Friday's Changing of the Guard

The one important tourist duty that we hadn't yet attended to was the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Because it was the winter season the guard only changes every other day. On the advice of our Big Bus tour guide we walked over to St. Jame's palace to watch the guard that comes from there and goes down the street to Buckingham Palace. Most people wait at the palace and it is hard to get close. Even at this time of year...it is the one place you are apt to find a crowd. We got there just in time to see them coming down the street and heading up to the palace. After November 1st they wear their gray coats and continue that until April 1st, so our pictures are not very colorful. The plumes in their hats represent the particular area of Great Britian that they are from, in this case the blue tassle indicates they are from Ireland. It really was fun to see and we were glad we didn't miss it. After it was over we spent the rest of the day shopping, first at the Mews and later at several shops and department stores. Saturday we flew home to Michigan.