Meeting the Queen of England

Today was pretty amazing. We managed to make possibly the most dreadfully boring activity in London into pure ecstasy. Watching the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace is painful in so many ways. Nothing really exciting happens and it takes forever. We arrived in the Westminster tube station around 10:30 a.m. and waited an hour just for this damn thing to start. After a half hour of pure boredom we decided to leave and continue our tours, however the police officer patrolling the street crossing had other plans for us. 

Apparently the Queen had gone out for a bite to eat and was expected to return shortly, which obviously meant no one was allowed to cross the street. We were not aware that this was the reason, and consequently were quite aggravated that we couldn't leave the area and move on to something more stimulating. Naturally, the arrogant American I am, I started barking at the officer asking why we couldn't leave this mind-numbing Palace. His response, "The Queen is right behind you", he said in his smooth British accent with a little smirk on his face. To my surprise he wasn't joking. At that very moment the Queen of England came passing by us in her black Roles Royce, making her way into Buckingham Palace, sending us all including Professor Parkhurst and Scully, into a state of pure jubilation.

Professor Parkhurst marveled that he had lived in England for something like three years and never once saw the Queen in person, and on our third day, we are graced with her presence. Definitely worth the two hours of agony.

    We also visited Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.