LONDON! Day 11: Buckingham Palace

We had to be typical tourists and go watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Since we had so much on our agenda during the weekend, we decided to go on our last full day, Monday. Not such a good idea.

You can't quite see it in this picture but the "Union Jack" flag is flying over the Palace. That means the Queen is not there. We knew where she was! But that's another post...

Our trusty guidebook suggested we get there early, and even where was the best place to watch. We weren't exactly on the ball about getting out of the hotel on time so we got there about the time the actual event started...

HORDES of tourists! They were stacked deep at the actual gate. We did get some good shots of the parade.

Just as the guards entered the Palace plaza, it started to rain. No big deal, right? It rains all the time! We couldn't see much through all the people so the pictures are mostly of the back of someone's head. There was some stomping, a little yelling and then more stomping. Then the guards went inside.

The friendly (and not-so-friendly) crowd control informed the masses that due to the rain, that was it. It was over! Lots of people left. We stuck around, took more pictures.

This is the Victoria Monument set in front of the palace. It was a rather grey day, due to the rain, and there were so many people there that my pictures aren't great. While we were taking pictures, the rain stopped!

Then the guards came back out! I'll have more pictures up on snapfish.

The actual "changing" seemed to be of the one guy standing in front of the guard booth. There might have been more than one booth but this was the only one I saw. Just as they were finishing, the heavens re-opened and a deluge ensued!

We only had the one little, purse-sized umbrella so we were both half-soaked. But we were still having a good time!