Touristy stuff

Wow. I am really disappointed right now. It looks like the blog that I worked really hard on last night didn't post. :( I don't know what happened because I know I posted it. But I didn't save it anywhere else. Did anyone see it? Well, it was all about how I was so excited yesterday to see Nick Clegg is person. But to be honest, now I'm just upset so that excitement seems a long way off... I'll try to recreate a bit of it here, but it won't be as complete...

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!! That was what was going through my head when I first saw Nick Clegg in person!! It was so cool! It was my version of being close to a rock star! But let me back up. I went to a meeting of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee yesterday. The part that the public was allowed in started at 10 and a bit before that a police officer showed up which is when I started getting excited. Then all of a sudden, he was there! Talking to some advisors was Clegg! The officer called for witnesses to enter the room (before advisors, media, and other interested parties, i.e. me) and Clegg walked right past me about a foot in front of me. You all should be very proud that I didn't start jumping up and down and hitting the person next to me out of excitement. The meeting itself was rather boring as everyone seems keen to put the referendum behind them so they talked very little about it and its ramifications. Oh well, it was worth it to spend two hours sitting effectively one chair away from Nick Clegg (I was the second row back so there was only one chair between myself and the Deputy Prime Minsiter). When the meeting was over we both got up and he looked right at me!!!! I nodded at him, but was too chicken to offer my hand (but who didn't see that coming?). For the record, Sam, we are counting this as achieving the goal of meeting him and you'll notice I still have a year to spare!

After that, I had lunch before a 2pm interview with a clerk. It went well, but I felt a bit more awkward than the other interviews. It was okay though. To be honest there was a longer description of it on my lost blog post, but I don't have the energy to recreate it. :( Sorry.

I picked up two books (one yesterday and one today) on the coalition government which made me very happy. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a geek, but we all knew that anyway. Plus, I need something to read of the plane!

Today I did the touristy thing (doubling the number of pictures I have taken all week). Actually, to be fair, part of the reason I took so many pictures today is that when I looked at my pictures yesterday (too slow to upload them here) they were blue because my camera settings had been changed accidentally. So today I took a bunch of normal colored pictures! I took one of those hop on, hop off tour buses from Paddington to the Tower of London this morning. I had never been into the tower before. It was pretty cool and I'm glad I did it. I took a guided tour (it was wonderfully free) that helped me understand some of the history although I know my understanding is lacking. The cool part for me was seeing the crown jewels. It was crazy to think how much priceless stuff was surrounding me! The fun part was that I realized that these things had been in the hands (or on the heads) of kings and queens! It reminded me of when I was in the House of Lords last year and I realized I was standing where the Queen had stood. After that I went back to Parliament and took so many pictures! You can disagree all you wish, but I don't think I can have enough pictures of that place. I just find it so amazing and beautiful!! To think everything that has gone on in that building! I also walked to Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace for more pictures before getting on the tour bus back to Paddington. The way back took forever because they stopped every two minutes-seriously there do not need to be two stops within a half mile of each other!! People can just walk!

I leave tomorrow morning. Its hard to leave in some ways. Some really awesome things have happened this week! I mean I got to interview 6 MPs, and a clerk, look Nick Clegg in the eye, go into Portcullis House and the Houses of Parliament and just generally soak in London! At the same time, I wish I had someone to share it with. I'll admit I have gotten a bit lonely so in that respect I'm ready to leave. It's like being in Bath-it's not that I want to leave so much as I want everyone I know to come and share the experience with me!

Thanks for reading!

Cheers!