Je Ne Peux Pas Parler "Mint." Just Kidding. I Can.

You guys are lucky, you get so many pictures this week. Today is the visit to Westminster Palace, aka The Houses of Parliament. We got an hour long tour, and it was very interesting. They were pretty serious about security, so I only have pictures from the great hall inside Westminster. I have plenty of outside as well, though.

This is the view as we approached along the Thames. The Circle and District Lines are out for repair this weekend, basically cutting us off at the knees transportation-wise. So we had to take the Northern line from Warren Street...it was a big hassle, I assure you. But it was a nice day anyway.

These are the tents set up outside Westminster to protest things. They were not too inhabited when we passed, so I didn't get to see any fun characters. There is one guy, though, if you look closely.

This begins my treck around this little park, taking pictures of every statue. I don't remember all of their names, so if you can't read it on the plinth, I don't know it either. This, however, is obviously Nelson Mandela.

There was another statue of Churchill inside the House of Commons (that I couldn't photograph), but I like this one more. His grumpiness is so much funnier in a pleasant, park environment.

Thus begins my problems with lighting. I'm truly sorry, I tried my best. You can probably figure out what is pictured here, though.

This is a statue of Oliver Cromwell. I suppose he's meant to represent Parliamentary power in the face of the monarchy, but it's still a little weird to see him next to statues of Kings. Fun fact I learned on the tour: After Charles I stormed into the House of Commons to kill 5 MPs, no King or Queen has been allowed to set foot inside it.

Okay, so these pictures were taken after the tour, in the only room allowed to be photographed: the great hall. It is the oldest room in the Palace, however, and the only one not to be burnt down in the 19th century. Just recently they found Tudor tennis balls in the ceiling, probably hit there by Henry VIII. He may have been a worse tennis player than Catholic.

This unicorn banister is said to represent Scotland. I don't see it, but hey, there are worse things to be represented by.

Here's my series on the big stained-glass window at the end of the hall. The common factor: each picture is terrible.

And that is that. Next week is Oxford for my neuroscience class, so more pictures forthcoming. And...Mother Courage on Monday, and Troilus and Cressida sometime after that. So pictures of the Globe are on their way. I'm in the pit for this performance, which I'm really looking forward to. I have books to read and papers to write, so I'm off to do those things. I hope you enjoyed Westminster.