The Journey Day 14: London, England

September 16th, 2016 London, England

On the third day I was still a sick in the morning. It was also raining. The plan for the day was to watch the Changing of the Guard. We want to arrive by 10 am to secure a spot so we had to get up early. We went to Nero for breakfast. I had an apircot pastry and Kelsi had a chocolate croissant. We both had lattes. We also bought pastries that we could eat while we waited for the changing of the guard. Kelsi's was the apricot pastry and mine was a muffin. The cashier was a bit surprised when we ordered so much. Kelsi ended up eating both her pastries at Nero's!

We took the underground to Westminster and we managed to get a little turned around on our way to Buckingham. We were so distracted by Westminster Abby, the Parliament house and Big Ben that we weren't paying attention. We didn't take a route that was incorrect, but it wasn't the fastest route. 

By the time we got to Buckingham I had to use the bathroom. So I set Kelsi at the gate and then went to look for a bathroom. I had to go back pretty far, but I eventually went into Royal Cafe. I bought more lattes to bring back to the gate.

When I returned to the gate there was already a crowd forming. I had to worm my way back to where Kelsi was standing. It was raining steadily by that time and kept up as we waited. More and more people arrived. It was a good thing that we arrived early.

Then it happened! A guard on the other side of the gate said there wouldn't be a changing because of the rain! Pooh!

We made a beeline to the tour line for the palace. The tour is mainly to display the royal wardrobe and the gardens, but do see some of the palace as well. The queen's dresses were all on display and they were very cute. There were also beautiful paintings and sculptures. 

After Buckingham the plan was to see the Abby and Parilment houses then we would visit the Eye if we had time. So we went to the Abby. The tour book said that we could get into the Abbey from the west gate without charge, but we had trouble finding it. We went into St. Margret's Church which was nice. At the front entrance we saw a sign stating the time for the Evensong and decided to go back for that.

So we went to the Parliament House across the street. It was a bit of a hassle getting the tickets, but it worked out nicely anyway. The Parliament house was amazing inside as well as outside. I enjoyed learning about the houses of parliament and how it has changed over the years.

By the time we were finished the rain stopped and I suddenly felt much better. It was after I was feeling better that I realized that my head had been pretty fuzzy because of my cold. Once it was gone it was a dramatic difference. 

We went to the Lion Pub for dinner which was around the corner. I had the daily special wthich was steak and leaks pie with chips. Kelsi had a sweet potato pie with chips. We also ordered beers. We tried to eat quickly in order to get back to the Abby. It seem that we are not very good at getting the bill in England. 

We were able to make to Westminster in time, for the evensong. I liked the service at Westminster better than at St. Paul's. The Abby is very beautiful, though I like St. Paul's style better. 

Next, we crossed the jubilee bridge to the London Eye. The bridge is really cute and fits well with the Eye. The line for the Eye was long so we went to the cruise dock and bought tickets for a cruise and the London Eye. We decided to do the cruise that evening and save the London Eye for the next day. We had time so we got yogurt at a stand. We ate it on the dock before our cruise. The cruise goes up and down the Thames and is a great way to see the city. The guide was pretty good, however whenever we went under a bridge the mic cut out. He told us all about the buildings and bridges that we saw.The cruise was made even better because it started getting dark so it was fun to see all the lights turn on. Kelsi decided that Big Ben looked good in green.

After the cruise we walked down the river. We felt peckish and needed refreshers so we stopped in The Warf and ordered bread and oil. As well as a pot of Primm's and lemonade. It wasn't far from there to get to Black Friars Bridge and from there to our room!