Monday Monday

week two...we're almost done...monday we went to the Old Bailey in the City of London, which i found out is alot different than the metro of london. the old bailey crown court is where most serious criminal cases are handled. in the basement we got to see the remnants of the old roman wall that used to encapsulate the old city of london. we also got to go into one of the courtrooms and see some barristers and solicitors. fun fact...there is still a shard of glass in one of the walls from an IRA bombing years ago. that afternoon we went on a legal studies walk through where all the barristers offices are...really nice neighborhood. im not that interested in legal studies even though bogner wants me to take the LSAT...yea right...

Day Six

Sunday Funday! ah it felt good to sleep in...today we went down to Camben town to take in the Camden Market experience, and what an experience it was. if i was interested in by some drug paraphenilia or someone's garbage i came to the right place. also i cant believe they are serving food to people on toothpicks haha. anywho on the way back to the tube stop we saw some smoke on the horizon so Hieb being the fireman that he is we went to investigate. it turns out there was a high rise apartment building on fire and we arrived just as the emergency personnel did so we got to see how they handle those situations. after awhile we were board so we decided to go to the notting hill market. however it turns out that the weekends mean construction on the tube so after what seemed like a 20 mile walk we were in Notting hill, which is a lil classier than some parts of london. the market was closing up when we got there :( so we headed back.

SATURDAY!!

headed down south...saturday morning darren, jake, pat, and i jumped on the high speed from St. Pancras station bound for Ramsgate. the high speed train is capable of traveling at speeds in excess of 130 mph. upon arrival to a very modest station compared to where we had come from we took a taxi down to the harbor. this was the first time i had ever seen the ocean and even though i think it was actually the english channel i was still stoked. we walked up and down the beach for most of the morning and then had fish and chips at a local restaurant. that afternoon we took in some second hand shops and the sailor's church there that has been converted in the headquarters for the local chapter of the Sea Cadets. overall, this side trip has been the most fun thing id done the whole time.

day five

TGIF!!! Friday woot its the weekend. Friday morning we took the tube out to the Olympic Village to tour the grounds and learn about the 2012 Olympics. the sheer size of the complex is impressive and equally impressive is that most of the buildings are temporary and are in fact already sold to private contractors that after the Olympics will come in, take them down, and move them elsewhere. wow! friday night i went on a walkabout by myself into south london. here i saw london bridge, nebraska street in southwark, and had a pint at a pub that wasnt owned by a chain it was neat!

day four

thursday we started the day with a nice stroll with pauline to Michael Messinger Hall, which is where Met police receive training in hands on techniques, self-defense, and conflict resolution. interesting enough the hall was traditionally used for the Titanic inquiries after it sank and still possesses some of the original equipment used in those proceedings. unfortunately, i had dressed a little too nice to participate in the hands on activities but i had a serious giggle watching everyone else beat Richard with the batons. that afternoon we went to Lambeth to the Central Communications Command for the Met. here we learned how calls from the public are screened and dispatched to officers on the street.

day three

finally, we can get to the meat and potatoes of what we were coming to learn about. first thing in the morning we went to Charing Cross Metropolitan police station where we got a briefing on what the Met does. we were also familarized with the typical "kit" of each officer which consisted of a kevlar vest, a bobby helmet, static cuffs, CS spray, and a wooden or acrylic baton, oh yeah and a radio. at the station we were able to see a few of the police vehicles including patrol cars, fast patrol cars, and vans (paddy wagons). Constable Watson then took us into the holding cells and booking area of the jail where despite it only being 10 am there were some less than happy chaps being booked in. we also got to see the electronic printing machine that they use. in the afternoon, we went to the central london police training center which has all but replaced the old center at Hendon. here we learned about the training that regular constables receive and learned about "special" constables.

day two

on tuesday we boarded the coaches again bound for oxford, stratford upon avon, and warwick castle. oxford was alot of fun because it was our first taste of english higher education which if i could say so is slightly different than american college. the buildings there are older than chadron state college for sure and some even older than chadron itself. ha. i really enjoyed the drive to stratford from oxford because we got to see the countryside and our tour guide did an awesome job of keeping us entertained with a bit of history on the way. darren and i had a chance to eat at the pub where shakespeare died, and despite that gruesome history the food and pints were very good. warwick castle was awe inspiring to say the least...i love old things especially if they havent been dressed up for tourists :( like the old hinges that used to hold the gates on the entrance...fascinating...