Houses of Parliament

Houses of Parliament

We were lucky enough to take a tour of the Houses of Parliament on a lovely Saturday morning. I felt guilty because I have never been to Washington D.C. and taken a tour of the National Capitol, Senate Gallery, Supreme Court House, Pentagon, or the White House for that matter and here I was excited to see the places of historical significance for Great Britain’s monarchial government.  

Queen Elizabeth II delivering the queen's speech in the House of Lords

The Houses of Parliament was a place built for power, royalty, and government. Once again I saw the deep-rooted tradition that the British are so proud to continue today. We walked through the rooms in the same sequence that the Queen would do at the State Opening. At the state opening the monarch proceeds through to meet the Prime Ministers and leaders from all ends of the globe and the politicians of the United Kingdom. We stood in the Queen’s powder room that has a vanity set up right in the middle where she prepares herself for the media. We went into the House of Lords where the Queen sits on her throne and reads the queen speech that is written by the Prime Minister. I stood right in front of the throne and could see through all the corridors and rooms of the parliamentary chambers- it was quite empowering. The House of Lords was the most decorated chamber with the three themes of religion, chivalry & Justice.  

House of Commons

The House of Commons was intriguing because this is where the political events take place, were bills become laws. Nobody in the entire room is allowed to speak unless if called upon by the “Speaker/ Madam Speaker” who conducts the meetings. There is a podium for the Prime Minister directly across from a podium for the leader of the opposition. Apparently the debates can get heated in here and the Sergeant of Arms has to take action. Our tour guide made some interesting comments. He said, “We don’t sit in a cozy circle like the rest of the world. The seating formation in the House of Commons is rigid and intentional because this is a place of confrontation and we often yell at each other.” I am not sure if yelling actually happens or if the man was just exaggerating, either way it’d be interesting to sit in on the debates.

Each meeting and event is started with a prayer. I realized how interconnected the Church of England is to the government. There are six different groups of people that make up the advisory board of Lords and one of those groups is the Lords of Spirit- all high positioned men within the Church of England. When we were ending our tour the guide said it best when referring to the history of the Houses of Parliament:

“If the inner walls and ceilings of this structure could speak to us- my would they have a tale to tell us.” 

Bank of England

Three buildings of Financial Significace

I had wanted to go to the Bank of England since the beginning of my study abroad and finally took the afternoon to go and explore. The entire bank district was quite fascinating to me. In the picture above it shows the Bank of England on the left, the Stock Exchange Building in the center, and the Royal Exchange building on the right.

The history of each building was quite spectacular. The Bank of England, known as “The old lady of Threadneedle Street” was established in 1734. As I walked through the bank museum I saw that George Washington and his wife Martha Washington were the ones to sign the Dividend Mandate. They both signed authorizing the payment of dividends on a holding of Bank Stock with the money she had inherited from her first husband’s father. I’m convinced that Martha was a wise women and I loved to see her involvement in the major business transactions of the bank. I also noticed that the Duchess of Marlborough (Sarah Churchill) had invested a large sum of money and wrote a letter to the Bank of England requesting fuller details on her statement of account in 1743. It was admirable to see an intelligent woman of personal involvement with her own investments at that time. 

The origins of the Stock Exchange dates back to the 17th Century (long before the bank) with a group of brokers who decided to set up their own premises on the corner of the street where the current building resides. By the beginning of the 19^th century, larger premises were needed. In 1972 her majesty the queen opened the exchanges current 26-story office with its 23,000 sq. ft. trading floor. It’s interesting because the New York Stock Exchange dates back to 1792 a whole century after the Stock Exchange of England came about, but I also associate the NYSE at a much higher prestige.

The major events that effected the Bank of England directly within the last few decades are: 1987- Stock Market Crash, 1992- British Pound (currency) leaves Exchange Rate Mechanism, 1997- Bank of England was given independence, 2000- “Dot Com” internet boom. Everything about what the bank does today to solve inflation among a million other things intrigues me. Random fact that I thought was interesting: The bank has 40 billion pounds worth of currency in circulation within the United Kingdom today. 

