Great Finds in LONDON
by Vanessa Shaw-Finelli
 arlier this year we sold our lovely home on Perico Island, through an ad in Taste Dining & Travel . We chose to down-size so that we could travel for longer periods over the summer months. We took full advantage of that this summer and were out of Florida for several weeks.
Our first stop was London England, to my roots, my heart and my family. The place from where we are very lucky to have a base with my parents and from where we launch many a Taste travel article in Europe. This one, in London, was very special as we had an invitation from our lovely English friend Mary. We know Mary from here in Bradenton. In the spring she returns from here, to her home near London and works for the Queen at Buckingham Palace addressing all the hundreds of Garden Party envelopes along with a trusty band of 'perennial'ladies. Mary chose us to join her for the staff invitation day at the Palace. This is held only once a year when members of the Royal Staff and two guests can tour and see new exhibits before the Palace is opened to the public. It was a real treat due to the lack of crowds.
The weather was hot and humid, yes it happens in England too, so this relative quiet above all, was much appreciated. We all enjoyed the summer's special exhibition, a first, of Her Majesty's evening dresses and jewellery through her endless international ambassadorial travels. The Queen has visited over 325 countries on official duties so far during her reign which began in 1953.
BUCKINGHAM PALACE
Buckingham Palace has only been opened to the public in the last several years and only in August and September every year. We are usually not in England at this time, so I have never visited before. It was more fabulous and grand than I had expected. Here are some interesting facts and history:
 Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837. It evolved from a town house that was owned from the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Dukes of Buckingham. Today it is The Queen's official residence.
The State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during the Annual Summer Opening in August and September. They are lavishly furnished with some of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection - paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin, Canaletto and Claude; sculpture by Canova and Chantrey; exquisite examples of Sèvres porcelain; and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world.
George III bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a comfortable family home close to St James's Palace, where many court functions were held. Buckingham House became known as the Queen's House, and 14 of George III's 15 children were born there.
In 1762 work began on remodeling the house to the King's requirements, to designs by Sir William Chambers, at a cost of £73,000, (approx.$131,000!). George IV, on his accession in 1820, decided to reconstruct the house into a pied-à-terre, using it for the same purpose as his father George III.
 As work progressed, and as late as the end of 1826, the King had a change of heart. With the assistance of his architect, the famous John Nash, he set about transforming the house into a palace. Parliament agreed to a budget of £150,000, (approx. $270,000) but the King pressed for £450,000 (approx. $810,000) as a more realistic figure! Faced with mellow stone from Bath, the external style reflected the French neo-classical influence favoured by George IV.
Queen Victoria was the first sovereign to take up residence in July 1837, just three weeks after her accession, and in June 1838 she was the first British sovereign to leave from Buckingham Palace for a Coronation. Her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840 soon showed up the Palace's shortcomings.
Aserious problem for the newly married couple was the absence of any nurseries and too few bedrooms for visitors. The only solution was to move the Marble Arch-it now stands at the Northeast corner of Hyde Park-and build a fourth wing, thereby creating a quadrangle.
Besides being the official London residence of The Queen, Buckingham Palace is also the busy administrative headquarters of the Monarchy and has probably the most famous façade of any building in the world.
Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms. These include 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. In measurements, the building is 108 metres long across the front, 120 metres deep (including the central quadrangle) and 24 metres high.
The Palace is very much a working building and the centrepiece of Britain's monarchy. It houses the offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family.
Although Buckingham Palace is furnished and decorated with priceless works of art that form part of the Royal Collection, one of the major art collections in the world today, it is not an art gallery and nor is it a museum.
Its State Rooms form the nucleus of the working Palace and are used regularly by The Queen and members of the Royal Family for official and State entertaining.
More than 50,000 people visit the Palace each year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the Royal Garden Parties. To find out more click on: www.royal.gov.uk
RULES
During another couple of very enjoyable days in London we experienced the very well produced Sinatra Show at the Palladium, dinner at the oldest restaurant in London, Rules, and a visit to the Houses of Parliament the following day. We know how to have fun!
 Rules, a bastion of English dining style and heritage is situated in the heart of London, in bustling Covent Garden. Managing Director Rick McMenemy kindly made sure that we were well cared for at such short notice.
