Tuesday. May 24.
Andy would be
back at work today, but we had
arranged to visit him for lunch at
the Google office where he worked.
Liz, who started work later, would
accompany us. The three of us left
at 11:45, took the tube to
Victoria Station and walked to the
Google building. We had to sign in
at a security checkpoint to get
in. Andy met us at the elevator
and walked us through the office.
Besides the working areas, there
were multiple food stations of
varying kinds, assorted
amusements, exercise rooms, a nap
room, a massage room, a music room
furnished with various
instruments. We finally went to a
large cafeteria for lunch. The
assortment was fantastic, but we
had not allowed enough time to
enjoy it. Andy had to go to a
meeting, and he was our required
escort. Liz also had to get to
work, so she left us in the lobby,
still eating the ice cream we has
started before we had to leave the
cafeteria.
Jane in
Reception |
Andy at cycle
desk |
Jane & Darrell
with robots |
Andy in the
music room |
Grizzly Andy
with liz |
Fruit bar |
Darrell & Jane
at Google bar |
YouTube is a
tube car |
We ride in the
YouTube |
From the Google
office, we walked a few blocks to
Westminster Cathedral. This is the
largest Catholic church in
England. Surprisingly, it was
built (1903) in a neo-Byzantine
style. The upper part of the apse
and nave were supposed to be
covered with rich mosaics, but
they were never completed.
Westminster
Cathedral |
Interior of
Cathedral
|
|
Westminster
Abbey
|
Westminster
Abbey
|
|
We continued a few more blocks
to Westminster Abbey. Unlike the
Cathedral, the Abbey was mobbed
with tourists. We did not even try
to get inside. (We had visited the
Abbey in 1961.) It was already
15:20, and we were still hoping to
get into the Parliament building,
the Palace of Westminster.
We had been told multiple times
that we could not get into
Parliament without signing up in
advance for a specific
guided tour, but
our schedule had been too
uncertain to do that. Darrell could not
imagine that sessions of the
parliament would not be open to
the public, so we thought we would
give it a try.
Palace of Westminster |
When we got
to the Palace of Westminster about
15:30, we saw that most of the
area outside the entrance was set
up to accommodate lines of people
taking the tours. There was one
short line marked off to the left,
though, that only had a couple of
people in it. We went over there
and asked about getting in. At
first the guard insisted we could
only go on a pre-scheduled tour.
After we explained our situation,
he gave us passes for the public
gallery of the House of Commons
and sent us to a different
entrance than the tours used.
After going through security,
we passed through gigantic Westminster
Hall, the oldest existing part of
the Palace of Westminster, erected
in 1097. Then we walked down a long, high
corridor leading to the entrance
to Commons. We climbed several
flights of stairs and came out at
the top of the gallery. The entire
opening between the gallery and
the chamber below was covered by
bullet/blast resistant glass.
There were speakers and TV
monitors in the gallery so we
could follow what was going on
below. The members were discussing
immigration, then Brexit. (This
was before the vote.)
Westminster Hall |
Corridor into
Parliament |
House of Commons |
After about 30 minutes, we left
the gallery. There had been no
guard or attendant to guide us on
the way up to the gallery, but now
a woman guard asked if we would
like to ride down on the lift. On
the way down, she asked if we
would like to visit the House of
Lords, too. We were only too happy
to accept. She led us through the
huge Central Lobby (octagonal)
where the tours gather and down
the corridor leading to Lords.
The routine was much the same
there, but there seemed to be
fewer stairs. There was no glass
separating the gallery from the
chamber below, and there were no
TV monitors showing the
proceedings below. There were
monitors identifying each speaker,
though. The Lords chamber was
noticeably more plush than
Commons.
Octogonal central
hall |
House of Lords |
Corrdors lined
with murals |
|
Big Ben
|
We left after
about 20 minutes and walked past
Big Ben, then to Westminster Station.
Somehow we managed to get on the
wrong train and had to get off at
the next station and ride back. It
was rush hour, just after 17:00,
and the train was packed. Jane had
to ask a young woman to yield a
seat reserved for elderly passengers, the
first time someone had not
promptly offered her a seat. I
stood. We
got back to Andy's about 18:00.
Andy and Liz had a friend who
joined us for dinner that
evening. He was a compulsive
"speed eater" who finished
off his generous meal before
we could take a second fork
full. Yet he did not take
seconds
