Old Bailey

                Monday we went to Old Bailey Crown Court.  We met a guide there and thought he would be giving us a tour, but really he just told us about Old Bailey and some history of executions in London.  One interesting thing from that was about a man who was cook for the bishop. He was boiled to death for poisoning a group of people. We also learned that there are two parts to Old Bailey, one being the old side, and one being the new side. Other than that, I didn’t really learn much from that guy. We then were shown where the entrances to the two sides of court and were told we would be able to go watch cases. We stood outside for almost an hour before they let us in and were told what case we could watch. The case we were allowed to watch was closing statements so I had no idea what was going on. It was cool to be able to see the barristers and judge in their robes and wigs, but that was the most interesting part of Old Bailey for me.

                After that, we headed to ISA (the agency who helped set up this trip) to use the internet since it sucks at our hotel. I was able to get some pictures put on facebook and will hopefully get some put on here shortly. We were also going to ISA because we had a lecture there in the afternoon. The lecture was by Dr. Thomas MacManus. This lecture was more exciting than the one from New Scotland Yard and it was more interactive. We were able to ask random questions and he seemed to be very useful. However, today (Thursday) our guide gave us information that contradicted some of the stuff he said, so I’m not sure who is correct.

                Monday night was boring because everyone had to be up incredibly early the next morning so everyone pretty much went to bed. Everyone going to Paris had to be ready to leave at 3:45 and those of us going to Dublin were meeting at 4:30.