I took my time with this post since it was one of the most touristy and there are a ton of pictures. This was our true tour day of London – we started off by Buckingham, went through St. James’s Park, checked out some house guards and stopped by their museum, went through Trafalgar Square, tried a Thai place, found an M&Ms World, explored parts of the British Museum, found some gifts in small shops and waited around for free wifi, crossed the River Thames, walked through the Southbridge Centre and Jubilee Park, fed pigeons, and got tons of pictures of the London Eye, British Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Bridge and Abbey. For dinner we tried to find a Bella Italia but were unsuccessful so we had tapas at La Tasca instead. All in all a busy day filled with walking that allowed us to see a ton before we headed out.
[Catch up with Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, and Day 8 recaps.]
A beautiful day to explore London!
The fancy gates of Green Park.
Queen’s Mounted Guards trotting off in formation.
One of the Queen’s Guards standing watch by a gate.
A pigeon flies in to get fed.
It’s a battle of wills and I win if they’re hungry enough.
A swan family all lined up.
That little swan has a funky leg!
From St. James’s Park, we catch a glimpse of the London Eye.
Caught me in the middle of saying something!
A normal pose for posterity.
I grab a shot of the lake from the side.
And here’s the picture I took.
No time for the Churchill War Rooms, but maybe on the next visit.
Quite a job, sitting still on a horse all day.
I didn’t want to get too close in case the horse flipped out.
Gettin’ up close and personal as I find some free wifi to use.
We find our way to Trafalgar Square.
The world’s laziest pigeon resides here.
Tons of activity in the square.
What’s up with the bright blue rooster?
Carefully laid out grid of flags drawn in chalk in the plaza.
This guy was working on a chalk portrait of Princess Diana.
We stop by a local store and find random t-shirts like this.
And another cheeky shirt here.
Trying out a Thai place for lunch.
What a cute decoration idea!
Food was pretty good and the place was very modern.
After lunch, we stumble across an M&Ms world.
Our walk randomly brings us to a strip of Chinese establishments.
Yet again standing outside taking advantage of free wifi…
Then it’s time to visit the British Museum!
Inside the museum, we look up to find seagulls.
They sure seem to be enjoying the view.
I had no clue Amway made it over here (and was still in business).
The taxis here look so funny.
Onto the Waterloo Bridge and we gaze over the River Thames for a lovely view.
On the other side of the bridge are all sorts of funky buildings.
Here you can pick out the attractions using the guide.
We head into Southbridge Centre and find quite an artsy scene.
A stroll along the waterfront includes plenty of restaurants.
What is this Festival of Neighbourhood??
Street performers doing their thing.
What a bright merry-go-round!
A swing ride at Jubilee Park offers thrills.
I sit down to feed some pigeons.
Gettin’ kind of crazy in here!
Some brave birds got super close.
We watch as people pile into their pod on the London Eye.
I was so tempted to get one of these.
Against the glare of the sun.
Nice view from the bridge!
Rushing waters of the Thames.
There are so many points to the clock tower.
Westminster Abbey was closing for the day so we just looked.
What a fun tour bus look.
Blending in with the pedestrians.
Another map of attractions.
A dinner of tapas.
Ending the day with churros!
