Killing Time in the Park

After the changing of the guards we had a little bit of time to kill before heading (read: walking) across town to the train station. I wanted to bask in the sunshine in St. James park and Brad agreed more or less

And then it started to rain ... but it was still sunny and I refused to give in!!

And then it started to hail... like big chunks of ice... so I joined Brad under the tree. Not before encountering a very horny male pigeon!! He was trying to mate with all the lady pigeons! And none were interested! I got a video of the action and tried my best "David Attenbourgh" narration! The male was making tons of noise and puffing out his neck area

Then it started to really rain and we left to find our train station. :D

Changing of the Guards!

As promised we went to the changing of the guards this morning and it was fabulous!! We went on the walking tour with our backpacks because we were heading straight to the train station afterwards. I'm super glad that I packed light (less than 9 kgs!!). The tour was worth it! We found out that the changing of the guards starts at St. James palace with the old guard and then the old and new guards meet at Buckingham Palace! This is the old guard:

After they marched by us our guide quickly moved us across St. James park to see the new guard procession. I got a super awesome video! Check it out:

And after the old guard and the new guard had a little stand off at Buckingham Palace part of the new guard goes down to Clarence House where Charles and Camilla live. If we hadn't taken the (free) tour then we wouldn't have known any of that!! Thanks Original Tours!! We also saw the changing of the "LifeGuard" which are the guards on horses

This is part of Prince Harry's regiment! Does that mean that at some point he would have to guard part of the royal family?? Isn't that a little strange?? You know what else is strange?? How teeeeny the guards are. They fit right in your hand!

Changing of the Guards?

So we woke up super early this morning to get ready for our walking tour of the changing of the guards! Unfortunately we got to the tour office and found out the the changing of the guards was CANCELLED!! Nooo!! We are going back for a free tour tomorrow morning instead.

We decided to head over to Buckingham Palace anyway and see what was happening:

And it was a massive "Charity Run" 10k! So that threw a wrench in our plans!! But I still made it to the Goring Hotel! Check out my princess wave!

There was a late entry into the run!

After Brad finished up the race we headed to St. Paul's Cathedral for the rest of the afternoon. We took the "Supertour" and we got to hear the choir and organist practicing. We walked all 500 and some odd steps up to the very top dome of the cathedral. It was amazing!

We stayed for the Evensong service and listened to the amazing choir! And no one was pressuring me to fast forward through it **cough cough** Miranda, Andrea, Danielle, and Sarah **cough cough** . I'm excited for the Westminster Abby choir!! That will be when we are back from Italy and France. We fly out to Rome tomorrow!