London, England - Westminster Palace - August 2024

A and I had some downtime between Westminster Abbey ending at midday and a 4:45pm reservation to Churchill's War Rooms. I'd looked at tickets for the Houses of Parliament prior to our trip, and hadn't been sure we'd be able to fit it in between the two reservations. We ended up having enough time, so we went to the ticket window in hopes that we might be able to get some tickets. London was very busy while we were there because Taylor Swift was at Wembley multiple nights we were there - but apparently there's not much of an overlap in the Venn diagram of Taylor Swift fans and fans of the Houses of Parliament, because we were able to get right in within fifteen minutes.

I'm so glad that we got in, because it ended up being one of my favorite things to see in London. Getting to see everything from getting to walk by the House of Lords' and Commons' seats to learning more about Guy Fawkes was really fascinating. I would strongly suggest it to anyone visiting London. They don't allow photos inside of the actual House of Lords or the House of Commons, so these are all from public areas.

I loved this angle from inside of the grounds; you don't see photos of Big Ben at this angle. Coincidentally - I posted previously about our trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. It is the home to several of Claude Monet's Houses of Parliament series of paintings, and I just love it. If you go to Chicago, make sure to hit AIC because it's one of the best in the US.

The old part of Westminster Palace was originally built in 1016. A fire ravaged it in 1834, so it was rebuilt between 1840 and 1876. The exterior is Perpendicular Gothic, similar to Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (previous post: https://www.indecentexposurephoto.com/post/sainte-chapelle-september-2022 ). This just means that it stretches and seems to float toward the sky. I liked the juxtaposition of that history against just a jet in the background - we don't have history like all that in the US.

This statue, Boadicea and Her Daughters, was finished in 1883 and placed here in Westminster Pier in 1902. It's crazy that the London Eye and all of these ultra-modern buildings have grown up around it.

This is the entrance to Westminster Hall, which is the oldest surviving part of the Palace. The arched beams in the ceiling make up the hammerbeam roof, a style that is medieval. This hall is occasionally used for addresses given to both Houses of Parliament at the same time, and used to be the site of coronation banquets until the 19th century.

This stained glass piece is called New Dawn and is by Mary Branson, from 2016. It's so different from more classic stained glass styles; I really like modern takes on stained glass. This one is particularly crazy because it's just so dissimilar to what you would normally encounter with Gothic architecture.

I believe this is St. Stephen's Hall. I really like this photo, not to pat myself on the back. It's less me and more the environment. But these statues are very sweeping.

More of St. Stephen's Hall. I'm not sure who St. Stephen is; I could certainly look it up, but I'd have to bring up another tab, and I really don't want to. Just enjoy the view.

One last look at St. Stephen's Hall. The paintings on either side depict events in British history. This room used to be the House of Commons before the 1834 fire; now it is the entrance to the Central Lobby (just beyond that door), which lies between the Houses of Commons and Lords. This is also the last point at which I was permitted to take photos.