London... Later Sunday

Follow the yellow brick road. In this city you follow the many street signs that lead you to fasinating sights just waiting for you to enjoy...

Next stop, Buckingham Palace. We left Westminster Abbey hopped on another tube and 10 minutes later I was taking pictures at Buckingham Palace. Amazing !

One thing I wanted to see while in London was the changing of the guards.. But, we missed it...
This time of year they do it every other day and we got there to late on Sunday...

Buckingham Palace is beautiful.. They were doing a lot of construction work on the grounds right in front, but it was still awesome to see. There are large gardens around the Palace that I'm sure in the spring and summer would be beautful to see.

Two guards stood out front and every now and then they would march about 100 feet, do this cool little spin step, turn around and march 100 feet back to their spot to stand again. The weapons they carried looked serious. Don't think I'd want to mess with them.


Buckingham Palace


In front of Buckingham Palace

We walked through the gardens on our way to yet another tube station. Next stop, Trafalgar Square. We walked through Trafalgar Square last night but I wanted to see it in the day time. It's a large square with beautiful fountains, large statues of famous war hero's and just a lot of history. There are buildings surrounding the entire square with wonderful architectural detailing.


Trafalgae Square


Trafalgar Square

By now we are all very hungry. Steve who is a Hard Rock Cafe fan wanted to find the one in London. So we asked. The British people were all very kind and helpful when ever we needed directions. Wouldn't you know it, the Hard Rock Cafe was just a few blocks from Buckingham Palace. So, back on the tube to where we just were.. Oh well, we didn't mind.

London's Hard Rock Cafe is awesome. It didn't disappoint Steve at all.. It's decorated with all the guitars, posters and other stuff to keep you entertained. We had a very nice young lady wait on us and my hamburger was most excellent.. Everyone enjoyed there dinner. It was loud and crazy but fun. Nice to feel a little America at times.



Night had once again fallen upon the city and as we left the Hard Rock Cafe we still had a couple more sights to see. First stop, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. More walking and more tubes. (I have to say that Sarah who is only 10 years old was amazing all day long. She never complained about any thing. You wouldn't know she is only 10.)

Few minutes later and we were there. It's beautiful at night all lit up. I'm glad we went, but we will return here tomorrow to see it in the day light. There were others there, walking around enjoying the evening as well.


Tower of London


Tower Bridge

After leaving The Tower of London and The Tower Bridge we hopped on another tube back to the Westminster Abbey area. Sarah had wanted to ride the Eye of London which is a very large Ferris Wheel. During the day the lines are exceptionally long and some days you have to buy your tickets in advance.

Sarah really wanted to ride at night. The line was short with only about a 10 minute wait. By now it is almost 8:30 pm. Mason and I weren't sure about riding it, so Steve went to buy tickets for him and Sarah. When he came back he said, "let's go". Mason and I looked at each other and then at him. He had bought tickets for us as well.. What a surprise that was... I'm afraid of heights so I wasn't to sure about the ride. But seeing London at night from high up was worth the risk.

The ride lasted half and hour and you only go around once. It moves very, very slow. There were about twelve of us in the car we were on. It was raining some but that didn't spoil our excitement. We all really enjoyed the ride.. There were a few moments I felt a little sick, only when we were at the top and I was close to the edge of the car. Just a little queasy. That was the highlight of the day... seeing London from 400 and some feet above ground with all its lights.


Eye of London




After the ride we walked around a little more, then headed towards the tube that would take our tired bodies back to the hotel. We were exhausted to say the least.


Do we look tired?

Tomorrow was another day full of more adventures... and stories....
... nighty-night....