Parliament

The beams in side the hall were incredibly detailed.

Parliament is part of the same building as Big Ben. This hall is the only place you are allowed to take pictures. Which is kind of lame, because the building was awesome. I would've loved to put more pictures up, but there are only so many interesting pictures you can take of the same room...

Still it was a pretty amazing room.

I Googled the PMQ's and found Margret Thatcher's last Prime Minister Questions. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVrYWk4dr5U

Watch it! It's kind of long, but it's totally worth while. It's amazing! She is so quick, plus it's just so fun to watch, because it's super funny and confrontational and there are people yelling and standing, and a guy in a wig yelling order, etc. It's awesome. Also, it has topics which are incredibly poignant for our day and time, which is interesting considering that this was the late 80's when it was filmed. 

They do the Prime Minister questions every week. I wish we had something like this in the states. It would do us good to have an opportunity to hear where the President stood on different policies on a weekly basis. Maybe more of the country would be better informed or informed at all if we did. Plus it's just cool.

Big Ben!

It's pretty much sweet awesome!

 It looks so much cooler in real life than in movies. Weird.

Love it!

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee-Pt. 3

The Parade!

 This was the Queen's boat from a distance. Check out all the security around it.

 Everyone wanted a peek.

 Okay Jared, a real picture of a royal. Several royals, in fact. The purple arrow shows Camilla and Prince Charles. The blue arrow shows The Queen and Prince Phillip and the red arrow shows Prince William and Kate. Also Prince Harry is there somewhere, but I couldn't pick him out. When I saw him on the big screen he was always near Will and Kate... 

Ahem... Booya!

 The crowd leaving the bridge after the parade.

Kyle at the parade.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee-Pt. 2

Kyle and Maddie checking out the river parade with their spy box thingies. That's the technical name for them.

Why does this feel like a walking contradiction?

 Will and Kate on the big screen. They were no where near where I was when I took this photo. Whatever...

 Mushed in, waiting for the Queen's boat. It was a super tight squeeze! I didn't like it. Don't let the smile fool you. It was awful.  

The Queen! Yay! Um, she wasn't near either. 

The guy with the mic filmed the crowd before he talked to the little boy. So there is video out there of me and Maddie and Kyle screaming for the Queen. Still the filmed it three times, because apparently we weren't screaming loud enough... It made my throat hoarse. I didn't even try the third time around. 

The Queens Diamond Jubilee-Pt. 1

Look Jared! Three of the Royals!You wanted a picture of one, right?

Prince Charles. He was about thirty yards from me, but there were so many people there I couldn't get a picture of him, so I took one of the big screen.

 I think you have to be pretty keen on something to go this far. Very festive.

 Even the buildings were decked out for the festivities.

People camped out over night. Can anyone say wet, cold and miserable? Buckingham Palace is just behind that wall.

See, I was there too! Pretty sweet too. The only other monarch to make it to a Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the thrown,) was Victoria. I felt pretty cool to be able to be a part of it. 

Love this picture. Had to share it. 

The Queens! Aren't they cute. Came out to fight the crowds just to see the Queens boat go by.

Cool Cars!

Maybe it is stereotyping, but I see this truck and just know the ice cream is gonna be good. 

 Despite the fact that I could put this in my pocket, it's not a toy car... I know weird, right?

 Look! It's Max's car! (Disregard remark if you haven't seen Roswell.)

007 was not in this car... I know, I checked. 

 

The British flag was painted on the top and the royal family on the sides. Talk about devotion to crown and country.