Day Seven! May 18, 2014 Roman Baths and Stonehenge

   Our journey today took us to Stonehenge and the Roman baths! Stonehenge was not what I was expecting but I thought it was in better condition than it is was. Stonehenge is in alignment with the sun and is believed to be used as a calendar. There is evidence that people have lived there up to 8,00 years ago! There are two sizes of rocks used in Stonehenge: larger ones and smaller ones. The larger stones weigh up to 40 tons and the smaller ones  weight up to 5 tons. Whoever built Stonehenge has to drag the stones to area! It took about 200 men to move the larger stones. 

  The Roman baths were amazing! Up till the 1600's they stopped bathing in the water and started drinking it. The water is believed to have special powers such as fertility. The water contains a whopping 43 minerals! The water is a steady 46C and it is drinkable. I actually drank it and it was delicious even though it was hot. There is a sacred spring overflow that people can throw coins in to make a blessing or curse another person.

               Sacred spring overflow

       We did not drink this water! We drank clear water (thank gosh)

Day Six! May 17, 2014 Houses of Parliament

   Today we toured the House of Parliament before the Westminster Abbey and finished the day at the Tower of London. The Houses of Parliament contains the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Commons is similar to our House of Representatives and the House of Lords can be compared to our Senate in the United States. The House of Commons has more power than the House of Lords because the Lords can only hold the bill for 13 months, if no decision is made the House of Commons win. Taxes and finances are only debated in the House of Commons. Also, the Queen is banned from the House of Commons, can’t vote and can’t show opinion in public. In the House of Lords the government sits to the right of the Queen and the opposition sits to the left.  The House of Commons is symbolized by the color green and the House of Lords are symbolized by the color red. All laws in England have grown from the Magna Carta from 1215 which is similar to our constitution.  The House of Lords and the House of Commons are open to the public.

Day Six! May 17, 2014 Westminster Abbey

   We began the tour of Westminster Abbey at the royal entrance (west side).  A royal shield is at this entrance and contains the unicorn for Scotland and the lion for England. The royal entrance is the same entrance Katherine Middleton walked through for her wedding to marry Prince William. Martin Luther King sits right above the royal entrance, as well, right below the royal shield. There are over 3,000 people buried and/or remembered in Westminster Abbey. People such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, C.S Lewis, many kings and queens along with many others are buried in the Abbey. It was an interesting feeling knowing that we were walking on tombs almost everywhere we walked. A tomb of an unknown worrier has a Congressional Medal of Honor from the First World War. The worrier is unknown because the body was taken off the battle ground from the war and in 1920 was buried. It is the most visited tomb of a warrior in the world and is the last burial to take place in Westminster. This tomb is the only tomb in Westminster Abbey that people are unable to walk on.

   Westminster Abbey was built in the 1200’s and took around 500 years to complete! The architecture of the Abbey is absolutely fantastic and is considered gothic architecture. The most famous piece of furniture is a coronation chair from 1308, which King Richard II first sat in. King Richard II actually invented the handkerchief! Everyone who has been crowned in Westminster Abbey has sat in the same chair since 1308. Most of the tombs in Westminster Abbey are amazing but the biggest and grandest belongs to Henric Carey Baro de Hvnson.

Day Five! May 16, 2014 Hyde Park

Hyde park and the Natural History Museum were on the agenda for today! Hyde Park was absolutely beautiful! It was full of amazing greenery and fountains. We could not ask for better weather to take a stroll in the park. The Natural History museum was unbelievable as well! The size and architecture of the building was unreal. 

        (This picture does not do it justice)

Day Four! May 15, 2014 Special Operations

   Today involved going to central London to tour the special operations room (SOR) in a different building belonging to the metropolitan police department, looked at the closed circuit TV's (cctv) system, sat in on a presentation from Sergeant Matt Andrews and participated in dojo training. His main topic of the presentation explained how the people that work in the SOR must remain calm, controlled, and professional when handling events and chaos. He mentioned three levels of operations: gold, silver, and bronze. Officers in the SOR gold level are in charge of the strategy behind the operation. Silver is in charge of tactics within the operation and bronze officers work in a specific area on the streets. The department must ask themselves what lessons they have learned once the situation is controlled to make themselves stronger as a department.
   While looking at the cctv area of the department we learned that you are ALWAYS on camera when in the city. There are over 20,000 cameras in central London! Knowing that you are on camera everywhere you go is kind of creepy! They can zoom in and out to watch your every move. They even have cameras all over the building, which they watch in the same building (interesting). The thing is, the Londoners don't mind it. Their lifestyle is very different than what most people I know are use to. Everything from the underground tube rides which is compared to our subway system to even their toilets differ from the United States. Every time we use a new toilet we can never figure out how flush the toilet. London is a 24 hour city, it never stops.
   In dojo training we learned officer tactics. Two trainers demonstrated tactics and we partnered up to practice the tactics on each other. We learned the standard defense stance, arm fighting tactics, leg fighting tactics, handcuffing and how to properly use CS spray which is there version of our pepper spray. They believe pepper spray is harmful and has a very slight chance of causing cancer. Pepper spray is oil based and lasts longer than CS spray. CS spray contains crystals that stuns the individual and must be blown off by the breeze. It was an amazing opportunity and I thank the trainers and Constable Richard Watson for the spending their day training us.
 

Day Three! May 14, 2014 Magistrate Courts

   Day three consisted of getting a tour from Joann at the Magistrate Courts! We got to sit in on two different cases, one case involved an assault and getting a continuation of the trial because of evidence that was not obtained yet. The other case involved a man getting tried for taking prohibited items into the prison (a cell phone and drugs). One of the main differences between the courts in the United States and the Magistrate Court is that the defendant does not sit next to their lawyers, they sit in a glass box/area away from their lawyer. Also, names of the court room work group differ a little, for instance, a prosecutor in the United States is called a Royal Crown prosecutor in London.
   During the afternoon we went to the National Gallery and saw paintings from some of the most known artists including Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Paul Cezanne, and Georges Seurat just to name a few. The gallery was massive, we felt as if we were lost as soon as we entered the building. Outside the National Gallery was all kinds of street performers that were entertaining. We also decided to go to M&M World. I have never seen anything like it! You would think by now that I would be use to how big all the buildings are here, I could not be more wrong. M&M World was four level and was filled in every M&M souvenir you could think of!

                                                                     M&M World

House of Parliament (for yesterday's blog)

 

Day Two! May 13, 2014 London Eye

   Day two was our first full day here in London! I started my day off with my first experience of an English breakfast, I was not impressed! We got to meet Constable Watson, took a tour of the metropolitan police department and finished the day at the London Eye! Constable Watson gave an informative presentation and demonstrated how to use their handcuffs. He also gave us a tour of the holding facilities in the police department. The most interesting part of the tour was Constable Watson mentioned that they only hold one person per cell, they never put more than one. The London Eye was breathtaking! I took many pictures but the circumstances of the hotel wifi will not let me upload pictures. Pictures will be posted soon!

London Eye