Remembrance Day 2010

Trafalgar Square 11:00am Nov. 11, 2010

Fountain of Poppies

The entire month of November people of Great Britain wear a red poppy in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives for the people during wars. The red poppy developed from the Great War of 1914-1918 (World War I). The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of the armistice, on the 11^th of November 1918, to signal the ending of World War I. Hence the holiday is celebrated at that time each year.

I heard that there would be a moment of silence at eleven o’clock everywhere in England, but the place to be was Trafalgar Square. I was at the square a little before eleven o’clock and was surprised by the number of people that were there. Everything stopped (including the traffic that stops for nothing in London) and the large crowd of people paid tribute to the men and women serving their nation with a few minutes of silence. I had some friends that were standing in line for the Harry Potter Premier at Leicester Square and they had a similar experience with the stopping of everything and universal moments of reflection. Red paper poppies were given out to everyone so that during these few minutes of silence poppies would be thrown into the Trafalgar Square fountains’ water. The holiday is similar to Veterans Day or Memorial Day in the United States, but it was symbolically similar to the day we remember September 11^th 2001. Both World Wars tainted the land and structures of England similar to the way September 11^th terrorist attacks tainted the land and structures of America. Both holidays are honored through moments of silence.   

 

I chatted with a couple of officers of the British Army that were present. They were highly decorated and I wondered how similar their ranking structure and medallions were to those the U.S. Army has in place. I realized that the British are usually fighting next to the men and women of my country so I appreciate their service as well. Anyone in the world that is contributing to the peace, safety, and freedom of humankind deserves to be honored.

  

An all-boys military battalion handed out the poppies to the hundreds of people that gathered. I couldn’t get over how young some of them were. I also chatted with a few of the young men and discovered that they are all between the ages of 13 to 18. Their school name was something to the effects of Royal Military Academy and they too were in uniform.

Hampton Court

 

Hampton Court is the palace that King Henry VIII lived in during his entire reign as king in the Age of Reformation. The exterior aspect of the palace was beautiful. The interior just made it evident that it was a man’s palace with little influence from a woman. Wooden paneled walls, animal horns, and military artillery were on the walls of the palace as décor. I thought that the interior wasn’t as luxurious as the other monarchial palaces in England and it had a sense of darkness to it. I may have a bias against the palace because it was King Henry the VIII. He seemed to be a man of no true, moral character. 

The best part of Hampton Court was the Privy Gardens. They had more small flowers, bushes, trees, and shrubs in comparison to other gardens making it look much more detailed. The designs that were imprinted into the grass with sand were spectacular, not to mention we were once again blessed with great weather.   

Windsor Castle Palace

 

The Windsor Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited royal residence in Britain. Out of all of the palaces and estates that we have visited in England this one is at the top of my list. The extravagance and ornamentation was fabulous, but I think the things that I saw at the Windsor Castle are what made it my favorite one.  

Queen Mary's Doll House
Gift From the Nation on Behalf of her Cousin

The first place that flocked all 38 girls was Queen Mary’s Doll House. It was a gift given to her from a relative in the royal family, but the people of the nation contributed. The dollhouse was four floors with fully equipped plumbing and electricity. The detail of the tiny figurines were so ornate that the crown jewels were in a display case in the dining hall, all the table dishes were pure silver, and there was a pram in the garden outside the house. I can imagine nobody was ever allowed to touch it, especially because it was a gift given to her in her old age. What a shame; little girls all over the world would die to play with such a set.

Memorial for Princess Charlotte

St. George’s Chapel is a part of the castle palace. Inside the chapel I saw a sculpture that struck me as beautiful. Princess Charlotte was in line to the throne when she died quick after childbirth. Her child was a still borne babe and did not live. The sculpture shows Princess Charlotte’s lifeless body covered in linens surrounded by people of mourning over the tragic event. Over her body is her spirit accompanied by two angels on both sides ascending into heaven with her; one angel holding her baby. The beauty is captivated in showing life after death even though English history would have been much different as she would have been crowned Queen and stayed on earth. 

