London

Josh had a day business trip to London and I was lucky enough to be able to accompany him.  While he worked, I took in the sights.  I started my way through Hyde Park, over to Buckingham Palace, back to Big Ben, up the London Eye, and ended my day being entangled in one of London's largest protest in decades (but we will get to that later).

Hyde Park is one of the largest royal parks in London.

Beautiful surroundings

I tried to take him home

Buckingham Palace in the distance.

View of Knightsbridge Barracks, which is where Horse Guards are stationed.  These guards responded to emergencies at the Buckingham Palace in 1795.

If you squint, you can see the Household Cavalry riding to Knightsbridge Barracks

A closer look at the Buckingham Palace and the Knightsbridge Barracks

The Memorial to Queen Victoria was completed in 1911 and carved out of 2,300 tons of white marble.

Buckingham Palace still operates as the Administrative Headquarters of the Monarch.

The Queen faces out towards the people.  The Angel of Truth, Charity and Justice sit on top of the statue.

The Horse Guards

Knightsbridge Barracks

I think it is easy to tell how this horse feels about his job!

On my trek to Big Ben, I noticed there were hundreds of guards.  I finally stopped to ask if this was typical for the Parliament building or if something was happening.  The guard responded they were preparing for the Education protest.  As she pointed to the group in question, I laughed to myself, because there were at most 25 protesters at that time.  Continuing on my way, thinking about how London may have over spent on guard protection, I snapped a few photos of Big Ben and took a jaunt over to The London Eye.

Big Ben sits at the end of the Parliament building.  It is one of the largest four faced clock.

Maybe if I had a clock this big, I would be places on time!

The Parliament Building

The London Eye

Getting ready to get on.

View of Big Ben from the top of the Eye.

Me

 There were 20 of us in one capsule, they were very large.

A few photos of Big Ben and a ride on the London Eye later, the very small demonstration had gained momentum and there I was, amidst 50,000 protesters.  A news article described the situation as the following: estimated 52,000 students took to the streets of London on Wednesday to protest government plans to increase university tuition fees while cutting higher education funding by 40 percent. The demonstration was one of the biggest student protests in decades and the largest turnout against the British government’s austerity measures that were announced last month.

The demonstration, while I was in London, remained peaceful.  

Students and faculty joined together to fight the government's decision to raise tuition to 9,000 pounds.

One school made a float.

Students would show up in waves of 50 every two minutes.

Just another day in London!