Buckingham Palace

So originally I was annoyed Friday because the school was taking a day trip to Oxford and I really wanted to go see what such a prestigious British university was like, but I had to go on a field trip for one of my classes and had to miss the Oxford one.  For class we went to the Banqueting House which is now used for banquets but once was part of a royal palace in which the kings and queens receieved important leaders of other countries.  The banqueting hall is basically one giant ballroom with a throne on one end where the king would sit.  This hall is also the place where King Charles I was beheaded, the first king to ever get beheaded by his people.  It was fascinating for about 15 minutes, although we had to stay for an hour.  Next we watched the Horse Guards Parade and the changing of the guards at Whitehall.  This is still done mostly due to tradition, but it was neat to see the guards in red (the Royals) and the guards in blue (the Blues) do their ceremony. 



ferret



It was a beautiful day so I decided to walk through St. James Park which sits in front of Buckingham Palace.  There was a beautiful pond and lots of birds in the park.  I also saw a man walking a ferret which was kind of interesting.  I got to Buckingham Palace just in time to see their changing of the guards which is also interesting to see.  There were thousands of people there and I tried to get as close as possible but it was hard to see over people's heads.  I worked my way up to the gates and took a bunch of pictures there, but to be honest I was a little disappointed by Buckingham Palace.  It doesn't look that much different than all the other old big buildings in the U.K.  They also were doing work on all the statues so they were all covered.  I couldn't get inside on any tours because none were currently being offered, but hopefully eventually I will. 

After I was finished I walked through Green Park and Hyde Park on my way home.  It was relaxing to be off of the city streets and near grass and trees.  There were tons of people playing soccer and kids running around, it was really nice.

Saturady the plan was to go to the sports cafe to watch the Syracuse game, but since we had to pay an expensive cover to get in, we bailed.  I was willing to pay but my friends weren't so instead we went to Chinatown.  We also went to the ferrari store.  I want one of them. 

Sunday we went to two markets.  London has a ton of markets and they all are really cool.  They had tons of jewelry, clothes, and other random things.  They are one of my favorite parts of London, because they have local stuff for so cheap.