It's 11 pm in Moscow and I need to get to sleep before leaving tomorrow for Novosibirsk. But yesterday's post was abbreviated due to time constraints. So here's a little more about that.
Arriving at Heathrow was easy as was getting to the hotel, which had a room all ready. Then it was back to the airport to catch the Heathrow Express into the city. Brendan's directions were good; I just didn't follow them. Finally made it to the FSU Study Center and met some of Brendan's co-workers and flat-mates.
London is a very busy and compressed city. By that I mean that it is like New York or Rome, in that there's something everywhere. But time was short, and there was really only one thing I wanted to do: go to Abbey Road. Places are usually never how you imagne them. I pictured Abbey Road as a quiet little residential street that just happened to have a recording studio on it, and where one of the iconic photos of music was taken. Actually, it's a mixed business/residential area, quite lovely in the St. John's Wood section. We snapped some photos and had someone take one of us and it was on to the Beatles Store on Baker Street. Gifts for the family.
Then it was on to the Holborn area, where the courts are and the barristers' chambers. I had met a Queen's Council in Gainesville last summer, and we made arrangements to meet in London. Jeremy Dein showed us his chambers and introduced us to some of his colleagues, who were "keen" to meet me. They have a Friday ritual of heading down to the pub for a champagne or two after work. We tagged along, and had a marvelous conversation. There are many similarities yet many differences between out legal systems. To recount the conversation would take too long tonight, so it will have to wait. But we had a really good conversation, not just about law. It seems that everyone is pleased with the Obama win. They had no patience for W's bumblings, as they termed it.
Dinner was at an good Indian restaurant. See picture above. Back to the hotel to catch an early flight here.
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