Adventures continue ... despite the weather!

On Saturday Peter was able to skip the homework so the four of us could go into London. We departed fairly early in the morning and took the train from Andover - because there were four of us we got return train tickets and all day tube passes for 13 GBP apiece! A great deal with GroupSave ... its better to travel in numbers apparently.

Once in London we went straight to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard ... Marlene really wanted to see this because of the marching band ... however, due to the inclement weather there was no marching band. Instead it was just the marching in and then out of the guard, though it was still cool ... lots of huge police horses, guys in furry hats etc.





We had planned to tour the State rooms at the Palace, but discovered that they are not open to visitors until the end of July. So, instead we went to the adjacent Royal Mews to see the Queen's horses and carriages. We didn't see as many horses as I would have liked, but we did see the Golden Jubilee Carriage that was used for the Queen's coronation in 1953, and we saw the carriage that Princess Diana rode in on her wedding day in 1981.




Next was lunch and then Westminster Abbey. We arrived at the Abbey too late to take a tour, but we knew this ahead of time. Instead we attended a Choral Evensong, which featured the Abbey choir largely comprised of boys. None of us had ever heard a live boys choir - it was amazing. The kids were about 7-12 years old and they were already so disciplined and trained in vocals ... Marlene was in heaven! But we all enjoyed it, plus we sat in the choir, which is in the central part of the Abbey, kind of among the choir members ... very neat experience.



After the service we went across the river and to the London Aquarium ... this was a spur of the moment decision as we had some extra time, and we could get in two for one with our rail tickets. Plus, we are very good at squeezing in as many things as possible into one day - we had lots of practice on our Europe trip last year; we believe in taking advantage of all site seeing opportunities! The aquarium was pretty typical, but we did see a fish called 'Peter's Elephantnose' ... he was a funny looking little guy! There were also some sharks, and they were the popular attraction for that venue ... we tried to get some good shots of them, but it was hard because of the thick glass separating us from them!




Next was the London Eye - a first for everyone ... it was raining so alot of the pics from inside aren't very good because there are raindrops on the windows - still great views of London though.





It was then time to head to the Covent Garden area where we found a great pub called the White Lion to eat dinner ... we had fish 'n chips and sausages 'n mash ... we thought it fitting to have some traditional English fare ... we tried yet another self timer pic while there, and as you can see, its not the best, but at least we tried ; )



It was a full day, and though it rained it was only a fine mist, which is really bad for hair, but not for site seeing ; ) Tim and Marlene leave Tuesday, so tomorrow is our last day to jam pack in as much as we can see!

Team PM