The highlight of Westminster Abbey is the fan-vaulted Henry VII's Chapel. The whole ceiling appears to be a finely woven intricate and delicate ivory lace layer upon layer. You forget that it is actually made of stone. The shrine to Edward the Confessor is noteworthy because five kings and three queens are buried there.

The Cloisters of Westminster Abbey. 

A view down one of the alcoves in the abbey gives way to this battered door which had been ignored for centuries. 

The ironwork is beautiful.

A look out one of the windows onto the Cloisters and across to the abbey.

Making our way across London to see Buckingham Palace. Can you see it in the background?

A view atop the Victoria Memorial created in 1911 by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock. This is right infront of the main gates of Buckingham Palace in the center of a round about, gold of course.

The kids sitting on the bottom of the monument waiting for the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. We kept on getting yelled at by the mounted police but there was no where else to sit and wait and be able to see. He kept yelling, "Get off our national monument." I wanted to yell, my ancestors taxes paid for it, but thought better since he had a gun and I didn't.

The girls are always ready when I say cheez. Tyler has learned to multi-task finally. He can cheez and look elsewhere and think I don't notice as long as I see teeth. Tanner just doesn't care. Maybe that is a result of being the baby. And as the baby, I don't care either. Three out of four is pretty good odds. Aim high and realize above average works.

Some of the gates surrounding the round about infront of Buckingham Palace.

The Queen's Guard is the group of infantry and calvary soldiers given the responsibility of guarding the royal residences in London.  Since King Charles II, the horse and foot guards, predating 1660,  have been responsible for this job. This is not for show. These are actual soldiers in the British Army.

The actual Changing of the Guards occurs inside the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. The entire process is about an hour long. The detachment from St. James' Palace marches up the Mall to Buckingham Palace to meet up with the detachement from Buckingham Palace. These two make-up the Old Guard. 

Meanwhile, the New Guard is waiting inspection at the Wellington Barracks. The Band plays while the Old Guard and New Guard go through their pomp and circumstance.  The Captains of the Guards march towards each other for the handing over of the Palace keys. The new reliefs are marched to the guardrooms of Buckingham Palace and St James' Palace where

In the end,  The Captains of the Guards march towards each other and hand over the Palace keys. The new gurads march into their respective places and the process is finished.

The queen is in residence when the British flag is flying atop the palace. She was in today. We weren't able to tour the palace since it was closed due to the upcoming Olympics and security concerns. That's O.K. We are kind of burned out on over-the-top living accomdations.

Dad even finally ignored the mounted bobbies. They were not screaming at this point.

Out with the old and in with the new. Cross off the bucket list and onto the next stop.