Friday, March 29 – Harrow on the Hill
The tours of London buildings continues. I have two booked today, both at The British Library. The first covers their holdings, and the second focuses on the building itself. Each tour lasted about 75 minutes and cost £10. There were about a dozen people in each tour.
With more than 150 million items in its collection, The British Library is the second largest library in the World, trailing only the Library of Congress. If you’re interested, here’s a link to a listing of the Top Ten.
The items below are displayed in the library’s Treasures Gallery. This was part of the guided tour, but the room is also open to the public during normal library hours.
This was a fun day exploring the library!
Saturday, March 30 – Harrow on the Hill
My manic tours of various London buildings concludes today. I’m guessing you’re relieved by that statement. Apologies if I’ve bored you to death!
I’m back to the Palace of Westminster (The Houses of Parliament) for a rare treat – a tour of The Speaker’s House. This tour is only offered during the long Easter weekend, and occasionally during the summer when the speaker is away.
The house is three stories tall, with the top floor being the residence of the Speaker. The second floor is used for administrative purposes, and our tour covered the first floor. The rooms viewed were the Speaker’s Study, the Crimson Drawing Room, the Corner Drawing Room, the State Dining Room, and the State Bedroom. All were very opulent and contained portraits of past Speakers, as well as gifts from visiting dignitaries. The State Dining Room was especially impressive (as you can imagine).
The State Bedroom is meant to be the place where the monarch sleeps the night before their coronation in Westminster Abbey. Apparently though King Charles choose not to participate in this tradition (our guide said that the bed is very uncomfortable!)
The tour lasted 75 minutes. There were 14 of us, and the cost was £20. Here’s a link to UK Parliament’s website with more information on The Speaker’s House, if you’re interested.
As with the other tours in the Palace of Westminster, no photography was allowed.
Below are a couple photos from my visit to the Palace. I’m pretty sure I’ve posted similar pictures from this trip already, but I just can’t resist!
As you can see, it was a beautiful day. I did a lot of walking, mainly in the area to the west of the Palace, avoiding the crowds around Westminster Bridge, Westminster Abbey and St. James’s Park.
Sunday, March 31 – Harrow on the Hill
Ended up staying on the Hill today. Pretty much low key. Did go for a walk though!
Monday, April 1 – Harrow on the Hill
Busy day! Laundry, flat cleaning, 1st quarter financial stuff, journal entry, and prep for my trip tomorrow.
I’m heading to Slovakia and Austria for a few days. No laptop again. I’m back on Sunday, so I’ll likely have the next entry posted on the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Have a great week!
Tim the pictures of the British library are incredible specially the architecture. I also like the facade of the Harrow library. Looking forward for your Austria and Slovakia entries.
When built the library wasn’t to everyone’s tastes (including then Prince Charles). But it later became the youngest ever Grade I listed building in the UK. Thanks for the note Georgina!