Week Two Adventures

Parliament

On our first Saturday in London, we all went to tour Parliament as a group. I knew a little about Parliament from talking about it in school, but I was eager to learn more. Our guide was very informative and able to answer all our questions. One interesting fact I learned from him was that during the blitz of WWII (where the Germans bombed London for a long period of time), Parliament was one of the most targeted places. They were able to put out most of the fires that were caused from the bombing, with the exception of one night. This one night several fire bombs were dropped on Parliament. They had to make a decision on what to focus on first when putting out the fire. It was decided that the Great Hall would be saved from destruction. The other parts that were destroyed were rebuilt later. The guide told us that most of the rebuilding was built like the original to the best of their ability. Another fact that I found interesting was that as you go through the rooms from where Queen Elizabeth gets ready to address Parliament to where the House of Lords meets to where the House of Commons meets,  the rooms get less extravagant and more simplistic. The room where the House of Lords meets and the rooms Queen Elizabeth goes in have many paintings, gold accents, and have red seats. In the room where the House of Commons meet, there is not much detailing on the walls and ceiling and they have green seats. We went through many rooms and learned much about tradition and the workings of Parliament.   

After visiting Parliament, I wanted to research more information that I may have missed or did not completely grasp. I learned that there were many other fires that took their toll on this palace. One of the biggest fires besides the one during WWII was one that happened in 1828. Many architects kept warning that precautions needed to be put in place because of the fact most of the palace was built from timber, and fires had happened before. No one took these precautions seriously, and two stoves ended up setting the paneling in the Lords Chamber on fire.  The Great Hall was the only part they were able to save, and the wind saved the Jewel Tower from being set ablaze (parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/estatehistory/). Another thing I learned when researching more about Parliament is that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are part of the House of Commons. I had thought they were part of the House of Lords. I learned that the Commons are solely responsible for making decisions on financial bills, and the Lords cannot block or amend their decisions (parliament.uk/about/how/role/system/). When going on the tour, it was not made clear what the Lords can or cannot block from the Commons. On the tour I did learn that these houses work as a two-chamber system, which does a good job of keeping checks and balances on one another. I was surprised to hear how well these two work together.

Kensington Palace

The first royal home I visited on the trip was Kensington Palace. As I knew before going to tour, it is the current home of Prince William and Princess Kate.  I did not know prior to the tour what royalty resided in the palace in the past. Queen Victoria lived in in Kensington Palace with her husband Prince Albert. The tour taught us about their life together through Victoria’s diary entries. She was born in Kensington Palace and became Queen Victoria at the young  age of eighteen. Queen Victoria is the only other Queen to have a Diamond Jubilee. In three more years, Queen Elizabeth will have been in power longer than Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria was very much in love with her husband, and when he died she wore black the rest of her life.  The tour was self-guided but very informative.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

For our first Sunday in London, we went to a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was first built in 604, and has had to be rebuilt several times due to fires. Many notable and important things have happened at this cathedral.  Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee at St. Paul’s in 1897. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached at St. Paul’s in 1964 on his way to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.  In 1965, Winston Churchill’s funeral service took place in St. Paul’s. The Queen celebrated her 80^th birthday at St. Paul’s Cathedral as well (stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History/Cathedral-History). When I first walked into the cathedral, my breath was taken away. It was absolutely beautiful. All the detail and artwork was amazing. One of my favorite things about the service was how they welcomed and prayed for everyone. They were open to everyone who wanted to be a part of their service and worship God with them. I was shocked that they let everyone take communion. Many places will not let you unless you have been baptized at that church or are a certain religion. This was the first time I did not dip bread into the cup, and I drank from a cup someone else has taken a sip from. I really enjoyed the service’s message and listening to the choir.

