Mike's Travel Snaps

Houses of Parliament A shot of St. Stephen's Tower, at the north end of the Houses of Parliament (also known as the Palace of Westminster). Kings of England lived in the original Palace of Westminster from the 11th century until the beginning of the 16th century (Henry VIII moved his residence just north along Whitehall to Whitehall Palace in 1512). The current building was constructed in the 19th century after fire destroyed most of the original structure.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
The open space in the foreground is Parliament Square, which apparently is used frequently as a site for demonstrations and protests. While I was there, there were people protesting U.S./U.K. support of Israel, as well as separate (and larger and noisier) group of folks demonstrating for something else (I would soon discover exactly for what; see below). The dark building directly across from the Clock Tower (left center in the picture) is Portcullis House, an office building for Members of Parliament built in 2000. Those distinctive chimneys on the roof are for air circulation, not for fireplaces. The white building to the left of Portcullis House is 1 Parliament Street, which houses the Parliamentary Book Shop (for all your informational needs about current and past sessions of Parliament). Also seen in this picture is the London Eye (in the distance behind Portcullis House).
Houses of Parliament A view of Westminster Palace from the southwest, with the Old Palace Yard in the foreground. A gruesome part of the Old Palace Yard's history is related to the annual observance of Guy Fawkes' Night on November 5th. In 1605, after Guy Fawkes was arrested for plotting to blow up King James I, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered in this very space. (English history is littered with these very charming stories.)	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Towards the middle of the Houses of Parliament is the 300-foot-high Central Tower (the runt of the three towers of the Palace of Westminster), which stands over the Central Lobby, connecting the Lords and Commons Lobbies.
Houses of Parliament On the south end of the complex is Victoria Tower, rising 323 feet (with a 73' flagpole on top), making it the tallest tower at the Houses of Parliament. The Union Jack flies on the flagpole whenever Parliament is in session. I might take a moment here to mention how I'm not a huge fan of this sort of gothic architecture. Although I do like ornate architecture, this is much too busy, and the use of endless parallel lines make it resemble a prison. There, I said it.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Houses of Parliament Shortly after I noticed a noisy group demonstrating in Parliament Square, I walked south on St. Margaret Street to get a closer view of Victoria Tower. I began to hear bullhorn shouts, chanting, and whistles coming from beyond my line of sight further south on Abingdon Street. Soon people began marching up the street with signs calling for better pay for bus drivers. The group, some of them riding on a double-	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
decker bus (extreme right of photo), traveled north to Parliament Square and were greeted by those already assembled on the Square with much shouting and cheers. Presumably they carried on for awhile--at this point, I went in to view Westminster Abbey.
Houses of Parliament It's technically a misnomer to call this tower or clock "Big Ben," which is actually the name for the largest bell within. The 316-foot-high tower, on the north end of the Houses of Parliament, is St. Stephen's Tower (sometimes just called the Clock Tower). Big Ben itself is 13.8 ton behemoth which sounds an E note. At noon or midnight, striking 12 times on Big Ben takes 54 seconds (at approximately 5 seconds between each strike). Click below to hear the chimes of Big Ben: not to be obsessively detail-oriented, but this recording has a 3-second duration between strikes, so it's not a technically accurate reproduction of Big Ben's 5-second chime...	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Read an excellent history of Big Ben here, at the website of the company that cast the bell. Interestingly, not unlike the most famous bell in America, Big Ben is cracked (it was repaired, but still has the crack).
Houses of Parliament Here's a close-up of the ornate face of the Clock Tower. The faces of the clock are almost 30 feet across.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Buckingham Palace Do I look like I'm disgusted about something or what? I'm not actually so, I was just concentrating on taking an arm's-length photo of myself with a disposable camera. Expressions aside, this is me in front of Buckingham Palace. Although I did try to do many of the "touristy" things in London, seeing the Changing of the Guard ceremony was not high on my list. This was taken in late afternoon, long after the Guard was properly changed.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Buckingham Palace The gates at the Palace. To get a sense of scale of these 12 feet gates, you can see the head of an average-sized person taking a photo in the bottom left of the picture. The decorations include the Royal Arms surrounded by palm leaves (used as a symbol of victory). Read a BBC news story about an intruder scaling these gates in 1999, here.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.