Parliament

If i remember correctly the formal name for Parliament is Westminster Palace.  It was originally one of the kings palaces but fell into disrepair of the years and then was given to Parliament.  Not to long thereafter the Palace was destroyed by the war and by fire.  It was then latter rebuilt specifically for Parliament.

Parliament is very similar to USA, because the USA copied Britain in many respects.  Their government is divided up over three powers: House of Lords, House of Commons, and the Royalty.  The royalty over the years used to be the ruling power over the three but now most of the power resides in the House of Commons.  This is because the House of Commons members are elected by the people.  The number of representatives that one has in the House of Commons is determined by population.  There is still a lot of pomp and circumstance that happens with regard to the queen and parliament but i'm of the persuasion that it help remind them of their past and therefore make better decision now.

Some of the rooms in the palace are out of this world.  The have huge vaulted ceilings with the most intricate detail of decoration on ever square inch.  Every inch is therefore cover with reds, golds, paintings, carpet, and all manner posh.  One is truly blown away by the detail and money that went into building these palaces.  

After touring parliament we set off down town to the Sherlock Holmes pub.  The walk there was almost as fun as eating at the pub.  There was a beautiful garden along the way as well as a great view of the river Tames.  Upstairs, in the pub, they have a fun little display of what his apartment might have looked like.  The food was good but overall it was just a fun experience.

After lunch we walked around Charing cross for a little bit, which is know for its book stores.  They have some of the largest collection and some of the oldest books in these little book stores.  In some of them we found ancient copies of The Lord of the Rings, Jane Austin, Wordsworth, and Shakespeare. It was kind of fun looking through these ancient books.

After our perusing was done, we wondered back the center to finish home work, papers, and everything else that we have to do.  It was a fun and crazy day.