Ellie slept through until nearly 8 o'clock. We had both been up for over an hour by the time she emerged. it proved to be a bit of a rush to get her ready for school in time, but she was delivered to the classroom as the doors opened.
We were in our finery. We had a trip arranged and had to make our way to the station to get the 9:26 train to Victoria. We settled down with our Kindles and the train trundled towards London. Unfortunately, when we got to Horsham, the train was held and eventually cancelled, due to signalling problems up near Clapham. We waited on the platform and boarded the next train. It too was held before finally starting to move. It was midday before we arrived at Victoria Station, some 45 minutes late. Though I had planned to walk the last mile, we decided that a taxi would make more sense.
We were deposited at the Cromwell Green entrance to the Houses of Parliament, where we went through airport-like security checks before being given a pass to be allowed into the building.
What were we doing there? The Empson cousins (of Saturday morning Zoom fame) try to gather every couple of years for a luncheon. We had been invited to the last one at St Pancras, and now we were guests at this one. It was being hosted by Tim's local MP, Samantha Niblett in one of the dining rooms in The House. We were shown into dining room "B" just as everyone was gathering and started to circulate and chat with Empson and Law cousins. Originally Simon, from Australia, was due to be there but he had gone back at the beginning of the week when his wife had been taken ill back home. Chris had come in from Turkey (via Switzerland), and Chris's daughter Emily and her partner Yannick had come from Switzerland. Simon's daughter, Cate, had come down from the north-west tip of Scotland, and the rest of us had gathered from the home counties (and "up north" in Tim's case).
We settled in our allotted seats (allotted, that is, by my computer program) and, after Grace, we started on the first course and chatted with our nearby neighbours.
The first course was cleared away and we all shuffled to the next allotted spot. I was seated next to the MP during the main course. She was absolutely charming and clearly very centrist in her thinking. I congratulated her on her election results. Given that she had help from Tim, it must have come as quite a surprise! I also chatted with Yannick during this course. He is a lawyer in Switzerland and, at my prompting, explained how the system worked between the Federal rulings and the individual Cantons. It was very interesting and seemed immensely sensible - but, I guess, that's what you expect from the Swiss.
We performed one more shuffle when the plates were cleared away. I was sitting with Diane by then. The chat and the banter continued until it was time for Tim's speech.
After lunch, we split into two groups and the first group left with Samantha for some photos and a tour.
We waited our turn and were whisked off to the terrace for a photo and then Samantha gave us a tour of the Westminster Hall, the Chapel (which was exquisite), the Lords, the Commons, and many of the ancillary spaces.
Some of the family were off to a pub and to make an evening of it. We said our goodbyes and left them to it as we left the Houses of Parliament and walked to Victoria to catch the train home.
The trip home was uneventful and we walked in the door just before 20:30. It had been a very special day.
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