 

While we were at Windsor Castle we got to see the changing of the guards. Their apparel was atrocious, but traditional. Their hats looked like a big, black, furred animal or a golden cone depending on their post. Half of the guards had musical instruments and put on a show for us. It was a successful outing with great weather once again. 

Barcelona

 

Right out my hostel door

Day two of the weekend getaway we woke up to our hostel that was right on the beach. I literally rolled out of bed and walked out the glass front doors of the hostel and walked out to the beach to watch the sun rise. It was phenomenal.  

Sagrada Familia

We made our way to the famous Catholic cathedral, Sagrada Familia. It has been under construction for 100 years. We were joking that our courses have trained us to immediately go to the cathedrals when we travel. Sagrada Familia is at the top of the tourist chart for Barcelona so that worked out nicely. The façade was astonishing with its intricate detail. It surprised me to find one side very modernized with sliding glass doors and the other side gothic style from over a century ago. The Pope was visiting the cathedral the next day so there was a lot of preparation going on- flowers, chairs etc..  

Casa Batillo

Gaudi is Spain’s claim to fame. He was the Catalan architect of modernism who did the Sagrada Familia as well as many other buildings in Barcelona. His work uses modernistic tiles and contorted shapes. We walked from the cathedral to Gaudi’s Casa Batillo, Casa Amatller, and Casa Lleo Morera. Each was unique and beautiful in a different way. It was cool to see the old European buildings of Spain contrasted with Gaudi.

We hiked up to a park that overlooks the city of Barcelona and it was well worth every second of the ascension. Gaudi had made a winding bench along the cliff for people to sit and enjoy the view. We took advantage and basked in the sun while a couple of Spanish guitar players serenaded us. It was a great spot to people watch too. 

We walked through the Gothic district and down the famous shopping street La Ramblas. La Ramblas comes to life during the daytime. There are tons of people dressed up for the tourists to pay for a picture or really just for entertainment. The last place that we went was the Catalan Museum. The large fountains out in front are the best part, but unfortunately they were under construction.

Barcelona, Spain is gorgeous and I’d love to go back there again with more time one day.  

Guy Fox Day was the day that we flew back home to London. It’s a widely celebrated holiday celebrating the failure of a planned bombing on parliament. On my flight back to London I looked out the window and watched firework shows the entire descent. It was the perfect way to end the trip.

Espana

 

European flights can be really cheap especially with the selection of four airports in London. Some of the girls and I went out on a whim and bought flights to Barcelona, Spain for a weekend trip. We got it approved and left the country for some fun and adventure. I have ancestry that comes directly from Spain, so I was excited to visit the motherland, besides that I had heard great things about Barcelona. I was not disappointed to say the least. The temperature was about 80 degrees F the whole time we were there. 

Our first night we wandered around Barcelona to get familiar with the city. The first landmark we saw was the Arc De Triomphe of Spain. I have seen the Arc De Triumphe of Paris so it was neat to compare the distinctly different architecture and style. We checked in at our hostel and then went on the search for dinner. We had an authentic Spanish meal of Paella, Tapas, and all. It was delicious.  

Arc De Triomphe

Spanish Cuisine 

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is the oldest English college in the world and has maintained a reputation of excellence since then. Young University has a great relationship with a few staff members of Oxford. The principle of Harris Manchester College (study of theology and religion) came and spoke to us in a formal setting the Sunday before we took our visit to Oxford. He surprised us by inviting us to tea and having a private tour of his college. Before our appointment we wondered around the lovely college town and campus of Oxford. 

