A Royal Tour

Today we took a tour of Royal London. In the snow. In the wind. At 10 AM. Although these things definitely put a damper on the experience (literally. heh.), it was still a really interesting tour. I really liked our tour guide Marian; she was very knowledgeable and approachable. We all took the tube to Green Park, where we met Marian. She then took us around to the various royal parks and sites of famous royal families. We went to places such as the Spencer House, home of a very posh British family (including Princess Diana) and other places that had plaques of what famous people had done there.

We went to St. James' Palace, where Henry VIII lived:

Unfortunately we weren't able to see the changing of the Buckingham Palace guards due to the snow, but here is where they would congregate before the changing. Also, that balcony is used for royal announcements.

We were able to see the retired guard walk by though! He's the one holding the pole. We learned about the fact that the guards are actually trained military officials; they could easily have gone somewhere such as Afghanistan before becoming a palace guard. The guards also belong to different regiments and have different colored plumes on the hats (which are made of bear skin). I'll definitely have to go back and see the changing of the guards when the weather is better.

Next we popped over to Buckingham Palace. We didn't go very close, unfortunately, which is why most of my pictures are pretty far away. The Queen wasn't there today; the Union Jack flag was flying instead of the Queen's flag. No tea time with the Queen this time, bummer.

The monument to Queen Victoria, the first monarch to live in Buckingham Palace.

St. James' Park

We walked through St. James' Park to get over to Parliament Square. We passed through Horse Guards Parade (also where beach volleyball was played in the Olympics). There are gates in front, but we saw Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives: 

We walked along Parliament Street until we got to Parliament Square. This is where the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and essentially all important government buildings in London are. The snow made my camera really foggy, so my pictures aren't so great. I know I'll be back plenty of times though! We have a tour of the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey on Friday with the same tour guide. 

The essential "phone booth and Big Ben" picture

After the tour, we got lunch money, and Kelsey and I went to a cafe nearby, ate lunch, and then took the tube back to Russell Square. We walked around Brunswick Center, where I got some food and toiletries. Everyone then met in the classroom where a constable talked to us about safety. It was mostly the "walk like you know what you're doing, be careful when you drink, don't do drugs, etc." spiel, but we need to hear it. I did learn some new things, but after 30 minutes it did start to drag. 

We went to our Faculty Member in Residence's home for dinner. I feel like such a nuisance for my diet restrictions, I think they had to order a salad especially for me. I just don't particularly want to be known as that girl who is a pain to feed! They have a really nice home, though, and it was nice to socialize with everyone not in the freezing cold.

Tomorrow classes start. I forgot I actually have to go to class while I'm here...even though it's only been three days, it feels like forever already! Tomorrow is British media and politics. I'm not signed up for the class, but the first week we can go to any class and test it out. I figured I should take advantage of this just in case! After class I'm going to FINALLY go grocery shopping. Cheers!