Yesterday we got to tour Parliament. Apparently it was originally a palace, so its decorated ornately in accordance with that. They took us through all the different houses where the laws of the UK are made and told us all about the idiosyncrasies of the Parliament. For instance, the way they count their votes. Rather than standing up and voicing "yea" or "nay," each member of the Hous
e of Commons (the house made up of elected officials similar to our House of Representatives) must go into a chamber and physically be counted. They only have 8 minutes to get to the chamber, and the time begins when a bell starts ringing. If they aren't there at the time the bell stops, the are locked out and their vote doesn't count. They also have some crazy traditions in their interactions with the House of Lords (the appointed by the queen and of more financially affluent) and their "disgust" for the other side. All in all, the tour was okay..not that informative or interesting (even with me being a nerdy law student). The saddest part...we weren't allowed to take pictures at the really beautiful parts. I did get some at the beginning and the end, so that's what you see here.Other than that, not a whole lot exciting. Tried Chinese food for the first time here last night. Pretty good. However, in the process of walking to and from the restaurant, I decided I absoltuely needed to get a coat. It is just too cold...and it's going to get colder...so my worn-out dirty North Face fleece won't do anymore. (Side note...I have a nice coat at home that I was planning on bringing. I even wrote myself notes so I would remember it. but of course, I forgot it anyway.) So, today I went coat shopping. After literally about 3 hours and trying on about 50 different coats, I stopped in one last store and of course, I finally find a coat there. It's blue with a pretty English collar. I'm sure you'll see it in pictures here soon, but I'm very excited
to have it and feel very good about what I paid and the coat I got for my dollar. The end. :)
UPDATE: I found a picture of my coat online. And pay no attention to the price...I got a discount! WOO HOO!! Here you go! Emily's sweet new coat.
