London Fun

Lame title, I know. I'm rushed and hurried this morning and know that if I don't get pictures up today, I'll fall horribly behind and that will be the end of it all!

[Update: I never did get my post done yesterday morning. Trying again....]

After arriving at Heathrow airport Saturday evening, we quickly hurried to a computer so we could check in for our flight the next day. The earlier you check in the greater the chance you can all sit together. --With five of us traveling I wanted to get good seats.

After that, we made our way to the underground (AKA the subway) and traveled for 1 hour to central London.

We checked into our hotel and had dinner at a nice little family pub (restaurant) before getting a good night's sleep. I'll post pictures of our hotel tomorrow.

 

In the morning we bundled up in our sweaters, scarves and jackets and headed out to explore London center. We were so close that we could walk from our hotel door to Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and so much more.

Sadly though, our poor, thin Africanized blood could not take the cold. 

We made it as far as Big Ben before the kids called it quits. 

We decided to hail a taxi and so a drive around a couple blocks which would take us by the few sites we hadn't seen yet like Trafalgar Square, St. James Park and Buckingham Palace. It took us about 10-15 more minutes of walking but we eventually found a taxi.

 

Because we were in London on a Sunday, big portions of streets were blocked off but we were still able to get a nice view of the buildings. Our taxi driver was really nice and explained things as we drove around.
We were on our way to Buckingham palace when we came upon the courtyard where the mounted Queen's guards were about to be relieved by a new group. Our taxi wasn't allowed to stop but he dropped us off and drove around the block a time or two. 
We watched the guards parade in from the street and then line up with the other horses in front of the Horse Guard building. It was very impressive and such a treat.

As with the case of Tom's jacket which I wrote about last time, I'm often amazed by God's timing and little treats he gives us. If we had continued walking, or if the streets had all been open, we may not have been on that particular street at that particular time and we would have missed out on seeing this extra, but very special ceremony.

After the taxi dropped us off at our hotel we gathered our things, walked back to the underground, navigated an unexpected track closure, got to the airport with just enough time for brunch and then walked down to our gate just as the plane began boarding. Perfection!