Tyler London Summer

Houses of Parliament/Westminster/Aquarium

The title of the entry gives my itinerary for the day. We went on a guided tour of the houses of parliament and to Westminster Abbey as a group, and I went to the Aquarium by myself afterward.

I must say that the Houses of Parliament were kind of a let down. A lot of it was absolutely beautiful and amazingly ornate, particularly the House of Lords. But, the House of Commons kind of lost its luster because most of it was closed off due to the installation of a bulletproof screen separating it from the Visitors gallery. I did however think the Churchill Arch was really cool. The House of Commons was entirely destroyed by bombing during the Blitz. Churchill made them keep the arch to the entryway as it was with the damage as a reminder. I think part of the reason I didn't like it was that my tour guide was not very knowledgeable.

Westminster Abbey was an amazing experience on the inside. The sheer number of graves and plaques is astounding. Most churches have purely religious figures, but I liked how this one was truly a National Church. They had a number of monarchs, most notably Elizabeth I. It was also the burial site of Newton, and, surprisingly, Darwin. I also enjoyed the poets corner, which had plaques to honor all of the famous literary figures(Shakespeare, Chaucer, etc.). They even had noted philanderers, homosexuals, and atheists like Byron and Cecil B. Rhodes. One of the most touching I thought was the memorial for Franklin D. Roosevelt donated by the British Government. Another moving one was the RAF chapel dedicated to all of the pilots who lost their lives in the Battle of Britain. Same for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The Aquarium was an interesting experience. I have always been fascinated by marine life and love the Ocean so I thought it would be cool. The facility itself was quite nice. It was nowhere near the size of most Aquariums in the States and was a bit overpriced but would have been pleasant. My complaint was only with the abundance of German and Indian tourists mobbing the place with their kids. They were obnoxious and pushy. They also kept taking flash photography by the fish tanks, even with signs specifically stating not to do so. Are they seriously going to look back on pictures of London and enjoy numerous pictures of fish in a tank? It is like the people who were taking videos of them walking through the Louvre. Are they really going to watch a video of themselves walking through the Louvre?

The Aquarium also had a sign which I found quite humorous

"The bite marks you can see on some of our Sandtiger sharks are part of the natural courtship behavior of this species. The animals are not stressed and will heal quickly."

Another intersting tidbit was some news that I read in the Guardian today. There is this huge controversy about the TV show Big Brother (it is similar to Real World and other reality shows in the States). One of the women in the house got drunk and pleasured herself with a wine bottle. Can you IMAGINE what would have happened in the U.S. if someone showed that on TV?

posted by tyler @ 8:12 PM