Had My Day In Parliament

Sandra and I ended her trip with a day in Westminster. We first spent the morning going through Westminster Abbey. The church does not allow you to take photos inside, so this is all you get to see. But it was very surprising to see that the church also is a graveyard in the sense. Tons of royals, kings and queens are buried inside the church. Before entering we got manhandled by one of the guards...literally. He was just a little too friendly with the hugs. :0

After we visited the Abbey, we headed over to the UK Parliament. When we did our tour to Greenwich, our tour guide told us that Parliament had just gone out for summer recess and that we should take a tour. Sandra and I were very excited to go. Here is us walking into Parliament.

As you go through security, they take a photo of you and immediately a badge is made with your photo on it for security purposes. I was surprised how much better they are in security then the US. A badge with my photo is seconds! Surprisingly, I think Sandra and I also broke the law as we took photos of our badges! :)

As in the Abbey, Parliament also does not let you take photos. We were allowed to take photos in the oldest part of Parliament were we were waiting for our tour to begin. Here is Sandra and I waiting.

Here is a photo of the area where we were waiting.

Another shot of the roof.

The tour lasted about 75 minutes and we got to walk the route that the Queen would walk when she comes and opens Parliament. We walked through the House of Lords and the House of Commons. I actually got to run my hands over the red and green leather seats. Very cool to have so much access to the chambers. Nothing like the Capital tour in DC.

Afterwards we took photos of Big Ben. Here is one of my favorite photos.

Also near the exit was a security guard. I snapped this photo because it just looked like it could be from the 1940's. Very cool.

We ended Sandra's visit with tea time!