Sunday began bright and early: we had to catch a train from Wellingborough into London for the day.
Andrew, Toni, uncle Raymond, Mom and Nan were along for the adventure. From the high speed train we moved over to the Underground and headed to Green Park station so we could see the Changing the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. We got there somewhat early, which was a good thing. After an hour, the streets were swarming with spectators. We got a nice spot near the road. Take a look at this video:
Next we headed over to Westminster, home of Parliament and Big Ben. Uncle Raymond took me across Westminster Bridge to take some photos, and then we intended to take an open-top double decker bus to see more of the city. But the prices were absurd… £29 per ticket initially, though the sales guy then offered us £25.
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So instead we skipped ahead to our plan of taking a sightseeing river cruise down the Thames to Greenwich. This turned out to be a much better way to see the city. We got great views of the Tower Bridge and other landmarks, and I enjoyed being on the open top deck with the cold breeze. Here’s a video look of the cruise until we reached Tower Bridge and the iPad ran out of juice.
The cruise brought us to Greenwich, where we dismembarked and explored the grounds of the naval museum there. After looking around and taking photos and trying to get some tea, we headed back for our return boat journey.
All the getting in and out of the boat, navigating the streets and the Underground, it was a bit tricky for Nan, but she made it through. By the end of the day her feet were somewhat swollen. Everyone was tired, but we got to see a lot. I feel like I only just scratched the surface, but I got a taste of London.
Jadzia thought the guards at the palace had funny hats that looked like wigs. She was wondering if there were female soldiers in the guard.