Oxford Campus

Before our appointment we wondered around the lovely college town and campus of Oxford. We went to Christ’s Church to see the Dining Hall that has notoriously been feeding visitors that come to the campus as well as starring as the Great Hall in the first Harry Potter film. It was really fun to take a seat and feel the prestige that just looms in the air in the ancient dining hall. We wanted to go into the basilica shaped library, but you have to be a student of Oxford to go in there. We did go to the top of the Sheldonian Theatre that was designed by the infamous Christopher Wren to accommodate formal university ceremonies. I felt an English hospitality the entire time we were in Oxford; it was great.   

Christ's Church

Graves of My Celebrity Men: C.S. Lewis & Winston Churchill

C.S. Lewis 10 feet under

I never knew that the full name of the famous poet that my friends down at BYU quote in their sacrament meeting talks was Clive Staples Lewis. C.S. Lewis is what I have always known until the day I visited his grave. He is buried in the churchyard at the Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry, Oxford. It was pretty cool to see his grave, but more than that it was even cooler to see the church that he worshiped at. I believe that he was a religious man that contemplated the essence of God while getting mixed up in his intellect and philosophy. Some of my new favorite quotes from him that I recently read are:

           

“What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what kind of a person you are.”

            “Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.”

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill could have been buried anywhere in England. He was offered a spot at St. Paul’s Cathedral in the city of London but chose to be buried in his hometown parish churchyard in Blaydon. It was neat to see his grave right next to his wife’s with all of his children on one end and his parents on the other. My professor made a funny comment while we were standing over it. He said, “I bet he is in the spirit world having drinks with Ronald Reagan right now.”   

Blenheim Palace

Visiting palaces would definitely become a hobby if I lived here in England for a long period of time with free time to do so. They fascinate me. When I think about the investment that went into them and continues to pour into them my mind changes and thinks what a waste. When I just enjoy them for the beautiful homes that they are I see the brilliance and beauty that comes with their legacies. The Blenheim Palace is Britain’s greatest palace of baroque architecture. It has been in the Churchill family for 9 generations since John Churchill was named Duke of Marlborough and given the estate for his military service and consistent victories from Queen Ann. Winston Churchill was born in this house, but his family never lived there because his father was the younger brother so his Uncle inherited the estate. It boggled my mind that the entire extended family didn’t live in the palace because it was large enough to easily accommodate everyone with rooms to spare. Old English tradition can be hard to understand at times, but life of a Duke must be luxuriant to wake up in a home like that. 

Philharmonia Orchestra

We were surprised with tickets to the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall on a random weeknight. It was a great surprise because we had all been talking about attending a concert of classical music. Our professors are more aware than we think at times ;) Besides that we have a few music field studies for our humanities class that could be completed with the performance. I loved it. The performance was dedicated to one of the orchestra’s old conductors. Some of his works were played along with those of Mozart, Dvorak, Handel, and Janacek. The symphonic orchestra performance was a little taste of baroque, classical, romantic, and folklore. I loved the concert and arrangements so much that I put some of the music onto my I pod. Yes, I now rock the Mozart while running or on the tube. 

Halloween

Cookie Decorating

I quickly learned after asking a few people that the holiday of Halloween is not celebrated the same here in London as it is in the states. Where I come from it’s a commercialized holiday that brings thoughts of candy, pumpkins, and fun costumes. In England it is a holiday that represents the worshipping of the devil and religious people don’t take any part in it.

The girls in the house would have none of it and decided to bring the commercialized fun to us. They planned a party and required that we all dressed up in costume. I threw together a pirate outfit from items I already had so it worked out nicely. It ended up being really funny to see the different costumes that people went out and bought or threw together. Four of the girls dressed up as Mount Rushmore and won the best costume award. It was hilarious because they were attached the entire night- I found it to be clever and amusing. We decorated cookies, had a doughnut-eating contest from off of a string, and played mafia. It was an all around great night with my family here in London. 

