Let's start from Westminster Abbey today. This building is located at approximately the center of London. It can be considered a church only for royal families. Many royal weddings are held here, and the crowning of Elizabeth the 2nd also happened here. So yes, they transported the jewels all the way from Tower of London to this place.
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| A nice view of Westminster from the front. |
This place, along with many other places that can be related to the royal family, is a huge tourist site. Many tour buses stop by and people take pictures. The thing is there's not much parking near this spot, so everyone kinda just stop anywhere they want, thus causing horrible traffic. It's convenient for the people taking photos, but it's so inconsiderate for the rest of the people. This happened again and again on this trip, and I might mention it again later.
Moving on. The next stop is the Parliament Square, where Big Ben is. It's actually right next to Westminster Abbey. You can walk there in about 3 -5 minutes. People commonly mistaken Big Ben as the tower, but it's actually referring to the bell inside the tower. I think the "Ben" comes from the name Benjamin (and it's not Benjamin Franklin, of course). I don't know if they still use the actual bell or just the soundtrack nowadays. Either way, the building is why everyone is here for. The building now serves as the political center (like Capital Hill) where prime minister and the House make decisions. I wonder what they think when they see so many tourists everyday right in front of this place......
Parliament Square is not just about Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, this place is very lively. People come here to chill and read. Many would bring lunch and their iPods. The entire square was crowded but not to the point where you couldn't walk when I was there.
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| The Parliament Square, with Big Ben (tower). |
There are some statues around this area. These are some great people in the history such as Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela. Abe Lincoln is here too.
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| Chill life of students......while the tourists are busy taking photos in the back. |
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| You can see many groups like that. Students from other European countries come here as well. I think this group is from France. |
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| Another major tourist attraction, even when it's supposed to be a private house. |
Now, let's move to Buckingham Palace. It's the Queen's residence. She literally lives there. Now look to you right...... There are so many people! If I were a person living in this house, I'd be like "fuck off!" to all of these people. It's so annoying seeing this many people walking in front of your house every day! It reminds me of the houses in San Francisco where they filmed "Full House." People would literally go up to the door and take a picture with the door and the placard. Isn't there a law that you can legally shoot those people who invade your property? Lol. I guess this is what happens when you're a celebrity in some way. I wonder how those Hollywood stars handle this type of problem (I only know some don't handle well......)
Oh yea, there's a balcony behind the gate on the second floor (or I should say 1st floor, as Europeans call 1st floor the "ground floor") That's where royal family members show themselves, and that's also where the kissing happened during the why-is-everyone-so-obsessed wedding.
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| Another view of the Palace. |
On the opposite side is the Victoria Memorial. It's a giant statue along with some water fountains. Honestly, if this thing is in a park, I'd love to just bring my laptop and sit there. it's really beautiful. BUT this is in front of someone's house, so never mind. I don't want those royal guards to think I'm setting up a bomb or something.
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| The Victoria Memorial. Pretty, huh? |
Lastly, for this post, I give you the picture of a guard....ON HORSE!!!! Holy crap this is awesome.
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| The plate on the left says: "BEWARE. Horse may kick or bite! Thank you." |
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