Since yesterday was the 400th anniversary of the failed plot to blow up the houses of parliament, I expected things to be a little crowded. The queue to get into Parliament was long.
But it was moving relatively quickly. When we finally got to the top of the line we were met by the cop in the high visibility jacket whom you might be able to make out in the photo above.
He was very cheerful and asked us what we had come to see. He was clutching one of the Gunpowder Plot brochures, and we said we were there for that, but I asked "Why? Are there any other options?"
He said "No, but a lot of people think this is Westminster Abbey and stand in line for 40 minutes before they get to me and I tell them it's not."
"Do they leave with a smile?" I said.
I know he had heard me and the Texan talking in our American accents and assumed that we were foreign tourists. That's a fair assumption, we're both foreign and tourists but we're residents, too.
For those unfamiliar with London landmarks, as we stood in the queue Westminster Abbey was directly behind us and had bells ringing continuously (for commemoration of the 5th of November), it's a big old building and hard to miss. As you exit the local tube station, there are signs pointing you to the Abbey or the Houses of Parliament. I suppose that some confusion could be created due to the fact that the Houses of Parliament are also called the Palace of Westminster - and it's true that there are no signs saying "This is Parliament - you are here".
To me, it seems obvious, but I guess some people don't know the local landmarks. For example, when I was waiting to meet the Vol-in-Law one day (when we meet up in the Westminster area, we usually choose to meet in front of Parliament, beneath the statue of Oliver Cromwell) I was approached by an American who pointed vaguely in the direction Ollie and said "What's that?"
I said "That's a statue of Oliver Cromwell." I was fully prepared to go into a bit of a lecture about Mr Cromwell, the execution of the King, and England's brief period as a Republic. But he said "No, what's that?" and then waved generally at the building.
"That's the parliament building," I said, a bit dumbfounded. I thought it was so obvious that I wondered if I were on one of those candid camera tv shows. Then he pointed up at the giant clock tower and said "What's that?"
"Big Ben" I replied*.
Anyway, when we got past the head of the line - we got to another line. The one for the security hut. Our bags were scanned and we were subject to the full body frisk. When I first went to the Parliament building over nine years ago, we just walked in. Sure we had to speak to the cop at the door, but once we were in we were subject to very little scrutiny. When we got to Strangers' Gallery at House of Lords I was simply asked to check in my camera. This was after there had been a successful car bombing at Parliament, but before 9/11.
From the NPR timeline "Exposive London":
In June 1974 , the IRA bombs the House of Parliament, causing extensive damage and injuring 11 people.
and
March 30, 1979: A car bomb outside the House of Commons kills Airey Neave, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland. The Irish National Liberation Army, an Irish republican paramilitary group associated with the Irish Republican Socialist Party, claims responsibility.
And it wasn't until relatively recently that there were concrete barriers to protect against car bombing.
Anyway, we finally get in to the Palace of Westminster, but there's no time to take in the view. We are directed immediately to what I think is the Great Hall...
...just in time to see the last few minutes of an actor playing Guy Fawkes, explaining the plot and addressing us as if we were co-conspirators. The picture is dreadful, but you get the idea.
And here's an effigy of Guy Fawkes - ones nearly as fancy as these are burned every year in the larger 5 November festivals.
You can see the fuse he planned to set and the horn lantern he held when he was found.
There was a good informative exhibit outlining the sectarian strife and providing background on the Gunpowder Plot and why it has been celebrated ever since.. The exhibit included a key to cellar where he rented and stored the gunpowder and lantern he was found with (but both were carefully labelled "said to"). They key was particularly dubious, because it was found in the ashes of the previous Parliament building when it burned down and only during the 20th century was the key associated with Guy Fawkes. But I guess they were hard up for tangible goods.
I hadn't realised quite how much the event was spun at the time. By the end of November 1605, books had been published which contained the speech the King was to give that night and background to the plot. The foiled terrorism was used to foment more animosity toward Catholics, though I don't imagine much encouragement was needed.
This year, I many people are drawing parallels between 5/11 (dates in the UK go Day/Month/Year) and 9/11. One of my fellow expat bloggers has something to say about that. Yes, 5/11 might have been worse had it succeeded - the entire Royal Family and most of the ruling classes would have been killed and probably much of the Westminster area would have burned to the ground. Nearly as many people would have been killed and as much property damaged. But the key difference of course is that it didn't succeed.
There are some other parallels, of course. After Guy Fawkes was captured, he was tortured. This wasn't automatic. King James I had to authorise the torture personally and it was to be used only after the regular interrogation failed. Here are pictures of his signature before, during and after his interrogation and torture (for no, he would not talk).
As we left the exhibit we, of course, checked out the Houses of Parliament gift shop. You can buy House of Commons whisky and a flask to put it in (for those extra long legislative sessions), cuff links, scarves, notebooks, Christmas ornaments and fridge magnets. I bought nothing. When we finally left the hall, there was an amazing view of Big Ben and the London Eye.
The Texan was desperate for Dim Sum at this point so we walked up past Whitehall, St James Park, when we got to the Mall we saw a most disturbing sight. The Mall was lined with British and Chinese flags. (Apparently the Chinese premiere is visiting later this week.) I'd seen this once before so it wasn't so shocking this time. But I really disapprove of flying the communist Chinese flag as if Britain were some kind of vanquished collaborator.
So after that we headed up to London's China town to enjoy a lengthy meal of Dim Sum at the Texan's favorite Dim Sum restaurant "Gerrard's Corner". I have to say it certainly was tasty. But as I was sitting in the restaurant I started to feel a nasty cold coming on, which I now have, and which has caused this post to be a bit rambling. Below is a picture of the main street in London's China town.
We walked back through London and through Trafalgar Square to Waterloo Station and home again. And now my cold is really bad.
*Update: It has been pointed out that the bell inside the clock tower is Big Ben - not the tower itself. True.
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