Parliament

Today we took ourselves to Westminster tube, hoping to see what we could of the Palace of Westminster and the Abbey.  I had given up trying to get tickets to go inside, including a guided tour - it was impossible online and the ticket office told me in person that there were queues.

So we just began walking around.  Eventually we got to the entrance for the public - and no queue.  So I went up to the nice ladies at the gate and asked if we could go inside.  "Yaas", she said.  Parliament was sitting in 20 minutes, and we could go to the public gallery.  Felt like we had hit the jackpot.  There is a rigmarole - security checks, filling out a ticket, putting ALL bags at the cloakroom, wearing a tag saying we had been screened.  But we made it. 

Saw discussion on labour and training.  Questions are short and to the point, and seeking information.  Answers were the same.  Quite different to the scuffle that our Parliament is at QT.  Neither  David Cameron nor Jeremy Corbyn were not present, but there were enough to make the show go on.  No pics allowed though.

We did see this tribute to Jo Cox in Westminister Hall, which is the oldest part of the joint and where they often have lying in state of VVIPs.

Some other pics inside...

We saw the "green" where the media gather and set up a studio with Westminster as a backdrop.  It was fenced off to the public.  Last year when BL and I were here, there was no media and no restrictions for us.

And looking the other direction...

Checked out the Methodist Central Hall nearby for lunch.  Plain and solid food - and no alcohol, not that that worried us.

Then we walked back to our unit.  At night, we have been buying prepared meals from the supermarket and heating them up in the microwave.

An interesting day - and Brexit still dominates.  Went looking for a Brexit T Shirt - but no luck.  Must be too serious even for TShirt writers.