London Day 2

 We woke up early because we knew we had a lot to do and see this day! Our first stop was Buckingham Palace. We rode the train, and had to walk through a cool green park called "Green Park". The British are really creative when it comes to naming things! :)

This is a bird's eye view of Buckingham palace. 

There are 3 main roads that come into a semi-round-about.

This picture is taken in Green Park above the word "Hill" in the picture above!

Buckingham Palace

I don't know if I was expecting it to be more gaudy like Russian palaces, or more ornate like the French buildings, but I was pretty underwhelmed by it. 

 The Palace guards 

 One of the three main gates

 A panoramic picture of two of the main roads with middle statue.

 This is the Queen Victoria Memorial, in front of Buckingham Palace

A little info about the guards. 

Who knew that there were different uniforms?

Waiting for the changing of the guards

While we were waiting, Reagan needed to use the bathroom so we raced into a park nearby which had a playground for kids, and a kids only bathroom. We were SO lucky to have found it!

I found this along the walkway to the bathroom.

On our way back we heard music and crossed the road 

to find some of the musicians practicing for the parade.

We actually didn't know if it was going to happen. The rain was on and off throughout the morning, and if its raining they cancel the changing of the guards ceremony. Luckily for us, the rain wasn't heavy or constant enough so we were able to see the whole parade.

I had asked a police officer where a good spot to stand was. He suggest this corner which would show  both bands that come in from different roads, plus the Horse Guards. We weren't able to actually see what was going on inside the gates, but the only people who could were those along the fence line who were standing there more than two hours before it started! So we had a GREAT spot for what we wanted to see!

 We walked through the park(that had the bathroom for Reagan).

 and found Horse Guard's Parade.

Its an old building which now holds the Cavalry Museum.

 On the other side to the Horse Guards Parade we finally found some of the old architecture that Jared and I really like!

 Downing Street.

Number 10 Downing Street is where the Prime Minister of England lives.

You betcha it was heavily guarded!

More awesome old buildings!

 And we FINALLY found an iconic telephone booth

These are actually harder to find than you think.

The only ones left are in the very old part of town that is touristy!

 We made our way back towards the "Palace of Westminster" aka Parliament House

 and visited the actual Westminster Abbey

Pictures aren't allowed inside the main chapel, so here is Reagan going in through the doors!

Here are a few pictures I found online

It was gorgeous inside. 

You were able to take pictures outside the main chapel in the older parts of the Abbey.

 Reagan had had enough by this point, 

but I made her stand by the oldest door in Britain. 

 Coronation Chair which every British monarch has been crowned since 1308,

 and is still used today! CRAZY!!!!!

Reagan worked on a kids workbook with question throughout the Abbey. She then turned it in, and got a HUGE chocolate coin!

 We then decided to jump on the Hop On Hop Off bus.

Jared and I had decided that if you have a limited time, these busses are a little pricey, but are totally worth it! We rode one while in Paris.

We rode it back to Tower Bridge, because Reagan wanted to go souvenir shopping there. 

Here is another view of the old buildings mixed with the new!

 I thought I was pretty funny with this.

The caption should say 

"Look, I dropped a pound while in London"! 

Jumping on the bridge

 Stopping for dinner of fish and chips

 With our bus pass came a free river cruise. 

We decided to take advantage of it, and ride down the Thames!

 We were actually really lucky because just as we were about to leave the dock, a boat was coming through under the Tower Bridge which needed to be open. The awesome captain of the boat hung around so we could watch it open. Any boat can have it open for them to go through, they just need to give a 24 hour notice and a good reason!

 Along our boat ride we went under London Bridge, which I think is the 5th London Bridge that stands there!

 The end of the tour was back at Big Ben (yes I know, Elizabeth Tower).

We then went walking agin.

Reagan was soaking in being the only child as much as she could on this trip!

 We wondered around

 and ended up at Piccadilly

 We found the M&M Factory.

This is all out of M&Ms

 We jumped back on the bus there, to end our day with a few other sites that we would otherwise miss!

Including Trafalgar Square 

Which I would like to actually stop at next time.

St. Paul's Cathedral. 

Again, I would like to visit this again!

It was a SUPER busy, jammed packed day, but we all loved every minute of it!