If you like history and government you\u2019ll want to tour Parliament. Maybe I just timed it perfectly, but it was less than five minutes for us from street to sitting in the gallery for the House of Lords. There it was, 100 feet away, the Throne of the Queen of England. The clerk of the House of Lords even still wears the white wig. Everyone else was dressed in street clothes and it seemed like any other legislative body you\u2019ve watched in action. Stuffy people. Big speeches. Really boring work.<\/p>\n
The Parliament Castle is enormous, yet we navigated it very quickly. It didn\u2019t seem\u00a0 enormous\u2026..Washington D.C. like at all.<\/p>\n
Warning: nobody in England can explain\u00a0 their political structure to you. I asked several people. They all start in—particularly explaining knights, peerage, and the House of Lords—and shortly thereafter they throw up their hands and say \u201cIts really complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Had a fun conversation with a constable outside the doors of the Lord\u2019s Chamber. She pointed out Hutch of Starsky and Hutch as he walked by. Apparently he was visiting an MP that day. Kind of funny when someone who escorts the Queen of England is excited to see Hutch! He look like any other washed up actor. Just a guy. Don\u2019t even know his name.<\/p>\n
The constable did tell us that Camilla was a very down to earth lady, and I commented that she was overshadowed by Diana. But she then pointed out that Fergie was doing a good job of making Camilla look downright royale. Touch\u00e9!<\/p>\n
I kind of collect state capitals, and have enjoyed my trips to our capital in D.C., so seeing the Parliament and the House of Lords in action was kind of neat for me. As a little boy cipherin\u2019 at the Abesville Elementary School (where my first day of class in 1968 was in a two-room schoolhouse) I\u2019d never have imagined I\u2019d be sitting in the House of Lords under Big Ben, staring at the throne of the Queen. Kinda cool!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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