Europe: London - Day 2

On our second day in London, we made our way to the Westminster neighborhood. We started the morning off with watching the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. This was definitely something I wanted to see, but despite arriving early, it was difficult to get a good spot. I wasn't able to manage any decent pictures since I mainly saw the back of people's heads :-/

However, the historical daily ceremony was really neat to witness! It just felt so neat to be able to be standing outside the Palace that reflects the power of the oldest elected government in the world.

We spent a good hour watching the ceremony and then we headed towards the House of Parliament.

Here is the moment I finally saw Big Ben:

and I couldn't wait to stand in this exact spot to get a picture of one of the iconic red phone booths with Big Ben behind it!

We strolled around Westminster, taking in all the buildings that are part of the business of government in Britain. We heard the bell of Big Ben chime, checked out Westminster Abbey, strolled by Trafalgar Square and took a peek at the London Eye.

Every time I saw a two decker red bus I got giddy:

and I couldn't help but snap lots of pictures of phone booths every where we went!

Next, we headed towards Kensington, where we walked through Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens. Here are some pictures from around the gardens and inside the Palace:

While the palace went under extensive renovation a few years ago, the state rooms all have original features which are stunning in themselves.

After spending time in Kensington, Jeff and I walked quite a ways to Harrod's.

Harrods is a famous department store located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The store occupies a 5 acre site & has over one million square feet of selling space spread over 330 departments.

Now, I knew Harrods was upscale, but I wasn't quite prepared to be so overwhelmed by its beauty and elegance. The famous food hall itself looked like something out of a story book. Now, of course I didn't do any actual real shopping here, but it was pretty cool to take a glimpse of some coveted designer stuff up close. We grabbed some food here and walked around a bit, but didn't even come close to seeing everything. Jeff does not enjoy shopping and I wasn't going to waste our day gawking at things I wasn't actually going to buy. It definitely was an experience! If you have time, google some pictures of it!!

We ended our evening on the West End. We checked out Piccadilly Circus (similar to a Times Square) and then went to a pub and had a late dinner.

Another wonderful day!

I tend to read a lot of fiction books by British authors and I always tell myself "man, I wish I would have been born British." And at this point in the trip, I confirmed that I really do wish I was British - I just LOVE their accent! Not to mention their history is captivating and the fact that they have a Royal family is beyond cool!