’t Take Them Seriously

Since I was only two or three stops away from Bond Street, I headed in that direction after seeing Parliament to check out what shopping what to be had there (simply a reconnaissance outing). Some great stores out there, and I’ll certainly have to go back, for a more in-depth… Look at how retail affects… My personal finances…