London, Day 2

We took in the Changing of the Guard today at Buckingham Palace. Winter is definitely NOT the time to see this, impressive as it is, because it was FRIGID!! We had great "seats" (thank you Constable Donald!), but even so most of the ceremony was hidden by the people standing at the fence. We at least got to see all of the processions to and from Buckingham Palace.

The Welsh Guards were the soldiers we saw. It was a bit surreal though as the band was playing "YMCA" at one point, as well as "You Lost That Loving Feeling" while the ceremony was taking place. I feel a bit sorry for those soldiers - I'm sure playing a brass instrument in that cold is a bit like that kid from "A Christmas Story".

We had a nice lunch in a warm restaurant. The hot chocolate was fantastic - just ask the kids. But then again, so was the cafe latte. Afterwards we caught our bus tour. We had to wait in the cold again at Speaker's Corner at the edge of Hyde Park while we waited for the correct bus. I had Ian and Leah run around a bit to burn off some steam, and to stay warm. Apparently Ian didn't want to play tag with Leah, which is why she is pouting here. No worries, though. Just seconds later they were chasing each other around again, laughing and making quite a ruckus.

The last bit of our bus tour took us past Big Ben, the London Eye, and London Tower. I took loads of photos - mostly rubbish. This is probably the best compromise of the bunch I took this afternoon. This is before 4 pm. Yes, the sun is setting. It gets dark early here.

We took the Underground home, and were again struck how quiet it was on the trains. You could hear the paper from people turning the pages on their newspapers from the other side of the train! Amazingly, the kids were quiet on both occasions (last night and tonight). One gentleman must have read something hilarious because he laughed - quite short and sharp, like a hyena - and immediately covered his mouth and looked around a moment or two before continuing his reading. The rest of us passengers looked at him, then to each other all on the sly with a knowing wink and a smile.

Have a wonderful day everybody!

Cheers,

Marc