Day One in London - Part 2

After completing our tour of Westminster Abbey, we walked to Buckingham Palace. Along the way, we stopped at St. James's Park, which despite the chill and wind was still quite nice.










At Buckingham Palace, we walked around the front and watched the guards for a bit. I found particular joy in some of the details.

And also the fact that the daffodils (a little sad from the weather) were in bloom.














We then started our walk up to the National Museum. Along the way we stopped and enjoyed the sights small and large. We included a short walk up Crown Passage, which looked to Margaret like something from Harry Potter (there's going to be a lot of that on this trip, methinks).

Once we arrived at the National Museum it was quickly to the Impressionists and the Pointillists. Both are favorites of the girls. Sadly, there is currently some kind of strike going on so the majority of the museum was closed - we did get to see Monet, Degas, Cezanne, Seurat, Renoir, and Van Gogh, so the girls were still quite happy. The view from the steps is quite nice as Nelson points his way down toward Parliament.

After the museum, we headed back toward the Thames with a stop off at the Red Lion Pub for a couple of drinks. Then we visited the Queen's Walk right in front of and next to our hotel where Margaret and I enjoyed some fish and chips and Denise had a steak pie. We know the shop was a chain, but the employees were really delightful. We did a bit more walking along the river, but were quite tired by this point so it was about time to head back to the room. A wonderful first day in London complete.