Afternoon in London

Jeff, Will Mann, Leanne, Katie, and I traveled to London for the first free afternoon. It turned out to be a quick but fun afternoon. A side note about traveling to London for the day- aways take the train and make sure that it is a day pass for the tube (subway) as well. In addition, travel in groups of 4 because the discount is worth it.




Jeff, Leanne, Katie, and I decided to take the tube to Westminster while Will did some quick shopping. We all made fun of Will for shopping while in London but I have to admit he did find a deal and I actually bought some clothes for myself when we went back. Upon arriving, we were all in awe because as you exit the tube Big Ben is roughly twenty yards on your right and the river is not far on the left. I think we took over 30 minutes just taking pictures when we first arrived. The first activity was The London Eye. It was pretty fun and Jeff and I were able to talk Leanne and Katie into believing that we could see the Eiffel Tower from the top. Jeff was also the subject of a joke when a security guard told him he thought he had a gun. The eye is well worth the money.

Will rejoined us and the group decided to do something less touristy. We all visited Parliament for a brief sitting for the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The guards were overall very rude. It was interesting to see how they could be so polite and rude at the same time. In the House of Commons they were debating the issue of the stole laptop computer that contained all the security information for hundreds of people. It was neat to see what they had to say since we had all heard of the stolen laptop on the news a few days earlier. In the House of Lords they were debating an aspect of stem cell research. It was hard to understand but I think it dealt mainly with the use of the diseased for research who had given consent to donate their organs.

The night ended with a nice meal at an Italian restaurant.