London, day 3

The whole public transportation is getting better but still annoys me that you must change so much. Today was sort of going to be one of those flexible days that I was to go with the flow, LOL. Oh stop laughing! Our plan was to get to the staging area for the Changing of the Guards and watch the parade form but not be at Buckingham Palace for the actual change of guards . . . arrive as it was over and the crowd was gone. I know totally sounds backwards but unless you are front and center at the gate you can not see anything. We got an earlier start than I imagined so we decided to pop into the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms . . . thought maybe 30 minutes or so and then Colin would be done but I was very surprised at how much he seemed to be enjoying it. They had a special audio guide that was geared towards children which was good and on their level. At 11:00, I told him we needed to leave and he was not ready . . . who knew. It was a very interactive museum with great displays too. I really enjoyed it and could have spent longer but had to get moving along.

As we walked around town we would see these . . . such an icon and symbol but many are now painted black.

Waiting for the parade . . .


. . . arrival as it was ending . . . just as planned . . .
Honestly I wasn't that impressed with the whole changing of the guards but it is what it is . . . a lot of ceremony to do each and every day especially when it is hot and those poor guys/girls wearing those wool uniforms! I guess it is a good photo opportunity for us tourist.

The weather was nice and no one was complaining about the walk so we continued walking to St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square. I had read about doing a brass rubbing and with our London Card we got a free rubbing so why not give it a go? Well, let me say it is harder than one might think!

It was a cool activity and think I might frame them and hang them in the house if they make it home. It was time for ice cream so took a break outside under the tree before we made our last planned stop of the day before dinner. I had researched the London Pass for what we wanted to see when it came to the cost . . . it ended up being cheaper to buy the pass than paying for each individual museum and plus with the pass we could skip the line which was a bonus. The London Transportation Museum might not have been something I would have visited but since it was free I figured why now? They had a nice treasure hunt for kids and they had to find 14 stations and punch them . . . no prize at the end but it did keep Colin's attention. He had fun 'driving' and seeing all the modes of transportation around town up close . . .

SO again, it was time for our little taste of America for dinner . . . TGI Fridays . . . Colin insisted on wings and he sure seemed to enjoy them!

Oh and people are still complaining about the World Cup game to Germany . . . I mean it is all that is on the news . . . you would have thought it was the final big game they lost. Get over it! And of course we ended the night with a swim.