Pirate Costume

Gadfield Elm Chapel

Gadfield Elm Chapel

Gadfiel Elm Chapel, originally built by the United Brethren in 1836, served as a centre for the rapidly growing congregation of saints from 1840 until 1842. During this time a number of prominent LDS church leaders preached here, including Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff. After the new converts immigrated to America the chapel fell into ruin. Over 150 years later, local church members purchased the chapel and restored it. In May 2004 the chapel deed was given to President Gordon B. Hinckley for the ownership of the church. It was the first LDS chapel besides the Kirkland Temple that was built around the same time and represents the flourishing of the gospel and strength of the saints in this part of the world.

President Hinckley's Oak Tree 

The dedication was special for President Hinckley because it was near the land where he had labored as a missionary many years ago. Outside of the chapel he planted an English oak tree during the time of dedication. The tree is still growing, but one day it will be deep rooted and strong in stature. The Gadfield Elm Chapel was a perfect place to end our West trip in Wales. 

Malvern Beacon

We took a little hike up to the top of the Malvern Hills to a place Wilford Woodruff named, Malvern Beacon. He came up to the exact mountaintop we climbed to four times while he was serving in Wales. One of those visits was when he dedicated the land of Wales.

It was a breathtaking view. The wind was blowing really hard when we got to the top of the hill, so hard that you could lean into the wind and it would hold you up. It felt great to have some outside force hold your body weight. I felt like I was skydiving or free falling because it was effortless, but somehow the breeze gave you stability. I found the mountaintop to be an easy place to think clearly and I understood better why many prophets in the scriptures ascended to mountaintops. 

Benbow Hill Farm & Pond

Benbow Pont

This was the beginning of our church history tour in Wales. Wilford Woodruff came from Herfordshire, England and traveled over to Wales with William Benbow to preach the gospel and carry out the business of the Lord. William and Wilford stayed with John & Jane Benbow on their cozy farm. Wilford ended up baptizing John & Jane including almost the entire membership of a local Christian organization, known as the United Brethren (primitive Methodist). The Benbow’s pond was the place of baptism for many people. 

Original Benbow Farm

Later on John & Jane Benbow sold their entire farm and gave their fortune for the publication of the Book of Mormon and Hymnal as well as the passage for 40 families to immigrate to Utah. Talk about sacrifice. Not much is known about Jane Benbow, but she must have been a woman of great faith. Unfortunately, she never made it to the Salt Lake valley and passed away on the journey. 

Wales: Big Pit Coal Mine

Southern Wales changed during the industrial revolution. Factories and mines were built and ran by the British. It created employment for the Welsh people and made them conform to the English language leaving their native tongue of Welsh at home. 

We visited the largest Cole mine in Wales- Big Pit. In the 1900’s it supplied the coal that was consumed in London and other English cities. The Cole mine was functioning until it was closed in 1985. To me mining seemed to be something that was so ancient. At the Big Pit I realized that a lot of people are still working in mines today. The labor conditions are brutal in these Welsch mines. There is hardly any light, cold temperatures, hard manual labor, dusty air, and high danger risks. Nearly every miner had some sort of respiratory disease (e.g. black lung) from working in these awful conditions. My heart broke when I heard that little children came with their mother and father to work in the mines as well to contribute more money to the family. The man that took us on a small tour told us that there was no schooling for the children at the time so it was logical for them to work instead. Most of the children worked in darkness unless if their families could afford to buy candles for them. He also told us that today they are trying to restore the native language of Welsh by teaching it to the children in the schools. Now that a lot of these factories and mines are no longer used today Wales has some of the lowest employment rates in Europe.  

Brighton

Beaches back home in the states are typically warm and sandy. Here In England that is not the case. Brighton beach has rocks in the place of sand and is a bit chilly, especially this time of year. It is a pretty beach and is the most famous one in all of England. I enjoyed watching the ocean water run over my rain boots as it rose with each wave. It was fun to leisurely lay on the rock beds and enjoy the beautiful day that we were lucky to have for our visit.