London may now be at the top of my favorite cities. Cameron and I had both been before, so on this trip we were able to skip a few of the tourist attractions and do some things off the beaten path. Friday we took a bike tour (we got free t shirts for doing one in each city Fat Tire operates!) and got a refresher overview of the layout of the city. We quickly realized that London has a lot of traditional quirks. One being their "guards"...
These men are the Royal Horse Guards. They are a group of prestigious cavalry Soldiers whose duty, it appears, is to appear in parades/ royal events, and occasionally trot around the city streets in ridiculous hats.
Introducing... Flat Stanley! (or Stanrietta as we decided her long, luscious red hair makes her a she) My cousin Alex's class mailed these cutouts to friends and family to see where they could take Stan/Stanrietta on vacation. Stanrietta visited Buckingham Palace and several other London landmarks while we looked silly taking photos of a paper doll.
Me, mid-bike tour with a view of the London Eye over my shoulder.
This is another example of London's traditional quirks- the walk request signal for pedestrians... and the walk request signal for equestrians. I've never seen so much horse poop in the middle of a metropolitan city before.
Cameron was feeling regal after spending some time on the look- out for the Queen, so we treated ourselves to a delicious traditional tea and quiet reading time with his pet sheep. Our ritzy hotel had this sheep in our room, and we never figured out what was the point/ story behind it. The housekeepers even repositioned him when they cleaned the room, so it was like he moved... a nice little pet to make it feel like home...
It just so happened that we were in London on their "Remembrance Day", like our Veteran's Day. As you may have seen on CNN or BBC, there was a very long parade of veterans and soldiers, and then each member of the royal family laid a wreath of poppies at a monument. We happened to be walking down a street near Buckingham Palace, wondering why the roads were blocked and people waiting, when brown Bentleys with police escorts began driving past (the Queen always rides in a brown Bentley apparently). So, we waited and watched as various members of the royal family drove past us.. hard to say who it is in the picture above... I like to think it was the Princes.
If you really zoom in on the picture below, and get some good clarifying software, you will see that its THE QUEEN! This was when she was on her way to the wreath laying while we were standing at a different location. She really does wave to her public like Miss America (more likely Miss America really does wave like her). It was an exciting day for me, I never expected to see the Queen and her family on our trip!
Another picture of a Royal Horse Guard... not really sure what he's carrying to protect the building with under that robe! The sign says "Caution- Horses will bite". Maybe thats his secret weapon?
Stanrietta and Big Ben
And I leave you with a final picture of London's deep seeded traditionalism- this is a band that just marched along the road while we were waiting for the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace... in the road, playing their music for no apparent reason, while holding up traffic. You gotta love their determination.
