After meeting Rebecca and Nylan for lunch we wandered through the gardens and along the Mall to Parliament. The city is getting ready for the royal wedding - flags are flying and the town is buzzing. Every time we walk past Big Ben & the houses of Parliament I want to go in, I have wanted to go inside this magnificent building and today was our opportunity. The tour took just over an hour but we could have spent longer exploring each room. Our tour was one of four (each in a different language) and so it was a little bit hard to concentrate on all the facts with everyone in different corners of the same room. Besides I wanted to wander and explore the paintings, furnishings and just soak up the 'parliamentary' atmosphere. Parliament is actually a palace, the palace of Westminster - the last King to have lived there was Henry VIII and with some of his wives. I must admit we have become quite intrigued with the way parliament operates over here, and also how it represents many countries. Mike showed us a great video on how it all came to get together and when I find out where it is located will put a link in the blog.
'When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles - but never England.' How to be an Alien' by George Mikes
There is a history here that covers a few centuries. The official name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and it all began back in the 1500's when England and Wales were joined through the Act of Union. Then in the 1700's Scotland and England joined together with Wales to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. A century later the Irish parliament voted to join the Union - hence its new name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. But in 1922 there was another name change when the southern counties of Ireland chose independence and the UK became United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. What will happen in the 21st century I wonder? In May the United Kingdom will be voting on whether first past the post should be thrown out in favour of the Alternative Voting system. Knowing how the vote went in NZ we're keen to see the result here. Anyway, enough rambling and back to the tour...
We wandered through the House of Lords (who incidentally since 1999 only have the privelege for life and can't pass it on to family). Seats looked comfy but a bit squashed and there are some wool sacks (bright red) in the middle where some important people have to sit - brought into parliament centuries ago to signify the importance of wool to the economy. The sheep and their wool aren't that important now (funny NZ doesn't have red wool sacks for important parliamentarians to sit on) but the wool sacks have remained and look quite uncomfortable but probably better than the floor. The highlight for me was seeing the House of Commons - where the debates are held - and of course if we were in London during the day could see free of charge. To get to the House you need to go through a door way that still shows the impact of bombs hitting the building during WWII. There is a special part of NZ in there - two lovely kauri boxes. After the opening of parliament, after the bombing, Australia gave the House a big chair and we gave them two lovely boxes - we saw them on tv the other night - MP's lean or occasionally thump the boxes when discussing something emotive in the debating chamber. The House isn't a very big room for 650 MPs and many have to stand (or when they are tired perhaps they sit on the floor). It is easy to reserve a seat - turn up early and pick up a prayer card, attend prayers and insert the prayer card in a little plastic envelope on the back of the seat and you have reserved it for the day.
London Zoo is meant to be the world's oldest scientific zoo. It opened in 1828 and today there are over 700 species of animals and 16,000 animals in it. As you can imagine in the centre of London there isn't a lot of space and most of these species are small (spiders, lizards, fish etc) - though there were some big species too which probably could do with a bit more space. A bit of history about the zoo - until 1902 animals were kept indoors because it was believed that the tropical ones wouldn't survive - probably right - the penguins certainly seem to be missing the ice but the emus looked ok in their outback enclosure! We didn't see any 'guardian' notices like we saw in Bristol (which said the zoo is guardian of the kea in case it gets wiped out in the southern hemisphere). Anyway today the Zoo has a breeding programmes for over 130 species. The Zoo has faced financial problems and in 1980 it looked as though it might be closed - partly due to the change in attitude towards keeping animals enclosed in small unsuitable cages. However, 10 years ago it was announced that London Zoo would close the public rallied around, gave lots of money and visited more often and it remains open.
'When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles - but never England.' How to be an Alien' by George Mikes
There is a history here that covers a few centuries. The official name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and it all began back in the 1500's when England and Wales were joined through the Act of Union. Then in the 1700's Scotland and England joined together with Wales to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. A century later the Irish parliament voted to join the Union - hence its new name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. But in 1922 there was another name change when the southern counties of Ireland chose independence and the UK became United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. What will happen in the 21st century I wonder? In May the United Kingdom will be voting on whether first past the post should be thrown out in favour of the Alternative Voting system. Knowing how the vote went in NZ we're keen to see the result here. Anyway, enough rambling and back to the tour...
We wandered through the House of Lords (who incidentally since 1999 only have the privelege for life and can't pass it on to family). Seats looked comfy but a bit squashed and there are some wool sacks (bright red) in the middle where some important people have to sit - brought into parliament centuries ago to signify the importance of wool to the economy. The sheep and their wool aren't that important now (funny NZ doesn't have red wool sacks for important parliamentarians to sit on) but the wool sacks have remained and look quite uncomfortable but probably better than the floor. The highlight for me was seeing the House of Commons - where the debates are held - and of course if we were in London during the day could see free of charge. To get to the House you need to go through a door way that still shows the impact of bombs hitting the building during WWII. There is a special part of NZ in there - two lovely kauri boxes. After the opening of parliament, after the bombing, Australia gave the House a big chair and we gave them two lovely boxes - we saw them on tv the other night - MP's lean or occasionally thump the boxes when discussing something emotive in the debating chamber. The House isn't a very big room for 650 MPs and many have to stand (or when they are tired perhaps they sit on the floor). It is easy to reserve a seat - turn up early and pick up a prayer card, attend prayers and insert the prayer card in a little plastic envelope on the back of the seat and you have reserved it for the day.
London Zoo is meant to be the world's oldest scientific zoo. It opened in 1828 and today there are over 700 species of animals and 16,000 animals in it. As you can imagine in the centre of London there isn't a lot of space and most of these species are small (spiders, lizards, fish etc) - though there were some big species too which probably could do with a bit more space. A bit of history about the zoo - until 1902 animals were kept indoors because it was believed that the tropical ones wouldn't survive - probably right - the penguins certainly seem to be missing the ice but the emus looked ok in their outback enclosure! We didn't see any 'guardian' notices like we saw in Bristol (which said the zoo is guardian of the kea in case it gets wiped out in the southern hemisphere). Anyway today the Zoo has a breeding programmes for over 130 species. The Zoo has faced financial problems and in 1980 it looked as though it might be closed - partly due to the change in attitude towards keeping animals enclosed in small unsuitable cages. However, 10 years ago it was announced that London Zoo would close the public rallied around, gave lots of money and visited more often and it remains open.
I keep suggesting to Harry he might like to cut my melon for lunch a bit more creatively - but he keeps suggesting I am lucky to have a fruit salad at all!!
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