80's Pomp and Circumstance

Thursday morning we woke up and were eager to get out and about the city again. We started out by having breakfast at the Bakery Cafe right up the road from our hotel. The Europeans are big on very small breakfasts so we had croissants and hot chocolate to eat. We headed out on the Underground back to Buckingham Palace, our first stop. We watched the changing of the guards, there were so many people there and this isn't even peak season.

The inspection of the guard shack before the guards actually change


After the actual change they have a band that played. They played for about 15 - 20 minutes and we were shocked as we listened. The first song that they played Greg and I listened and thought, "Hmmmm, this sounds familiar", but we could never figure it out. Then the songs began that we did recognize. Are you ready? Are you sure your ready to read the songs that the Buckingham Palace Changing of the Guards ceremony had played? Ok, here we go:

Thriller
Eye of the Tiger
Love Lifts Us Up
Time After Time
You Give Love a Bad Name

What a riot. After we left the changing of the guards ceremony we headed to Trafalgar Square. This is a huge hot spot for filmmakers. Some of the movies that have been filmed here include 101 Dalmations, The Avengers, and 28 Days Later, along with others.

One of the large lion statues at Trafalgar Square


Popular spot for pigeons to hang out and take food from passerby's at Trafalgar Square


We walked around for a while and ended up eating at a nearby pub called The Porcupine. While Greg enjoyed the ale, the food was very greasy, typical of an English pub. After lunch we went to The Photographer's Gallery and saw some interesting pictures, to say the least, not my style of pics at all. We continued on foot around the Chinatown area and then on to Piccadilly Circus and the theater district at Leicester Square. Lots of lights and somewhat like Broadway in New York, but on a much smaller scale.

The play Equus in which Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter) is staring in. It doesn't open until 2/27/07.
This billboard is located near Leicester Square, the theater district.


The main square at Piccadilly Circus, lots of billboards and lights.


We then walked to a nice shopping area, called Covent Garden. We had a couple of our friends, including Lisa, had told us about it so we were eager to head there. We didn't buy anything but had fun watching the street performers and just browsing in the shops.

We headed back to Earl's Court and ate dinner at Wagamama, a noodle bar. We had to get up very, very early in the morning so we went to bed early.