Speakers’ Corner and Hyde Park

After visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral, we went to Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park. Every Sunday people can go to this corner and express their opinions on whatever they wish. Speakers’ Corner came about during the Victorian Era in Britain, when people were struggling for their civil liberties to be protected and respected. The government tried to shut down the gatherings, but in 1872 Parliament granted the Park Authorities the right to permit public meetings and Speakers’ Corner (speakerscornertrust.org/library/about-free-speech/a-brief-history-of-londons-speakers-corner/).  When we were at Speakers’ Corner, we heard this one man talking about how certain groups are targeted, but they have become content in the world so they have not stood up against it. He continued on to talk about how Obama is a worse president than Bush was, and he is a puppet for the Democratic Party. He said that Obama does nothing for his race. He also mentioned how we idolize celebrities who do nothing to help people. He used Paris Hilton as an example. He said that if Paris Hilton sneezed, we would try and sell her tissue on the Internet. I found what he said to be very interesting and thought- provoking.  Next to this person was an older man who was talking about the Quran. He kept reading this one line that had addressed wife beating. He was arguing with a listener about how the Quran supports wife beating. The man kept telling him that it is not true, but the speaker continued to talk over him and interrupt what he was saying.  I really appreciated being able to see this tradition take place because I think it is important to have a nonviolent place and way to speak your opinions, even when they are diametrically opposed to the majority.  

We spent about an hour listening to men speak their minds and then decided to walk back home through Hyde Park. The park was acquired by Henry VIII from Westminster Abby. It was a private park (or open to only a select few not in the royal family) until Charles I made it open to the general public. In 1665, people camped in the park in hopes of escaping the plague. In 1977, Queen Elizabeth II had her Silver Jubilee exhibition in honor of her 25 years on the thrown (royalparks.org.uk/parks/hyde_park/history.cfm). Hyde Park has been an important park to many royals, the general public, and for holding national celebrations. Besides Speakers’ Corner, one of my favorite things about the park was the beautiful lake that people were paddle boating on, taking boat tours, or simply sticking their feet in the water. It was nice to walk through and see people lying in the grass, walking their dogs, riding horses, or having an outing with their kids.

WICKED!

Some of my friends wanted to go see the musical Wicked. I have always wanted to see it, but I have never gotten the chance. I decided now would be a great time. It was showing at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. The Apollo Victoria Theatre opened in 1929 as the “state-of-the-art cinema” to provide accommodations for the increasing popularity of “talking pictures.”  However, in 1975 the theatre was closed and reopened as the New Victoria Theatre focusing more on musical based shows and performances (apollovictoriatheatre.org/).  The musical Wicked is about how the good witch and the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz get their start, and it goes through what was actually going on before, during, and after Dorothy was in Oz. I really enjoyed this musical. The costumes, choreography, and actors were great! I was entertained the entire time. The actors had great voices, and they did a great job of casting for each part. I enjoyed the musical so much I wish I could go back and see it again!

Strange Interlude

In my Modern Drama class, we read Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude. It was a long play to read, and it originally took eight hours to perform. We went to see it as a class at the National Theatre. There it only took about three hours and a half.  My favorite part of the play was the set. For the first few acts, the set would spin to a different setting and place. When those could no longer be used, they pulled it out and moved in other interesting pieces to set scenes. The set changes were carried out very smoothly.  I was very impressed. My favorite scene change was when they brought the yacht in. I was wondering the entire time how they were going to do that scene where they are all on the yacht.  The transition and the design of the yacht were perfect. The National Theatre is showing four plays right now. I have seen two of the four, Children of the Sun and Strange Interlude, and will soon see a third there. I thoroughly enjoyed both of the plays I have seen at the National Theatre, and I look forward to seeing another one very soon.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

On the fourth of July, a few of us decided to go to the famous Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub. This pub has been around for a long time. On the outside, it lists the fifteen monarchs that it has survived. Many visitors’ books were kept to keep track of any famous guest that would come in for a drink. Some of them included Charles Dickens, James Boswell, and Voltaire. An interesting famous guest was a parrot that would come and entertain people. The parrot did this for forty years, and when it died it was announced on BBC news! It even appeared in some newspapers worldwide (pubs.com/main_site/pub_details.php?pub_id=154#). I thought it was fun to be in a place that had been around so long and had many famous guests. The food was pretty good, and I enjoyed the atmosphere.