Parliament: yeah, yeah, yeah.....

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Geo: 51.4984, -0.125356

My plan for the day centered around my Card of Introduction to the House of Commons. Wednesday is when they have the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister%27s_Questions">Prime Minister's Questions</a> ("Yeah, yeah, yeah"😉 and my goal was to get in. I headed straight to Parliament on the Tube, walked up to the security man and said that I was here to pick up my Card of Introduction. "Your what?" he said. "My card....the e-mail said I should pick it up..." (as I unfolded the e-mail printout I had) "...at the security entrance to the......." (oh, crap) "...Embassy. Um, I'll be right back."

I didn't have time to muck with the Tube (would have been at least one line change), so I hailed a cab tot he Embassy. The queue was horrendous, but I got in line. Then I heard someone with an American accent say "Just up there? That line? Thanks!". I ducked out of queue and headed to the security hut, where I saw the sign that indicated that I could get in the short queue since I was a U.S. citizen. Hurrah!

Got in, got my Card, and got another cab back to Parliament. I got in, and was given the number "2" for the queue. That meant that, after all the British citizens got in and had spent as much time as they wanted, if there were spots open, I was #2 in line to maybe get in. I watched the Speaker's Procession (am I a nerd because I recognize the British Speaker, but wouldn't know my own if I saw him?) and then settled in with the Cosmo that I'd brought with me. All the other people who were waiting before had vanished -- guess they didn't feel like waiting up to 2 or 3 hours.

But as I said, this was my plan for the day, so there I was. Around 12:40, a policeman came over and, in a very hush-hush voice, said that he had one seat available, come with him but don't mention that I was referred by the Embassy. I got into the Stranger's Gallery and got to hear the majority of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget announcement. Then Michael Howard had his say ("Yeah, yeah, yeah..."😉. I stayed for about an hour and headed out, happy as a clam. I had to get back to the hotel to change, and meet the ladies at The Ritz for tea at 3:30. I got there a bit early, so popped in to <a href="http://www.fortnumandmason.com">F&M</a> to buy some tea.
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</b>Back at <a href="http://www.theritzlondon.com/tea">The Ritz</a>, we strolled inside, and realized that Julie wasn't with us. She was kept out because she had trainers on with her khakis. Boy, they're serious about that dress code! We weren't about to have tea without her, so we all turned back around and went down the street to Fortnum & Mason for tea. They were happy to take our money. Okay, the waitress didn't seem to be happy, but we had a lovely time anyway.

The <a href="http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts">TKTS</a> booth didn't have anything for under about £20 each, so Julie & Katie hadn't gotten tickets for a show that night (as had been our plan). I was a little disappointed, until I remembered that it was St. Patrick's Day, and I knew of an Irish pub, possibly with cute blokes there. I found them indeed, and after several pints at Finny's, we headed down the street to the Black Widow. Finally exchanged contact info with Kevin (though not Peter, darnit) and headed back to pack up.

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