On Wednesday May 1st, (we spent Tuesday recovering from the late night flight), we got up and went to Westminster Cathedral.  N.T. Wright is now employed here!  Unfortunately we didn't see him. No photos were allowed inside Westminster Abbey (Mako took one that didn't turn out and almost got asked to leave) but click here to see a 360 degree web version.  It is almost 950 years old.  A lot of English kings and queens are buried here, along with other famous Brits like Chaucer, Dickens, and Kipling.  It was weird for us to see such a merging of church and state.
Little did we know that Big Ben is the bell in the tower, not the tower itself.  Here's Ming with the tower and the Parliament building in the background. Here's another angle at the Parliament building.  
Then we walked over to the Cabinet War Room, the basement headquarters where Winston Churchill directed the British campaign against Germany in World War II.  This room is where Churchill sat with his staff.

The maps used to track troop movements are still hanging on the walls.  Very cool.  These two pictures were taken from their website. 

Just outside the Cabinet War Room is St. James Park, a large, nice green park with a pond.  Here's we are at the edge of the  Park.

 This strolling pelican caught John's attention.
John started chasing pigeons at this point.  This past-time has continued to this very day. Ming was impressed with the flower arrangements in St. James Park.  She came back and planted flowers in our yard. 
Sometimes John liked walking along by himself...

And at other times he wanted a ride on Daddy's shoulders.  Here we are walking through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace.
On the edge of St. James Park is Buckingham Palace.  This is the plaza in front of the Palace.  To the right are the gates with the royal crest.
Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837. It evolved from a town house that was owned from the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Dukes of Buckingham. Today it is the Queen's official residence. To the left are Ming and John with the side view of the Palace.  To the right are Mako and John at a corner nearby.  Mako liked the street's name.

>> Next