Today was another crazy and busy day. First we went to the Houses of Parliament, which is actually the Westminster Palace but is now known as the House of Parliament because that is where all of the government meetings are held. The building was another work of art, not quite as magnificant as Windsor Castle, but still beautiful. Our tour guide explained all of the technical things that happen within the building, but i'm gona be honest, I was super bored. Parliament just isn't my thing. But, the next place we went, which was Westminster Abbey, was my absolute favorite place that we have visited so far, and I am so disappointed that we weren't able to take pictures and share them with all of you. The outside, again like all the others, was stunning. The inside was even more beautiful though. I am so disappointed that we were unable to take pictures and share with all of you, because it would have blown you away. For those that don't know, an abbey is another name for a church, so Westminster Abbey is the royal family's church. It is a building of great, great significance. It was built in the 1000s and most of the original architecture is still standing, if you can believe that. The building that I wrote about previous to this, the House of Parliament, or in this case the Westminster Palace, was built just so King Henry the 3rd could watch Westminster Abbey being built from his tower. he didn't get to see it get finished though because it took around 500 years to build from start to finish. Westminster Abbey is a gothic themed architecture with tall points at the top of each arch. The art in this building is unbelievable, and I can't quite wrap my head around how they carved these intricate designs out of wood and stone in that era. Aside from the beautiful architecture, this building has a much greater meaning to it. There are some 3,000 people burried beneath and in tombs within the Westminster Abbey, and some of them are amongst the most important in London's history. The four most important burrials that our guide went over with us was first the tomb of the unknown soldier. This signifies the men that gave their lives for their country and were never identified during World War One. On his tomb, it reads that the man that lies there had done good towards god and towards his home, and he holds high honor in Westminster Abbey. His tomb is surrounded by poppys to symbolize rememberance. This unknown soldier was the last individual burried in Westminster Abbey in the year of 1920. The other important people burried inside include Issac Newton, who was burried there in 1727, Charles Darwin, and Charles Dickens. People that come to Westminster Abbey stand on the black slab above Issac Newton's grave to feel his greatness, which I think is very cool. Many kings and queens are also burried in the building, many of them have had coronation there. Royal weddings, funerals, and important acts such as those have took place at Westminster Abbey as well. The building held a lot of history and was a very significant part of this trip. I feel extrememly privelaged to be able to say that I went inside and learned a little about their history. I enjoyed it very much!
After we left Westminster Abbey, Nick, Jessica, Mary and I booked it to the Tower of London to tour that. It was interesting, but I didn't have nearly as good of time there as I did at Westminster Abbey. However, we did get to see the Crown Jewels, and they were so pretty! Unfortunately, again, we couldn't take pictures of that part. Another cool part of the towers was the torture tower, where we got to see the instruements and tools they actually used to torture people years back!
The front of the House of Parliament
This is the front of the beautiful Westminster Abbey.
Also the front of Westminster Abbey, but zoomed in. I found this part very cool becasue one of the 3rd statue from the left is of Martin Luther King Jr.! One of our own made it onto this important piece of history.
This is just one section of the Tower of London, but a very cool looking picture I thought!
This is the perfect picture to portray how we are feeling after our first week of constant going. Any chance we get to sit down we take it!
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