day minus 1

Day Minus 1 We’re still a day to go before the tour starts properly but today we went on a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. Courtesy of our local Member of Parliament we enjoyed a personal guided tour around the inside of one of the World’s most recognised buildings. Westminster Great Hall dates from the 1200’ and is the largest space in medieval England. The Palace of Westminster was a royal palace on the side of the Thames and since that time and Henry VIII wanted a better Palace so he built Whitehall Palace. The Great Hall apart, the present Parliament buildings date from the mid 1800’s after the Old Palace burnt down. We were taken through the House of Lords, the Queens room where she puts on the State Regalia for the State opening of Parliament. The red benches of the House of Lords are a stark contrast to the Green of the House of Commons, the green some say is because the commons are green with envy towards the House of Lords. In the audience chamber there are two huge paintings one is the Battle of Waterloo 1815 and the other is the Battle of Trafalgar 1805 both times when the British beat the French. They can be covered up if a French president comes to make a speech. We had tea with our MP Stephen Lloyds who made some time for us out of his busy day in the Pugin room, named after the Architect who built the New Houses of Parliament. Afterwards we had a brief stop in the sunshine on the Terrace of the Houses of Parliament. A great way to spend a morning and we are eagerly awaiting the start proper tomorrow.