Our Day in the Capital

I searched and I googled to find a picture of Portcullis house,to no avail  ,only to find this one,I took my self when we had our trip/flight on the London Eye,about three years ago! Portcullis house is the building ,at the bottom right of the picture . I think I have made it a bit squat ,in order to fit it in ! 

Karen came to pick me up  at ten o clock on Monday morning ,we set off to the station at Peterborough ,where we bought our tickets and we were off ,we found a seat ,and I thought it would be a nice idea to get a picture of the crossing gates we seem to sit at for ages,when we are going into Peterborough by car ! but the train was moveing to quickly.... We were in London in less than an hour ,then got the tube to Whitehall ,after a change at I think Victoria,up and down escalators and stairs ,in court shoes ! been wearing mules and flip flops all summer !! (at the end of the day my feet ,lodged a complaint )We had to be there for two pm ,but as you can see by big ben on the first picture we had time to go and have some lunch ,so off we set down  Whitehall taking pictures as we went and again on our way back ,

In we went, and through the  check in  barrier ,were our handbags and my camera were put on to the tray and sent through for scanning ,I walked through and bib bib the alarms went off ,and again !,A young police lady ,checked me over !(four coppers there and all armed )can you imagine it? 'Fen wench comes to town '! it was decided it was the ornaments on my shoes setting of the alarm phew ! Those wretched shoes again !

Portcullis is the working home to  members of Parliament ,,though the outside presents an imposing facade ,inside it is full of light with trees and plants ,glass and crome and along the walls are modern pictures of members of parliament past and present ,we easily found the Atllee suite ,and settled down to listen as Bob Holmes ,silver surfer coordinator,digital unite,welcomed us and then introduced ,Terry Smith,director of public sector,microsoft who spoke of how far computers had come since 1948 ,and how it was second nature to the youth of today to be comfortable with computers ,but not so some of the older generation ,we of the generation who had to use next doors telephone (because we hadnt got one )to book a call to America or Canada to ring a family member there at Christmas ,and then pay the neighbour for the call .Now, we are keen to learn,to use a computer so that we can email ,or instant message our Grandchildren ,from wherever we are ,good point !Then a young lady Leonie Viachos, Manager digital Inclusion,age concern spoke  ,before Stephen Timms,MP,Chief secretary to the treasury,presented the awards,to the overall winner Jim Tuckwell of Andover Hampshire,Jim is eighty and lives in sheltered accommadation,and has made a huge difference to his life and others,(including local school children ),by learning and passing on his knowledge. They have written a book about bullying .The silver surfer entrepreneur of the year award went to Brenda Ferguson,Brenda is manager of an Aberdeenshire internet cafe,which has become the hub of the community ,well used by fishermen ,imigrant workers,school children and retired local people,and it is called 'the mouse trap' !

After cups of tea or coffee and biscuits ,and some networking it was time to ,go home ,we caught a train and was back in Peterborough by five thirty ,where my daughter in law Chrissy ,met me and drove me home ,where I was able to kick off my shoes and think over my very interesting day.

Jan xx