Day 6: Lords, Hippies, and Clubbers

Today was touring Parliament. I have studied the British political system, but seeing Parliament only showed me that I have not studied enough. First off, this building is huge, and as always, beautiful.

You can just barely see Big Ben’s tower in the background. Yes, Parliament is the building that has Big Ben in it. (Remember Big Ben is the bell, not the tower.)

The building’s actual name is the Palace of Westminster, however one of the King Henry’s (Sorry! The tour guide talks really fast!) felt he needed a bigger house and moved out, and there has not been another monarch living there since, however it is still a palace. A fire in the 1800’s destroyed most of the palace and it was completely rebuilt in a tutor Gothic style.

This is Westminster Hall. It is HUGE. This is the hall that the ‘trial’ for William Wallace was held. This is also a very respected hall because it is one of the only parts of the original building still left after the fire. Only three people have ever been given the right to address parliament from this room; the Pope,  Nelson Mandela, and Barrack Obama. Yeah, I was surprised by that last one too. However I would like to also point out that the Queen, who is 87, has only missed TWO parliament meetings in her entire rein. I am still trying to add up the amount of Presidential meetings and duties Obama has been absent.

The traditions that are still upheld in Parliament are unbelievable. The government is made up of the Queen, House of Lords, and House of Commons. There is a specific crowning room, where the Queen starts her parliament experience. Here she crowns herself (with the crown weighing in at 2.2lbs and having over 3,000 diamonds in it) and choirboys carry her train behind her. She walks about 10 feet around to her throne and seats herself before the House of Lords. The Queen’s throne is perfectly aligned so she may see through the room, across the hall, and into the next room, the House of Commons. When the Queen enters into Parliament, the House of Commons cannot be in the room. Instead, they are in their own room across the hall and the Queen sends a ‘royal representative’ down and across the hall to the House of Commons, to show it is a ‘royal decree for them to participate. Get this, the House of Commons then shuts the door in the messengers face. The messenger must knock on the door with a iron rod, and then the House of Commons will walk down the hall and begin the  parliament discussion. This is to show that the House of Commons (representing the people) will make the decision not because the Queen ordered it but because they choose to. Sounds like my High School years. The Queen can also NEVER enter into the House of Commons area because it would mean her entering into the commoner’s ground. Also, as the topper for traditional rules, a literal hostage is taken from the House of Lords by the House of Commons during this parliament discussion to ensure that the Queen will allow the House of Commons to leave afterwards and not keep them there forever. It is fairly strange, but obviously effective. The British parliament makes and passes more laws than any other country in the world, I suspect because they do not have filibusters and such in their government.

After touring parliament, I had the afternoon free and I joined a group of girls going to Camden Street. Camden street is a huge market of cheap everything. Souvenirs, clothing, household items, and of course food was everywhere. Camden was described to us as ‘where all the hippies go’ but I believe it is more ‘free spirits’ then hippies. Many of the stores ranged from selling leather and chains to hookahs and bongs. To each their own. I just liked watching the crowds and seeing all the varieties there. Families and teenagers and homeless and gothics. I enjoyed looking at each shop and liked hearing the vendors trying to get a sale. I found some brand name electronics (not going to say the names because it is a gift) that typically sold for over $100 at home, being sold for 15 pounds. I immediately bought them and was so excited for my good deal. An hour later when we had reached the end of the street, the last vendor also had the same electronics. I was only curious of the price, and by the end of a little bartering, I was able to get a second pair for 7 pounds. I just love the idea of bartering, especially when you’re in a foreign country and your debit cards don’t work to get more money, and you still want to eat for the rest of the week. It was so very exciting and interesting. You can find anything to everything there, and I plan on making multiple trips there in the future. I have noticed however that our Midwest habits did make it difficult to make it through Camden. Dozens of people promoting bands or happy hours or discount tattoos would hand out flyers and start conversations to get you to come to their shops, and I found it really hard to say no or walk away during conversations, but I grew a backbone fast when I only had about 20 pounds left.

While shopping we also got to rest and have some authentic Italian cuisine. This place was extremely Italian, hot waiters and all. I got some kind of pasta I could not pronounce and it was delicious.

Sorry, I could not wait long enough to get my camera out to not try a bite. It looked prettier when I first got it.

After about 5 hours shopping and enjoying the sites, sounds, and smells, we ventured back towards the more reserved but less fun part of town. But on our way to tube stop, we ran into one of Camden’s many street performers. His name was ABH and he stood beat boxing in the streets for hours. It was one of the better performers and I recorded him for a few seconds, and it just so happened I also caught a guy attempting to break dance and instead falling on his face. 

I returned to my hotel room and thought my night was over. No way Jose. A few of the girls wanted to try the nightclubs tonight and I couldn’t say no. We hopped the tube to the nearest club and danced the night away! Never having been to anything more than a crowded bar, a nightclub is just as the movies show it- crowded, sticky, neon lite fun. I did my best to hide in the back and not be seen dancing because it was fairly obvious I didn’t know how, but still had loads of fun. It is always funny to me how every single man, since the beginning of this trip, has asked me where I am from and when he hears America, they always reply with, “Oh! I love American girls!” I am not sure if I want to know why. We danced and laughed and met new friends. Around 1am my roommate and I decided that we had had enough fun for one night and it was time to return home to get a few hours of sleep before tomorrows adventures. That, and the club was beginning to become very crowded and very friendly, and both of our committed relationships makes situations such as these uncomfortable.

Standing in line for my first club!

The tube was closed for the night, but we planned to find the bus back to the hotel. Planned. After asking for directions at least four times, someone finally explained that our hotel was not that fair and we could walk. The ‘less than 20 minute walk’ turned into at least an hour, and I am finally back ‘home’ in a warm bed. And for those of you who feared for me walking about at night, the streets are very pleasant. There is much more trash on the sidewalks, but less traffic and plenty of friendly people still around, just not friendly enough to give tourists accurate directions. But we made it and can now enjoy our four hours of beautiful sleep before we venture off to see Stonehenge and the town of Bath tomorrow.