Rules flourishes as the oldest restaurant in London. In over 200 years, spanning the reigns of nine monarchs, it has been owned by only three families. Just before The Great War, Charles Rule, a descendant of the founder, was thinking of moving to Paris; by sheer coincidence he met Tom Bell, a Briton who owned a Parisian restaurant called the Alhambra, and the two men decided to swap businesses.
In 1984 Tom Bell's daughter sold Rules to John Mayhew, the present owner. Today Rules seats around 150 people on three floors, employs 100 staff and serves an average of 500 people a day!
 Rules serves the traditional food of this country at its best -and at affordable prices. It specialises in classic game cookery, oysters, pies and puddings. Rules is fortunate in owning an estate in the High Pennines, "England's last wilderness," which supplies game for the restaurant and where it is able to exercise its own quality controls and determine how the game is treated.
Throughout its long history the tables of Rules have been crowded with writers, artists, lawyers, journalists and actors. As well as being frequented by great literary talents - including Charles Dickens. The past lives on at Rules and can be seen on the walls all around you - captured in literally hundreds of drawings, paintings and cartoons. The late John Betjeman, then Poet Laureate, described the ground floor interior as "unique and irreplaceable, and part of literary and theatrical London."
Our dinner reservation was early, even for pre-theatre, so a relatively quiet time. However the place gradually came to life and is always fully booked, as we found out during previous visits. The service, old establishment ambiance and adorning artwork was as excellent as the food. We were all very pleased with our choices of Leek and Potato soup, (the best my father had ever had), Innes Farm Goat Cheese Fritters, Damson Relish and Bacon, Froman's 'London Cure' Smoked Salmon with free Range Scrambled Egg and Asparagus! I'm getting hungry just remembering all this sumptuous but unfussy food.
Light bites followed, Lobster Salad with Potted Shrimp and a shared staple, Steak and Kidney Pie, which was all so fresh and delicious. The pie, of course made with the light, fluffy pastry on, not added after! Abig NO, sorting out the good food places from the poor! An excellent range wine list was available, quality and price-wise, which we always like to see, along with Ports and Champagne also.
Wonderful cheeses and 'cockle-warming' puddings tempted us sorely. But alas it was too early to succumb. Next time I'm going straight for the puds! Avery good visit to Rules was had by us all. A Great Find in London and well worth booking ahead to assure a lovely dining experience. Rules, 35, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7LB tel: 001 44 207 836 5314 (from US) www.rules.co.uk
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
This was another first for me and again only open to the public recently and when government is not in session over the summer months.
The UK Parliament is one of the oldest representative assemblies in the world, having its origins in the mid-13th Century. The United Kingdom Parliament today comprises members from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The present two-chamber system began in the 14th Century in England: the House of Lords and the House of Commons sit separately and are constituted on entirely different principles. The relationship between the two Houses is governed largely by convention but is in part defined by the Parliament Acts. The legislative process involves both Houses of Parliament and the Monarch.
Parliament has a maximum duration of five years. At any time up to the end of this period, a general election can be held for a new House of Commons.
Parliament, as a political institution, has developed over hundreds of years. During that period the two distinct Houses - Commons and Lords - emerged and the balance of power between Parliament and the monarchy changed dramatically.
Don't get confused if your guide starts referring to the 'Palace'- you're not in the wrong place!
Until 1512 the royal family lived where Parliament is now situated, but a fire forced them to move out-however, the site remained a royal palace. Therefore, its official title is the Palace of Westminster.
The site of the Houses of Parliament is the Palace of Westminster, a royal palace and former residence of kings. The layout of the Palace is intricate, with its existing buildings containing nearly 1,200 rooms, 100 staircases and well over 3 kilometers (2 miles) of passages. Among the original historic buildings is Westminster Hall, used nowadays for major public ceremonial events.
Control of the Palace of Westminster and its precincts was for centuries exercised by the Queen's representative, the Lord Great Chamberlain. By agreement with the Crown, control passed to the two Houses in 1965. Certain ceremonial rooms continue to be controlled by the Lord Great Chamberlain.
LORD'S CHAMBER
In general, the functions of the House of Lords are similar to those of the House of Commons in legislating, debating and questioning the laws. There are two important exceptions: members of the Lords do not represent constituencies, and are not involved in matters of taxation and finance. The role of the Lords is generally recognised to be complementary to that of the Commons and it acts as a revising chamber for many of the more important and controversial bills.
