Loving London

Hey Everyone!
So my first and last full day in London has been amazing! I caught the last of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace this morning which was quite impressive, but I am really glad I only caught the end of it. I think Lonely Planet was right when they said the official name which is Guard Mounting seems much more interesting, nonetheless I am really glad I saw it. From there I walked along the birdcage walk to Parliament Square where Westminster Abbey and Big Ben are along with loads of other beautiful government buildings. Walked up to the very impressive Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery is right behind this amazing fountain...words can't really describe it...i will try and get pictures up soon. I then walked across the River Thames to the London Eye...wow....so great. I thought I might freak out because I am not a fan of 'ferris wheels' but it was so great and now i can say i have been on the worlds largerst observation wheel :) On the eye I met a hilarious gay couple from Texas ... really ironic story but more on that later. After the eye, which I got on very quickly by the way, I walked along the south bank of the River Thames to the Tate Modern. I loved the Tate, they had a great exhibit, by an artist whose name I have written down somewhere upstairs, who went to a post-communist community (but did not disclose the location) and painted all the buildings bright colors...or should i say colours... and made a video about how the community reacted. After the Tate I meandered by the Globe Theatre then went to the London Bridge area which by the way I have always thought was the 'pretty' bridge but really that is the Tower Bridge and therefore was terribly confused when I started walking across...then i looked to the next bridge over and laughed to myself when I saw the Tower Bridge. So then I walked to the Tower Bridge and across the River Thames where I walked around the Tower of London and went into the non-touristy area of the financial district where the Bank of England is. After that I took the tube back to the Kensington Garden area which is where my ironic story comes is! So after a few stops people get off and I take an empty seat. Right after I sit down a familiar voice says with a slight drawl ' well hello there again', I look up and see my texas friends from the London eye! How crazy is that! The even crazier thing is, there seems to be a conspiracy with gay couples from Texas (of all places!). When I was in NYC over Thanksgiving I went to a broadway show with my brother and his boyfriend and who do I happen to be sitting next to....a gay couple from Texas!!! I can't complain because both couples were very nice but ah how weird is that! Anyway, I took the tube to the Keksington garden area and then caught a double decker bus to Hyde Park and walked around...very beautiful. Then I caught a bus back to Kensington where I went back the the Irvine's (very nice people) and had dinner with them. Well that is the short story for now! I have to get up in about 5 hours to get to the airport to go to Norway but I will write again soon after that...and I have to add this...Mind the Gap!