June 4, 2025 - London Day 3!!

As Joey Tribiani from FRIENDS would say, “LONDON BABY!”

Many of us began our day with a loud knock at the door from room service at the early hour of 8:00 am, asking if we needed any cleaning. After jumping from my bed thinking I was late (I wasn’t), we enjoyed a delicious hotel buffet breakfast. After fueling for the long day ahead, we headed to the Tubes and took a short train ride to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. After fighting through the crowds we met up with our tour guide for the day, Louise Chapman. She gave us the history of the guards and what to expect when watching. She also knew exactly where to turn our attention so that we could get pictures. Due to the crowds and my height this was the best I could do from where we were standing…

We all were watching through our phones, but at least Enzo was able to see the whole show. Luckily for us, our tour guide took us on a walk to a secret spot where we could catch the guards at the end of the ceremony. We were very up close and personal.

Next we walked through a beautiful park where we saw lots of trees, a lake, and geese!! We then walked over to the Mall, which is the red road that leads from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. Here our tour guide gave us the history of who lives where, or who currently resides in these buildings.

We then walked over to see the the horse guards! Which, if you’ve seen videos, these horse guards can be ruthless, so we were sure to stay at a safe distance so none of us got bit.

Next we walked our way down a street were there were many government and Parliament buildings. We then finally got to see the famous Big Ben!

Next stop on the itinerary was Westminster Abbey! But first we stopped for a much needed snack break, the pigeons were especially grateful. Inside of the Abbey or tour guide gave us a lot of information and history of the building. Queen Elizabeth II and her son Prince William both had their weddings there! We learned that this is also we’re all of the coronations happen, we even got to see the actual throne used during just for the coronations! We also learned that this church used to be a Catholic Church until Kind Henry the VIII became Head of the Church of England and had it changed. This building had so much beautiful architecture, and interesting history, and a lot of grave! More than 3,000 in fact. Some notable ones that we saw were Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, and Queen Anne of Cleves.

After spending some time at the Abbey, we headed over to tour Kensington Palace. This is where Queen Victoria grew up! We were able to see different rooms, as well as actual clothing and jewelry that Queen Victoria had worn.

After touring around Kensington, we all headed back to the hotel to get a little nap in before dinner at Yatri Indian Restaurant! The food was delicious!

Everyone enjoying their yummy dinner!!

-Emma Amon