God Save the Queen

On Saturday, we went into London for the first time! London is such an interesting city because it's most people first compare it to New York, but it gave me a much more DC feel because of the architecture, sites and green space.

Victoria Memorial

This trip, lead by Dr. Forsaith, was designed to give us a taste of London, so we walked around a lot and saw many of the sites from the outside. First on the list was changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. I was a bit too short to see what was going on, but Caitlin and Libby let me know what was happening. I also got a bit distracted by the sniper on the roof... During the changing of the guard, the military guard starting playing Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia by ABBA, which was surprising and actually quite funny. Libby and I of course had to sing along.

We then walked through a park by Buckingham Palace to get to Westminster Abbey which was beautiful, and then we got to see Big Ben (which, fun fact, is now called Queen Elizabeth Tower because of the Diamond Jubilee). We ate lunch at a place called Wesley Cafe and then walked around a little more past Downing Street, the houses of Parliament and the Household Cavalry museum and then got back on the bus. We drove around London on the bus for a while and drove past Baker Street (where the famous 221b Baker Street is), Tower of London, Tower Bridge (with the Paralympic logo hanging off it) and other beautiful buildings.

I had a great time in London and can't wait to explore further soon. I have included some photo highlights in a slideshow below (clicking on the pictures allows you to view them larger):