These lovely Victorian buildings, situated right in the middle of tourist London, are certainly well-known landmarks of the city. But they are also full of a rich history, which I learned a great deal about during a visit in late October with the students. We were showed around by an MP's staffer who gave us lots of behind-the-scenes tales of British history and politics. I've often said that I learned more on the subject in that 2-hour tour than I would have in a semester-long course—plus it was lots more fun! Here is my blog post about the tour. And these and more photos of these great buildings can be found in this Flickr set.

Before I get into any of the history, here are a couple of iconic images. The one on the left was taken directly across the Thames, just a few yards upstream of Westminster Bridge. The photo on the right was taken from what Hal's guidebook said is the best vantage point to view the buildings: the south end of Lambeth Bridge, which is the next bridge upstream from Westminster.

Here are some photographic references to the history of the site. The hall with the impressive ceiling is Westminster Hall, a medieval structure that is by far the oldest section of the complex. (The website linked to in the previous sentence is part of www.parliament.uk, the official site. It has all kinds of other really interesting historical, political, and cultural information about Parliament and their wonderful Houses.) On the right is a plaque in the floor which commemorates Winston Churchill's state funeral in 1965. And at the bottom is a memento of older history that I found interestingly ironic. It's a statue of Oliver Cromwell, who actually dissolved Parliament at one point during the tumultuous 1650's. We heard a lot about these events during our tour.

Now, back to just visually enjoying these wonderful structures that have seen so much history. I took the photo on the left as I emerged from the Westminster tube station one morning and was surprised to find myself right at the foot of the Big Ben tower (as readers of my blog should know, "Big Ben" isn't "the clock nor the tower but the bell that sounds the hour"!). The Westminster station is a large one, with several (I seem to remember 6) different exits and that early in my London wanderings I had no idea when I chose one exactly what I'd see when I came up to street level. But what an impressive surprise to look up and get such a sight!

The middle photo was also taken early in my stay, when I was strolling along the South Bank by the County Hall. I loved the Salvador Dali sculpture there, and a bonus was the Big Ben tower (and even the tops of Westminster Abbey's towers) in the background. The fine photo on the right was taken during Henry's first day in the city, in early October.

At the opposite end of the complex from its more famous cousin is the equally lovely Victoria Tower, which I not only like as architecture, but am partial to because it's where the Parliamentary Archives are stored. (A librarian from this august repository spoke at a meeting I attended in November and I learned quite a bit, professionally, about the Archives from her talk.)

The photos on the left and in the middle were taken, probably on the same day, by myself and Henry, respectively. On the right you can see another function served by the Tower: when Parliament is in session, they fly a flag from on top. As you can see, on the previous visit, the MPs weren't at work. But the photo with the flag, taken just a few days earlier, shows they were on the job that day.

Here are two more shots of these ever-photogenic buildings. Hal and Sally were near the prime viewing spot on the South Bank for the shot on the left, and the one on the right shows the other side of the Big Ben tower, from across Parliament Square. The rather distinctive, but not nearly as lovely, buildings directly across the street from the tower are, I believe, goverment buildings of some sort.

As handsome as the Houses of Parliament are during the day, at night they are even more spectacular. Henry took the fine shot below of the Big Ben tower at night early in his first London stay. And on the same photo expedition along the Thames he took the glorious photo of the whole complex that's below it. The shot of the tower down Bridge Street, looking toward Parliament Square from the Churchill Museum, which we'd just toured, was taken on his second visit, in November. The photo of Victoria Tower at night is one I took earlier in November, probably while showing other guests these lovely monuments to democracy.

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