Go out and make things happen

Day 2 crisp morning but beautiful. Sun is glimmering across the lake from the window of the coach bus commencing the start of our morning tour. We passed the House of Parliament. We saw the green awning of the house of lords and the red awning of other seats of parliament. We also passed the mi six headquarters of central security as well as the building of internal security in building mi5. Horses were being exercised that take part in various ceremonies.

We stopped at Westminster abbey as well as saint Margaret's church which is where many members of the parliament are married. We saw the London eye with 32 cars standing for the 32 districts of London. We then saw Big Ben as well as Westminster Abbey and the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. The changing of the guards was preceded by a military band. There was quite a crowd there though not as crowded as tomorrow's festivities will be in honor of the queens birthday. As we found out today, the queen has 2 birthdays. They made the second one in the summer to take advantage of the nice weather.

Afterwards we actually ended up seeing the changing of the guards again a little ways up. Our official tour ended at buckinham palace but we traveled on to Saint Paul's Cathedral. This was one of five versions that had been built over the years. We climbed hundreds of stairs up to the top of Saint Paul's to catch a better glimpse of the city. In addition we heard audio files of history regarding the various wings of the church as well as the builder. Something that was quite near was entitled the whispering dome. Due to the shape, an individual across the other side could whisper into the wall and you would be able to hear it on your side. There was a modern art exhibit that was quite neat as well as a painting done by a street artist to represent Mary as a type of refugee holding her child in the midst of war.Very powerful. 

We then continued to walk past parks and cafes and arrived st the London Tower. Inside this building were the jewels of the royal family. We saw crowns passed on through the years as well as gold tiaras and pendants. There was even a giant gold punch bowl with an incredibly large ladle. Besides the jewels there were knight relics and costumes and other pieces of information along the way. 

On the corner near the river there were multiple breweries and restaurants where individuals were catching up with friends as well as laying down on the grass.