Monday, May 16, 2011

London Courts and London Eyes


Hey people!  Back to work today, but I did get to do some personal sightseeing at the end of the day.  Unfortunately, it was about 95% walking and standing around so my feet are more than a little tired.  We went on this Legal Studies walk which is a guided walk through the law education district of London.  Each law school is called an Inn, and every single one we walked through was very old and very extravagant.  There are no lawyers in London, only barristers and solicitors.  Basically if you get arrested over here, you go to a solicitor who will then speak on your behalf to a barrister.  The barrister then presents your side of the case to the judge and jury who then decide your case. 

We also got to visit the Old Bailey courts and get a tour of the building.  I think out of all the tours we received this one was the best.  The officer who gave it knew a ton of history behind the building we were in and went into a good amount of detail of the significance of it.  The site was once known as the Newgate prison and housed a great deal of prisoners in not exactly the best of conditions.  As the courthouses were built on the foundations of this prison, we were actually able to see the old cells.  The amount of history behind this building is staggering, and it is simply beautiful inside.  Unfortunately, taking pictures was prohibited on the premises.

Tonight I went with a group visiting the London Eye, which at 443 feet is the third highest Ferris wheel in the world.  The view is fantastic, and I got some good photos of Parliament and Big Ben as well as the rest of the city.  Hopefully I can actually visit those buildings in the next couple of days.

See you tomorrow!

-Pat

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