Summer 2011 at Cambridge University: Weekend in London #2

Last weekend I went on the one-day London trip sponsored by PKP - very eventful!

1) Houses of Parliament tour. FASCINATING! It has an incredibly different feel than the US Capitol - imposing Gothic rather than austere Classical, a much longer and much more troubled history (the building was twice destroyed by fire and bombed during WWII), filled with portraits of kings and queens, an emphasis on class differences between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and no separation of church and state whatsoever. We entered through the oldest part of the building (from Norman times, still with stone statues of Norman kings along the walls) called Westminster Hall (remember, the name of the building is Westminster Palace!), where Obama had the privilege of addressing Parliament when he was inaugurated. Many royals have also lain in state in this room, including George VI of The King's Speech and the Queen Mother. We proceeded through grand corridors to the queen's dressing room, where she freshens up before delivering her annual Opening of Parliament speech to the House of Lords. On this side of the building the motif is dark red, the colour of royalty and aristocracy. We were able to enter the House of Lords, under strict orders that we were absolutely not to take a seat on any of the benches - apparently it would be a gigantic breach of protocol and tradition. There is a ridiculously ostentatious throne in this room (paid for by British taxpayers!), where the queen sits to address the House of Lords. There is a slightly lower throne for Philip, and seats on either side for Charles and Anne (though reportedly she prefers to sit on the steps leading up to the throne). Other people allowed to sit on the steps of the throne include the Church of England bishops from the major parishes (again, very little separation of church and state). Members of the House of Commons are not allowed to enter the House of Lords under any circumstances - they crowd around the door to hear the Queen's Speech. There is a practice (dating back thousands of years) that the Gentlemen's Usher of the Black Rod walks through the rotunda to the House of Commons to summon the MPs for the Queen's Speech, and the door is customarily slammed in his face (to symbolize the chamber's independence from the sovereign). He then knocks on the door with his staff three times and walks back to the House of Lords, with the House of Commons following behind. You can see the dents in the chamber door! On the House of Commons side, the motif is green, symbolic of commoners. Conversely, the queen is not allowed to proceed one step down the corridor to the House of Commons; the last monarch to do this was Charles I (who did so to arrest two members of Parliament and execute them for treason), resulting in his beheading and the abolition of the monarchy under Oliver Cromwell. Apparently, the United Kingdom is very, very keen for that not to happen again! The Commons benches sit across from one another, encouraging a very adversarial form of politics. Another interesting feature is that the MPs vote with their feet - they literally walk through doors labelled "aye" and "nay" and are counted as they walk through (origin of the term "head count" I suppose!). The Member's Lobby (origin of the term "lobbyist!") immediately before entering the House of Commons is very similar to its American counterpart - filled with statues of major political figures (the largest being Churchill and Thatcher, of course). The door to the House of Commons itself is made of pieced together fragments of stone, meticulously put back together after the entire chamber was blown apart by German bombs in 1941. Many, many more fascinating details too, of course! See wikipedia for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houses_of_parliament#Peers.27_Lobby

2) Trafalgar Square and National Gallery. Fabulous museum, of course. This time around I especially enjoyed the room entirely filled with Rubens (including "Samson and Delilah"), other Italian painters e.g. Caravaggio, the Dutch masters, and the Impressionists. Check out the collection here: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/collection-overview/

3) All's Well That Ends Well at the Globe Theatre! Believe it or not we were all groundlings with 5 pound tickets - so we stood the entire time! A little rough (especially when exhausted) but totally worth it - the actors were great and the show was highly entertaining, despite the fact that this play is not considered one of Shakespeare's best (it's somewhat dated). One of the best aspects was the music/dance mini-performances before and after - very fun. And the weather held up! No English "liquid sunshine," as my Gothic Architecture professor liked to call it...Performance info and reviews here: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/theatre/on-stage/alls-well-that-ends-well

And finally, the pictures! http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnahorning/sets/72157627348649712/