Day 2
Monday, December 15, 1997
London! -- continued!!
What followed, after arriving at Waterloo, was a spectacular, albeit whirlwind, tour of London.
Since we really didn't have a substantial amount of time to spend, we decided on the
train ride into London that we would hit all of the big "tourist" spots, rather than
spend a great deal of time in the museums and galleries.
It was a decision we had to make, so perhaps we'll spend our next visit to
London indoors!
First stop: Trafalgar Square and Lord Nelson's Column.
It turns out that, for New Year's, the water has to be drained from
the fountains in the Square, as there have been a few druken revellers
that have drowned themselves in the relatively shallow water.
Sounds like a bit of "cleaning out the gene pool" to me... :)
Admirality Arch is a beautiful set of three arches between two equally lovely older buildings.
These were the arches where Princes Phillip, Charles, William,
and Harry started their long journey behind Diana's casket during her
funeral procession.
We proceeded passing the Royal Horse Guards (yes... even the horses
remain almost motionless!) and Downing Street.
Of course...
What visit to London is complete without a shot of "Big Ben" and the
Houses of Parliament?
It's amazing (grin) how famous landmark buildings look exactly like all of
the pictures you've seen.
It was almost surreal...
The first sight of Westminster Abbey leaves only one word... stunning.
This is the cathedral used for Diana's funeral, and to see it in person after seeing it on
television or from other pictures is a wonderful experience.
We were fortunate enough to arrive at a time where the Westminster choir was practicing.
They filled the Abbey with such a heavenly sound.
It made the entire visit that much more memorable.
On our way to Buckingham Palace, we crossed through St. James' park.
A lovely stream flowed in the middle, and you could imagine that the park was filled
during the warmer months with families and people on their lunch breaks.
There was a very friendly grey squirrel along the path as well.
Apparently, the grey squirrel was not a native, but imported.
They were so hardy that they took over and effectively pushed out the native red squirel.
And then... Buckingham Palace!!
Yep... this is the Queen's house.
She's not home, though.
We can tell, because the royal flag is not flying above the palace and the guards
are standing at attention, rather than marching.
We take a few pictures and look at the palace, when Julian notices a familiar-looking Jaguar
driving away.
Sure enough, the flag's flying now...
Queen Elizabeth is home now, and the guards are marching!
After Buckingham Palace, we decided that hunger was getting the best of us,
so we headed out across Green Park and ended up at the Rock Garden Cafe
(similiar to the Hard Rock Cafe here in the 'States).
Famous rock-and-roll acts (from U2 to The Police) played in the basement
here before they were famous!
After lunch and a brief bout of shopping in a great open-air market (Covent Garden...
*cough* when you say that!), we played "sardines" in the subway and headed
off across town to see some more sites!
This way for more adventures!!!!!
return to the trench