The Houses of Parliament

Although England has a queen it still is a democratic country.  First I'll tell you a bit about how the Parliament building looks.  It has many statues carved into the walls.  Also Big Ben is a part of it.  Finally it contains the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

First there is the House of Lords and they do many things.  They improve and write new laws.  They check the work of the government by asking questions and debating.  Also they provide a group of experts to discuss issues. The House of Lords consists of Life Peers, Bishops, Archbishops, Hereditary Peers and Law Lords.  

The House of Commons is  very similar to the House of Lords but there are some differences between them.    First of all, they write the laws and send them to the House of Lords to review them.  Unlike the Lords, the Members of Parliament (M.Ps) are elected by the people of the U.K.  M.Ps  represent a big group of people like Congressmen in the Untied States.  An M.P. can talk about things that concern people in debates in the House of Commons.  

(P.S. If you are wondering, I'm still not answering yesterday's question about Westminster Abbey. If you know the answer you can post it in the comments section)

Westminster Abbey

If you ever go to London you should visit Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey was originally built by King Edward the Confessor and then rebuilt by Henry III.  King Edward began the building it in 1055, and many things were added since then.  When it was rebuilt it had many Gothic styles.  There are many statues, stain glass windows and gargoyles.  In the center of the church is the alter surrounded by many chapels and shrines.   The abby is famous because the coronations (crowing) of all the kings and queens of England took place there.  In all the chapels there are many tombs of queens, kings, poets, writers, scientists, musicians, warriors and other famous leaders.  The Abbey is still used today for worship.  When we visited, they gave us a children's trail which led us all around the Abbey. The children's trail asks many questions about the history of the Abbey and the things that are there.  For an example: Who was Queen Elizabeth I buried with? Want the answer?  

Just kidding, to find the answer you'll have to go to London's Westminster Abbey!

TOWER OF LONDON, VIEWS FROM LONDON EYE, RIVER THAMES VIEWS, BIG BEN TOWER, HARRODS

THE TOWER OF LONDON

Yesterday my family and I went to the Tower of London.  I saw and learned many things.  A cool thing that I learned about was the crown jewels.  They are worn when the queen calls in the Parliament.  The jewels consist of many things but the six biggest things are gold, diamonds, sapphire, rubies, emeralds and pearls.

The second thing that we saw was the armament.  This included all their weapons, armor, and defense systems.  They had many weapons that changed over time.  The first was the long bow which was deadly accurate if you used it correctly.  Next there were swords, lances, maces and axes.  Lastly guns, like the pistol and riffle were made.  They also had many kinds of armor.  The armor suits were used when the soldiers went out for battle.  They also had armor for their horses.  The tower had two walls.  One was twenty-five foot thick and the other fifty feet high.  Lastly they had defense systems for the tower.  They had a fifteen foot deep mote around it.  They had canons stationed around it.  Lastly there were slits in the wall so that archers could hit people without being hit themselves.  

The last thing that we saw was their torture instruments.  The first one was called "The Rack" which pretty much stretched you out and tore out your limbs.  The second one was called "Scavengers Daughter" which crushed you to death.  The last way was to hang you by your wrists by metal cuffs. 

After that we left and saw many sites from the London Eye.

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday, November 21st I left for London. We went to the SF Airport and we left around 7:00 p.m.  We went on a pretty big airplane that had t.v.s on the back of the chairs and was pretty roomy.  We arrived at around 1 p.m. London time.  There is an eight hour difference between London and San Jose time. 

There are some things that I want to tell you about London.  Instead of driving on the right side of the road, they drive on the "wrong"  side of the road (left side).  I have a little piece of advice.  If you ever plan on walking around London at night in November, you better go to the ski shop first.  We were wondering for a long time, looking for a place to eat.  When we found one, we ran inside because we were freezing.  The Restaurant was called Brompton Quarters Cafe. We ate there and then returned to our four story apartment. Thats pretty much all that we have done.

I took lots of pictures, I want to show you some.

Hi Mr. B., 

this is my new blog for my trip to London and Kenya. I think this trip is going to be so fun because I'll see the London Eye, Big Ben, a safari, and much, much more. Check back here for daily updates and pictures of London and Kenya.

       Sincerely,

                                            Eliot Smullen  

Just getting started.

What do you think of your new Blog Eliot?