3.30.08 (Sunday) _ London

The street name was funny - Never N (in) Place hahaha
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Sunday, March 30^th

After another restful night we drug ourselves out of bed by 9am. For breakfast we had more dry cereal and raisins. Our first destination for the day was to walk around Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament as well as the Westminster Abbey. After marveling at the architecture we headed toward Buckingham Palace. At 11:30am we watched the changing of the guards in front of the Palace. During the summer this occurs everyday; however in the off peak season (when we were there) it only occurs every other day. We tried to stand in front of the gate – but even at 11am there were a line of people smashed against the gate. We decided to stand on steps that were centered in front of the middle gate. The steps were part of a large statue. The changing of the guards included a parade of soldiers and bands parading in and out of the palace. In the middle of the ceremony the two bands performed a mini concert. Everything was very regal even their rendition of ‘The Saints Go Marching’. After a half hour – the ceremony was completed.

Jon's Fish & Chips
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We walked back to the tube which we took to Hyde Park. When we got off the tube we were by the Apsley House in the southeast corner of the park. From here we stopped for a hotdog to eat. When we sat down to eat the hotdog we decided to eat snacks for lunch (same as the day before: beef sticks, crackers, popcorn, cheesy puffs). As we walked north through the park we passed a fountain called “Enjoy Life”. Jon’s Dad & Mom (Al & Kathy) in Oswego will know the significance of this : ) Our next stop in Hyde Park was to walk through Speaker’s Corner. In this corner, citizens are allowed to gather and discuss anything that they would like to as long as it doesn’t pertain to negative conversations about the royal family. We passed people speaking about religion, people offering ‘free hugs’, and people debating. We stopped to listen to a guy asking everyone around him “where is your mind?” A lot of people responded with in my head, while others were more philosophical with their answers saying their mind is the hear and now. We listened to the speaker for awhile, but then he changed directions and all of the sudden and asked the audience who hated/disagreed with Bush as a President. Almost everyone around us raised their hands. The speaker started saying very negative things about America, Bush, Iraq, etc. We decided it was about time for us to leave. Sometimes we wonder if we would be better off telling people we are from Canada instead of the U.S.

Katie in a phone booth
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We took one last look at the Marble Arch and were back on the tube headed towards Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. We wanted to catch the service at 3pm at Westminster Abbey. By attending the service we would know if we wanted to visit either St. Paul’s Cathedral or Westminster Abbey. Immediately upon entering the church we were amazed by the height, the detail, the design and the graves that lined the churches walls and floors. After the choir was finished rehearsing we were allowed to enter the central area of the cathedral to take our seats for the service. Jon and I were trying to walk across the main aisle to take our seats at the other side so we could be closer to the front. The lady directing traffic told us to head down through the quire to take our seats. We were seated in the center area where dignitaries sit. Across from us were signs for Canada, Austria and the like. We felt very special to have seats in such a wonderful area – though we think the seats were only supposed to be for family of the visiting choir. We both agreed after the service that we would come back to tour Westminster in more detail on Monday.

The London Bridge at night
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After the church service, we headed up the Thames River bank to see Cleopatra’s Needle. (pictures posted under the Saturday blog) It was quite surprising to come across an original Egyptian obelisk in downtown London! The Cleopatra’s Needle has nothing to do with Cleopatra but rather was made in Egypt for the Pharaoh Thotmes III in 1460 BC. It is known as Cleopatra’s Needle as it was brought to London from Alexandria, the royal city of Cleopatra. The Needle was placed by the Thames as a way to commemorate the British victory over Napoleon.

Me in front of the London Bridge at night.
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Our next destination was to view the dragons which welcome people into the borough of ‘The City of London’. After Jon posed for several pictures we decided we needed to eat dinner since we were both getting tired of walking. For dinner, we headed toward Piccadilly Circus and found a small restaurant there that was offering Happy Hour specials. So, Jon opted for the Fish & Chips; while I had the bacon cheeseburger with Cajun crisps. Both our meals were good – but Jon thought the fish was similar to what he could get back home. Pretty much full, we took the tube back down toward the riverside. We sat in front of the Thames River and watched the sunset. We then walked around on the Millennium and London Bridge to get some pictures of the scenery at night. After this, we took the tube towards the Houses of Parliament where we took more pictures of the scenery at night.

Sign on a wall near the London Bridge
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Around midnight we were headed back to our hotel. Exhausted we again fell right to sleep!