Down by the river.

Today I took a little walk down to the river Thames with Lauren and we passed by a few things of interest along the way. . . 

We could not figure out what this was for the life of us. Our first thought was, "Is that where William and Kate had their first kiss?" No. No it is not where the first kiss took place. It's a calvary museum (but that was my next guess)

Another shot of the museum. It was pretty cool on the outside. Some royal guards were standing around taking pictures with people and looking very serious.

I just like this picture (I also want to see Anna Karenina)

Here we have a nice statue of an important man.

I love this tribute to the women of WWII. I havent seen a whole lot of statues or other things dedicated to women, and given they played a huge role in both world wars, I thought this was nice. And it's on a relatively busy street so lots of people see it every day. 

221 Downing Street aka the Prime Minister's residence

Big Ben!

Some more of parliament.

I adore this architecture. 

This is Big Ben chiming at 17.00 (for you Americans, that means 5 p.m.)

The London Eye and the London Aquarium. I love me some sea creatures so I will be paying this place a visit very soon. The London Eye sort of freaks me out because the angled beams that come off the center of the wheel are only on one side of it. . . not very supportive if you ask me (which you totally should, I'm a safety freak)

This one's for my bestie! M.A.C London collection advert on the cabs!

A nice gate that surrounds the Palace. Please note: it is very difficult to get in and out of the circle drive.

Do you think the Queen would give me her gardener's number? He does lovely landscaping work.

The Queen is in! Contrary to popular belief (i.e. my misconception) the flag at the top of Buckingham Palace does not indicate that the Queen is there. That little signal is for the House of Parliament and the Prime Minister. Scroll back up and see if he was there today!

Not sure what this means, but I like it. It was stuck in the sidewalk.

Another lovely gate.

(Editor's Note: Click Here for information on the Palace. It's truly fascinating)

We saw a crowd gathered around the side entrance to the Palace so we stood around for probably 20 minutes waiting for the Queen to come out (why else would people stand around a gate at a palace?) Turns out it was just normal people leaving work. The Queen wasn't even there today.

'

A final shot.

My favorite reigning monarch (my favorite queen is Anne Boleyn, but she never technically ruled England. Unfortunately). Victoria was the first monarch to live in Buckingham Palace, it was something of a controversy, as can be read here. (Same link as above. So actually open it this time)

A lovely fountain of Mermaid Man. Barnacle Boy must have been absent the day they sat for this portrait.