I’ve just finished a delightful a day on the town!  The rest of my gang decided to beat the heat by visiting Brighton beach, so I had the whole day to myself here in London.  It was fabulous!  At 10:30, I went on a university-sponsored tour of the Parliament building and came out feeling both awed and dazed by everything I'd seen.  We began our tour in the Queen's chambers which were so ornate and splendid that I felt a little dizzy.  Westminster had to be rebuilt completely after a huge fire in the mid 1800's, and the present decoration scheme is Victorian at its most lavish!  Everything in the Queen's chambers and the House of Lords is gold and red velvet.  The House of Lords in particular is so richly detailed that everything begins to blend if you look in one spot too long, and the Queen's throne is absolutely ridiculous.  Throughout the halls, large portraits and statues of past monarchs and prime ministers stare imposingly, and one room is dedicated entirely to the Tudor Dynasty.  The House of Commoners, of course, is a bit more subdued.   The color scheme there was primarily brown and off-white stone.  

I learned a lot listening to our tour guide; for example, I never knew that the House of Lords is an unelected body or that the Lord Chancellor was recently replaced as head of the House of Lords by an elected official.  And I had no idea that Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister until 1990!  So England has elected a female political head before the United States has, hm?  We'd better catch up soon!  I also learned that all Parliamentary debates are free and open to the public.  Uven and I might attend one on Monday.  Interesting stuff.  (I found out, too, that the queen still addresses Parliament every year and has to approve all government bills.  However, her speeches are written for her by Parliament, and she has no say in the passing of bills.  She is required to give her consent.  I wonder why they even have a queen anymore?)

After the Parliament building tour, I hopped on the tube and headed to Covent Garden.  Last night, I'd searched online and discovered a discount matinee' ticket to "See How They Run!" (a West End comedy at the Duchess Theater).  I went ahead and purchased it, and I'm so glad I did.  At first I wondered if the show would be worth 10 pounds (normal tickets are actually 30 pounds and above; I got a very good deal), but after the curtains closed on the last act, I would've paid twice as much to see the show again!  The acting was astounding, the cast was perfect, and the characters' interpretation of the script kept me in stitches from beginning to end!  Everyone in the audience was literally roaring, grasping their seats, and rocking in their chairs for two solid hours.  Like I said, the show was brilliant!  My favorite character of all was Ida--the Cockney maid.  The original actress was still playing the role, and she had all of her character's mannerisms and quirks down to an art!  I didn't want to leave the theater when the play had finished, and I actually considered going to see it again.  After thinking about it, though, I decided that my money would be better spent seeing other shows.  :-)  So on Monday, for 11 pounds, I'm going to watch "The Boyfriend"--a musical set in the Roaring 20's (and, incidentally, the first play that Julie Andrews starred in on London's West End).  I can't wait!

After watching the play, I decided to explore Covent Garden.  It turned out to be the perfect place for an afternoon stroll!  People painted like statues line the streets and perform their routines whenever someone throws them money.  Magicians set up stands, acrobats perform tricks, and street artists paint caricatures.  It's like a perpetual carnival!  An ice-cream stand at the main entrance to the plaza was giving away free "Skinny Cow" ice-cream bars (only 3% fat!), and I managed to get one both before and after "See How They Run."   Free lunch--hurrah!  My favorite part of Covent Garden is the central area, though.  During every hour in the day, you can find professional musicians performing to an audience in the central square, collecting money, and trying to sell CD's.  These are no ordinary street corner performers; these are musicians who deserve to be playing in Carnegie Hall, and probably do play at the major theaters in the evenings.  I heard two opera singers (male and female) and two different string quartets.  My favorite was a string quartet that seemed more like a theater troupe than anything else.  They literally danced around, shouted at the audience, and teased individual people--all while playing classical favorites (Vivaldi's "Spring," Brahms' "Hungarian," etc.).  I enjoyed the performance so much that I dropped my last 70 pence in the case of the violinist.  I was penniless (penceless?) and hungry, but very happy!  (I took care of the "hungry" part by wandering back to the ice-cream stand and picking up another free "Skinny Cow" bar.  Mm. . .)

I then browsed through some of the clothing stores (expensive!) and tourist shops, and ended up purchasing a few little trinkets for my family. After that, I took the tube to Harrod's.   Mom and Dad told me that it was a must-see, so I decided to take a quick look.

I soon discovered that Harrod's requires much, much more than a "quick look!"  The place is absolutely massive; a block wide and five stories high.  The outside is beautiful and very imposing, and the inside is just as ritzy.  I walked into a designer clothes shop and found a 2,000 pound dress.  Literally!  (I'm talking about monetary value here, not weight!)  That's the equivalent of almost $4,000.  I also found a display of the feathery hats and headdresses I've seen fancy ladies wearing round and about.  I tried snapping a photo, but my attempt was halted suddenly by a nervous-looking saleslady in a suit who kept adjusting the feathers on the hat displays and pacing restlessly.  "Photographs are not allowed," she said curtly.  Did she think I was trying to steal the company's newest designs or something?  Pull-ease!

My favorite areas of the store were the children's department and the food court.  The children's department was filled with life-sized stuffed animals, designer children's clothes (ridiculous!), and all sorts of fairytale costumes and toys (with nothing cheaper than 100 pounds, of course).  And the food court was incredible!  One entire room was devoted to chocolate alone; that was my favorite spot.  There were also sections devoted to exotic cheese, meats, vegetables, etc. etc. etc.  I snapped pictures to my heart's delight while in the food court, and no nervous salesladies tried stopping me!