Buckingham Palace

Hello again,

Yesterday, I believe I left off by telling you we were just going to take it easy and do laundry. Well, apparently Sargent Lauren had other plans. With our feet hurting and minds drained, we headed out to the British Museum! I agreed to go because after all, we are only here once so we might as well see as much as we can. The museum was alright. Lauren liked the Chinese Ceramics and early European stuff. Anyway, after the museum we got lost for awhile looking for a place to eat, which is exactly what you do not need after a long day at the museum. I thought I was Brian Waters trying to make it through the speed tests at training camp. I was exhausted. Needless to say, the rest of the night was uneventful, as we both practically fell asleep as we unlocked the door.

Today was a different story. We woke up early so we could actually walk around inside Buckingham Palace. It was one of the most marvelous things I have ever seen. First, the security was heavier than the international flight we took to get here. First, we got in a line to purchase our ticket. Then we walked to another entrance to show someone our tickets. They split the people up into two different areas. I don't know what happened to the other section for the rest of the trip, I never saw them after that. Our line proceeded to security. On our way, our tickets were checked and scanned by three different people. Then, we went through what they called, "the airport security section". This consisted of the basic airport security process, but Biggie Sized. As we approached the table, the first they we did was give them our bag. This wasn't one of those 'glance into the bag for sharp objects' checks. They took everything out and stuck there fingers in each little compartment looking for anything. Once we re-assembled the bag we put it on a conveyor belt that they have at airports so someone could give it a looksie-poo with the x-ray scanner. Then, if the bag was any bigger than your fist they took it, not to be seen until the end of the tour. Finally, the last part is when you walk through the metal detector and collect all your personal belonging. After that they great you with a huge smile and welcome you to Buckingham Palace. So genial!

Buckingham Palace was quite spectacular. The artwork, jewelry, tables, cabinets, ceilings, doors, door knobs, toilet lids, carpet, and everything about it blew away what we saw at the museums (the Queen also has her own museum inside). It is incredibly unfortunate, but we were not allowed to bring any electrical devices inside the palace. In other words, I couldn't take any pictures. We did get plenty of pictures of the backyard and outside in both the front and back.

After Buckingham Palace we walked to Westminster Abbey. Once again, we weren't allowed to take pictures, but it was a very large and gorgeous.

My personal favorite was getting to see Big Ben and the Parliament Building. There isn't much to say about them as we couldn't go inside, but the buildings are amazing. We took a bunch of pictures and then went to have a late lunch, around 4:30pm.

We couldn't go on the London Eye today because I felt it was too windy. There is no sense in going so high up in the sky when the wind could blow the wheel off its holder and roll me down the Thames River. I am about to buy tickets for tomorrow, provided weather.com gives me more support. Then we are going to pack and go to the Queen's Theatre. For the most part, however, the weather has been extraordinarily great. It's always 'suppossed' to rain, but then its a perfect 72 and partly cloudy.

I have really enjoyed seeing Dublin and London thus far. The only problem I'm having is that once I figure out how to not look stupid in front of people, we move on to the next location. For instance, I was really getting the Dublin accent down (as previously noted), mostly from my experience with the Lucky Charm's commercials, and then I come to England and it's all thrown off for a few days. Now I am in England and have to learn new things. For instance, if you say "chips" you get french fries, and you have to say "crisps" to get chips (those are my main concerns).

They also don't like to give you water at meals, and if they do they make sure to tell you its complimentary. Also, we were at a McDonald's for lunch one day and nobody puts there trash in the 'Rubbish' bins. They expect you to just leave your food out on the table.

Lastly, I have had trouble adapting to the street signs, mostly because they don't exist, and when they do they are impossible to see. For example, I had a mishap today crossing a street on the way to Buckingham Palace. I am only going to tell you this story because Lauren would make it seem much worst and completely exaggerate what happened. I was sitting there watching the cars whiz by within touching distance, completely unsafe. Then, I must have dozed off in a trance because the next thing I know I saw a family start to cross the street, so I instinctively said "be careful" loud enough for them to hear. Then they kept walking, so I yelled "BE CAREFUL!!!" because I saw a car coming fast. Needless to say, I looked up and our walking sign was green and the car was coming to a halt. I quickly ducked behind a crowd trying to cover my red face and keep my distance from Lauren who was laughing hysterically . I'm telling you, it's really hard to see anything when Double-Decker buses are roaring by like a bat out of hell. It's also very confusing, because you have to look up on the buildings for street signs, or on really skinny poles, or on fences. On the plus side, we really are great at using the Tube. It is a very cheap and convenient way to travel.

That's enough typing for today.

Lauren & Harrison