London: Part 2 (Parliament Square, St. James Park, Changing of the Guard)

Even though we had no sleep, we were troopers and mustered anyway.  After a little hour respite, we headed off into the city.  Apparently London is a super large city, but very walkable (if you have the legs of an Olympic athlete).  For our first day, we decided to do the longest walks, so that in the very likely event that we were tired the second day, we would still be able to see everything we wanted.

We started off with Parliament Square, which houses the Palace of Westminster (where Parliament meets), Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey.  The Palace and Big Ben were absolutely stunning.  The more I looked at them, the more I could not believe that they were real.  The Palace is truly a monumental piece of Victorian architecture, and Big Ben is as impressive as it appears in movies (incidentally did you know that the bell in the tower weighs 13.5 tons?  I love my guidebook!).

Palace of Westminster (slash Parliament).

Me and Big Ben

The back of Westminster.

The lovely part of London for me, is that no matter where you turn, you can see things you would typically associate with London.  They really do have red double-decker buses (I sat on the top of one :), and they really do have red telephone booths all over the place.  Plus, there are gorgeous statues scattered all over the city for your viewing pleasure!  It is just fascinating.

Abe Lincoln!

Doubledecker! So cool.

I didn't care if it was touristy, I wanted my pic!

Then we headed over to St. James Park.  It housed some beautiful crocuses as well as a quite picturesque river with all sorts of birds and people wandering about.  However, as we were passing through, we heard music up ahead and I remembered the changing of the guard was about to occur.  We rushed over as quickly as we could, although so did hundreds of other people.  To get a good spot, you have to be at the gates of Buckingham Palace  way in advance, but we still managed to get pretty good views between people's heads. 

It was absolutely breathtaking.  The bands were playing marches and really patriotic music, which was terrific to listen to, and when combined with the brisk movements of the guards and their crisp uniforms and fun hats created a visual I will not forget for a long time.  It was one of the most memorable and terrific experiences I had in England (and possibly this trip).

Buckingham Palace

Changing of the guard.

Meghan in front of Buckingham Palace Gate.

A very small portion of the large crowds gathered to watch the changing of the guards.

This is a good stopping point I feel.  Coming up: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Monuments, and more!