Parliament/Big Ben/10 Downing

Across the street from Westminster Abbey is the Palace of Westminster which is more commonly known as the House of Parliament. Here it is…

The business of Parliament takes place in two places, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Parliament exists to challenge the work of government, approve new laws and debate government policy and current issues.

Westminster Hall is also part of the Parliament complex.

Westminster Hall is a striking building and is officially a royal palace. Standing on the banks of the river Thames the Parliamentary buildings hold many important historical stories.

This is a statue of King Richard. Here are some guards looking very busy. We did not go into the parliament buildings this visit, but previously I spent an entire afternoon attending a session in the House of Commons being totally entertained.

Big Ben is also part of the complex.

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is often extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. It celebrated its 150th anniversary in May 2009 (the clock itself first ticking on 31 May 1859) Me with Big Ben in the back. Shannon mentioned she was surprised at how ornate it was. I thought others might be as well, so here is a close up picture.

Big Ben towers 96 metres high in the sky overlooking Westminster and is open for tours for UK residents who have made arrangements with their MP. Unfortunately overseas visitors cannot climb the 393 steps to the top.

Obviously we did not go up Big Ben, since we were not allowed.

From Big Ben we walked to the Thames River. On that street we were able to get our pictures with the traditional British phone booth.

Shannon coming out of the booth.

Here I am. From here we were able to see the London Eye.

The Merlin Entertainments London Eye (known more simply as The London Eye, and also known as the Millennium Wheel), at a height of 135 metres (443 ft), is the largest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over three million people in one year. At the time it was erected, in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160 m) in May 2006, and then the Singapore Flyer (165 m) on 11 February 2008.

The last time I was in London the Eye was not operational yet. No we did not ride it – neither one of us are big fans of ferris wheels.

We also saw Millennium Bridge –

The London Millennium Footbridge is a pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England, linking Bankside with the City. It is located between Southwark Bridge (downstream) and Blackfriars Railway Bridge (upstream). The bridge is owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. Construction of the bridge began in 1998, with the opening on 10 June 2000.

Londoners nicknamed the bridge the Wobbly Bridge after participants in a special event to open the bridge (a charity walk on behalf of Save the Children) felt an unexpected (and, for some, uncomfortable) swaying motion on the first two days after the bridge opened. The bridge was closed later that day, and after two days of limited access the bridge was closed for almost two years while modifications were made to eliminate the wobble entirely. It was reopened in 2002.

From here we visited 10 Downing Street –

10 Downing Street (Colloquially known in the United Kingdom as “Number 10”) is the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury and hence Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The headquarters of Her Majesty's Government, it is situated on Downing Street in the City of Westminster in London.

One thing I noticed here was the increase in security over the past 10 years. Previously you could walk right up to the gates (they are located at the end of the street – the entrance is half way down the block. Now there were 3 additional barricades preventing you from getting to the gate.

The last time I was here I saw Tony Blair giving a press conference from the front step - so such luck this time.

While we were there a car entered and I quickly snapped a picture.

We were doing really good on time so we went to the London Bridge next....