kathryn, chrisse, hilary, suzanne and i had all planned to go to central london and see the things there. it was nice to sleep in a little bit and not stress about getting to school and everything!
1. was the changing of the guards at buckingham palace! we walked through green park to get to the palace. when we walked out of the park gates, i only saw swarms of people. all along the street, the statue in the roundabout part, lining the fences of the palace. it was crazy. we were even there 30 minutes early! we decided to go further down so we could have a clear view for pictures.
the first thing i heard was the stomping of the guards and the drums. it was amazing to see them come up the street. my eye was caught on the two beautiful horses with policemen riding. these horses were so beautiful. huge mares and gorgeous. i couldn't get over it! we weren't close enough to see the actual changing of the guards process but i got some pictures of what i wanted to see.
we walked further down to see the spencer house. the house where princess diana grew up. it was fenced off but seemed very pretty from just the outside.
even further down, we saw more guards standing in their little poses. i was so excited because i wanted to go up to them and make them laugh and break their concentration. typical me, right?
well, i succeeded! i had my camera out and started taking pictures and laughing a little bit and hilary and i broke the two guards. they smirked and i could tell they were frustrated. as we were leaving, i took one last picture and the guard had his hands at his side but popped his middle finger out against his leg. flipping us off! i didn't see it but hilary did. awesome!
the palace.
got him!
these horses were so beautiful. the guard was chatting with us.
the spencer house:
green park.
the hard rock cafe was sounding pretty appealing for lunch! there was a 30 minute wait (we decided, most likely planned so customers will head over the gift shop and by overly expensive t-shirts!). we waited and went down to "the vault" where some hard rock memorabilia was stored! it was smaller than i thought it would be, but so so cool!
pictures of the stars in the hard rock.
andrew would love this.
oh jimi.
original beatles lyrics.
and this too for andrew.
burgers, don't judge me. most american thing i have had so far.
and it was wonderful!
kathryn, hilary, me, chrisse, suzanne.
we took the tube over to the palace of westminster, the london eye, and big ben area. the weather wasn't as cooperative as we would have hoped so i didn't take as many pictures as normal!
big ben.
bad weather ruined this!
we didn't walk around long in the sleet and rain but we went straight to the imperial war museum (you should check out that link, i think there are some pictures there!) which was free. and was, i think, the best thing i have seen so far. my dad would have loved it! they even had little cubbies to store your things! points for the museum.
as soon as you walked in, planes, tanks, and missiles filled the room. it was amazing. all of these are part of the museums collection.
inside, was also a very informative and, i guess sad is the word? holocaust exhibit. it went through the timeline of the germans taking over poland and all the events that took place. so much information was included in that and it was set up very nicely. we were in the museum for over three hours!
these were the missile shells, as tall as me!
i laugh every time i see this.
this museum is a must see in london. i'm glad we went! eight and a half hours later, we arrived back at flat 2. it was a long day, but so totally worth it.
in honor of jane austen, pride & prejudice is playing here in the living room.
cheers!
