When we got up the weather looked promising ............. we had gotten everything ready so that the morning would go smoothly. Having to wake all 4 kids and get them ready and on a bus by 7:30 was going to be fun!!! Ok got on the bus and as we drove the 2 hours to London it rained off and on. The way we went into London you saw nothing that you wouldn't see in any other city! This daytrip was a do it yourself. The bus would drop us off and pick us up at a predetermined location. That location was Madame Taussand Wax Museum. We had HUGE plans of seeing many many things in the 7 1/2 hours we would be there. First things first. We bought tickets for everyone on the tour (hop on and off) bus. So on we hopped. (mind you it isn't just hopping with 7 people)......... rode for about 25 minutes to Trafalgar Square. We got off because there was a walking tour of the Horse Guards and we hoped to catch that. But the National Gallery seemed to grab us for quite a bit of time. Finally, we asked directions of a local policeman and he told us how to get there. We missed the walking tour. BUT another nice local policeman said if we walked up the "lane" and grabbed a spot and didn't move we could watch the Changing of the Guards at ..... Buckingham Palace. This is something that Jeff has mentioned wanting to see. So up the "lane" we went. We grabbed a spot and didn't move-- through the rain, sunshine and gathering crowds. The palace wasn't near as big as I thought it should be. Nor as opulent. BUT, nevertheless, it is the Queen's Residence. So we waited and were treated to a "Changing of the Guard" a very small procession (makes one wonder just how often they do this through the streets). The crowd was quiet again. Though you could hear different languages as people walked by. When the Guards left the palace we walked so that we were in front of the palace....... Police on Horseback kept you moving. but we did manage a few more pictures. FOOD we had to do something for the kids. The snacks in the bag were running out and the natives were getting restless. We found a little place and went in for sandwiches. I have forgotten what we had but I tasted most of it and it was good!!! By the time we were done eating we realized that we weren't going to have enough time to do everything we wanted........ but I thought MAYBE just maybe we could get on the bus and at least see more. On the wrong bus.......... jump off and on another (mind the rain) on another............. seats bad off and on again. OK this is no longer fun.......... kids are unhappy......... we are all wet............. it's getting late. Get on a bus heading back to Madame Taussand's. OK OK back there and bought souvenirs. Decided that I needed a Starbucks. Lo and behold there is a McDonald's right next to it. So we get the 4 Happy Meals and a 20 piece nugget meal. UGGGG ............ but the kids are now happy. Mind the rain again. Go back to meet the bus. The bus was 30 minutes late. When we finally got on bus most everyone slept all the way home. Ate cereal for dinner. Even though we didn't see everything we wanted to (and I didn't get to sing London Bridge on the London Bridge) we had a great time.
Here is a link to the rest of the pictures:
Howdy!!!!
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