Yesterday was pretty awesome. I had to be at Big Ben by 9:45 to meet MP (Member of Parliament) Graham Brady. The security to get in is insane! Even more than going to the Capitol. We had to stop at the first post and throw away any liquids and gum we were chewing because the IRA like to hide bombs in places like that. Then we had to go into this little building 2 at a time and the ones who were waiting to go through had to stand back at a distance. Our bags and coats had to go through an x-ray machine and then we walked through a metal detector. At the Capitol, that would have been good. But when we got through the metal detector they frisked us! I'm so glad I changed my mind about wearing a skirt, I'll say that right now. On the other side was the entrance to Parliament and there were guards with bullet proof vests and machine guns at the door. Security is tight! I wish I could have taken pictures in Parliament. It's so beautiful! The architecture is very Gothic and the ceilings are huge. In the central lobby on each wall right below the ceiling are the four saints of the United Kingdom done in a mosaic. Saint Patrick for Ireland, Saint George for England, Saint Andrew for Scotland, and Saint David for Wales.

We got to go back to a meeting room to talk with Graham. It's right on the border of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. It's really neat too because in the Commons section the chairs, tables, and carpets are green and in the Lords section they're red. They even have TVs in each of the rooms and certain parts of hallways, one red and one green, showing what's going on for the week in each House.

Graham Brady is so nice and told us a lot about British politics. He's very young too. I figured he would be in his seventies since the average age is almost 80. He just resigned from his position as shadow Speaker because of the disagreements he had with his party line. After we met with him we took a tour of the building. There's so much history to it all that I can't even remember most of it. We did see Baroness Carnegy of Lour from the House of Lords. They're all old. The last room we saw was the only part of the original building left. It's 900 years old! It was cold in there too. That's also where we saw the exhibition on William Wilberforce and the British slave trade. I bought a postcard in the gift shop and sent it out to Tiberi's office yesterday. I'm still looking for a thank you card to send to Graham Brady, but they're all so dorky looking. I bet I'm the only one who sends him a thank you too because everybody here seems to only care about themselves. I got really mad yesterday just thinking about it.

Yesterday evening was the Jack the Ripper walking tour. We walked all around the places where he did his killings and the guide even described what he did to each one. It was really gruesome, especially the last one. We started right next to a Roman wall from 160 A.D. I divided the two original cities of London and we got to walk through it! The tour was almost 2 hours and I was wiped out when I got back. We do so much walking every day that none of my pants fit me anymore!

Today will be a pretty relaxed day. I need to go and get my Travelcard for the tube. It's 89 pounds, but that gives me unlimited travel for the rest of the time I'll be here. I figured it was a good idea since I've already spent 30 pounds on traveling and I haven't really even gone many places. It's usually 3 pounds to go somewhere and back so this is a good deal. Christa is going to see the Lion King tonight so I'll probably just go for a run in the park and then come back and read. The only other scheduled event I have for this week is A Midsummer Night's Dream in Regent Park this Thursday. I am going to go out for a little bit though, the weather is beautiful! It's 70 and sunny out!