Your attention, please.

Since this silly site seems to have gotten out of practice from uploading cooperatively, am being forced to trick it. Earlier blog of London trip refuses adamantly to allow visual aids. Stupid thing.

Yes, listening to Blue Man Group.

*****
To begin again where images were to be inserted from other day's entry...

Met Rotary contingent. Decided that although shoes were slightly seeming to incite nerve damage in foot, cuteness factor overrode pain. Continued coffee imbibement at cafe on way to Westminster West Rotary Club meeting at The Rubens at the Palace, directly across street from Buckingham Palace (i think the side entrance). Between Cardiff invasionary force and Americans in attendance, the actual members were quite outnumbered :) Notice little American flag on podium...

Walked through St. James's Park on way to governmental office sector and was so pleased was such a lovely day. Black swans and interesting little birds called moor hens were my favorites. View to R is looking southish toward Thames (military buildings through trees on left and London Eye above trees on right). People L to R: Steve Jenkins, Dani, Steve Rogers, Fabiana. There is a little cottage in the park that we are not sure if is inhabited or not, but it would be a lovely place to live. Arts and Crafts architecture.

Upon arrival at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, we were metal-detected and issued visitor badges in very somber manner before being greeted by Chelsea Rotarian friend of Steve Jenkins's, who had offered this tour. The building complex is a massive warren that formerly housed the Foreign Office, the Home Office, the India Office and the Commonwealth Office. The Home Office has been moved from the site and the India Office merged with the Commonwealth Office, rendering the current arrangement.

Since it originally housed four offices, the central courtyard contains the entrances to each and is bisected by what was formerly a central roadway through arches and which leads to the front door of #10 Downing Street. Photos neither of the courtyard nor of #10 were allowed, although the front door of #10 was open so we peered through the gate inside :)

The complex was designed by George Gilbert Scott, who was selected by competition. After The Great Exhibition, it became fashionable to select architects and designers of official buildings by competition -- and then once selected, they were frequently asked to completely rework their ideas :)

Grand staircase (to R) is amazing and, well, grand. Ceiling work throughout building is magnificent (example 1 and example 2) and our guide was probably quite tired of waiting for The Dawdler (me) to take pictures overhead and of floor tiles, etc.

The Locarno Treaty was written here, actually at this table. The door to this room is massive, with hinges about as big as my forearm! Like a dimwit, I did not take pictures of the Grand Reception Room, which was being set up for a dinner... during WWII, this room was used for decoding machinery and in order to prevent it being detected by noise-sensing enemy, was enclosed in a ginormous black box built to the size of the room, covering all of the amazing decoration. The box remained until fairly recent renovations because no one was still around who remembered the magnificence that it is. So it was rather a surprise when the box was dismantled!

Got to see Durbar Court, where Queen Victoria would meet with representatives of the Indian provinces and British territories within India. The architecture is heavily influenced by eastern themes, up to the ceiling mosaics. The marble floor has quite a bit of discoloration and the root of this problem has led to a banning of red wine being served at receptions there...

Went into Map Room, but only briefly since a meeting was about to begin. Some of the building was not able to be photographed because it is literally a rabbit warren of offices.

We saw the Ambassador's Waiting Room, outside of which the IRA launched a grenade into the Green, although I cannot seem to locate the date of this attack online at the moment. The heaviest sheer curtains are hung at the windows in response to that attack and they are to prevent glass implosion into the building.

**********

Afterwards, had quick pint at a pub on Whitehall, right across the street from F&CW Offices, and next to the old Scotland Yard Building, which is now (i think) a crime museum.

Then, Steve and Steve took Fabiana and myself on the London Eye, since neither of us nor Steve Rogers had been before! It was excellent fun, and even though the vision of the line of people buying tickets was slightly more than I could have handled on my own, it went fairly quickly and was such good fun. See flickr for more photos of it.