The Lord's Chamber is a lavishly decorated room, 45x 80 ft.. The benches in the Chamber as well as other furnishings in the Lord's side of the Palace, are all upholstered in opulent and stunning red leather. The upper part of the Chamber is decorated by stained glass windows and six huge frescoes representing religion, chivalry and law. The upper part, or the viewing gallery was constructed in the 1920s to hide the ankles and lower legs of the viewing women: fashion was becoming increasingly promiscuous, as they saw it, and the sight of the bare legs was deemed unsuitable for the Lords!
COMMON'S CHAMBER
The House of Commons is traditionally regarded as the lower house, but it is the main parliamentary arena for political battle. A Government can only remain in office for as long as it has the support of a majority in the House of Commons. As with the House of Lords, the House of Commons debates new primary legislation as part of the process of making an Act of Parliament, but the Commons has priority over the non-elected House of Lords. 'Money bills', concerned solely with taxation and public expenditure, are always introduced in the Commons and must be passed by the Lords promptly and without amendment. When the two houses disagree on a non-money bill, the Parliament Acts can be invoked to ensure that the will of the elected chamber prevails.
The House also scrutinises the work of the Government - it does that by various means, including questioning ministers in the Chamber and through the Select Committee system. It was so interesting to be in this most famous place, now shown on TV also.
The Common's Chamber measures 46x68 ft. and is far more austere than the grand Lord's Chamber. The benches, as well as other furnishings here are of green coloured leather. It is illegal for any public to sit on any of these benches, much to the dismay of our very tired legs at the time! We were very tempted though, I can assure you.
By tradition the British Sovereign does not enter the Chamber of the House of Commons. The last monarch to do so was King Charles I in 1642 when he sought to arrest 5 Members of Parliament on charges of high treason!
The two red lines on the floor are, by tradition, two sword lengths and one foot apart. Protocol dictates that MPs may not cross theses lines when speaking, Historically this was to prevent disputes in the House from developing into duels!
THE MEDIAEVAL HALL OF WESTMINSTER
William I, having established his first stronghold at the Tower, later moved to Westminster; and it is from the reign of his son, William Rufus, that the first buildings on the site, including Westminster Hall, the Great Hall, which was built at the northern end of the Palace, still stand today after celebrating nine hundred years of continuous use in 1999.
 The hall was designed originally as a place for feasting and entertaining, but its very size made it more than that. Among other uses, the Royal Council of bishops, nobles and ministers assembled there. While Parliament has never met in the Hall on a regular basis, it was the existence of the Hall, which at that time was the largest in Europe, that helped to make Westminster the judicial and administrative centre of the kingdom.
The Palace was one of the monarch's principal homes throughout the later Middle Ages, and for this reason the institutions of Government came to be clustered in the Westminster area. To the east and south of the Hall lay the domestic apartments of the mediaeval Palace, and later, the royal chapel of St Stephen. Kings worshiped in the upper Chapel and their courtiers in the lower level or "crypt" chapel below.
The Hall, of which the walls were built in 1097-99, as part of an intended reconstruction of the whole palace, is the oldest building on the Palace of Westminster site. Its floor area is about 1850 sq yds, and it is one of the largest mediaeval halls in Europe with an unsupported roof. Westminster Hall was the traditional venue for Coronation banquets.
During later centuries, the Hall housed the courts of law, and was the place of many notable state trials, for instance, those of Thomas More, Charles I, Warren Hastings, and the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. With its many shops and stalls, selling wigs, pens, books and other legal paraphernalia, it became one of the chief centres of London life.
The Hall, which survived the fire of 1834 and the WWll bombing of 1941, is now used for major public ceremonies. It is also the place where lyings in state, of monarchs, consorts, and, rarely, very distinguished statesmen, take place. The first such occasion was Gladstone in 1898, followed by, in the last century, King George VI (1952), Queen Mary (1953) and Sir Winston Churchill (1965). In April 2002 several hundred thousand people queued to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother, as she lay in state in the Hall. This place is so steeped in history it is truly worth seeing on you next visit to London. For more information: www.parliament.uk
Photos by Neal Finelli |
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