My first glimpses of london from the tour bus

 Please note I do not own either of these photos and by clicking on them Im sure you can reach The Original Tour's web page.

 Wohooo, so after getting lost en route to the touristy districts of London Cass and I finally came upon the open roof tour bus companies and we were soon underway. It was a lovely warm sunny day and we took advantage of the weather to sit up to of the bus with out cameras out and earphones in! There was simply too much to take in the first time around so Cass and I decided to stay on for a while just to take in the scenery and then we could jump off once we were ready to hit the pavement for some serious touristy business.

(well, looks like all my London photos are going to be posted on their sides. tough luck for you guys haha.) Check out my first glimpses of the London eye and Big Ben!

  

Happy snaps! would you just look at the clear blue sky! and my very short hair seeing as i had cut off my pony tail a few weeks earlier! 

What a surreal moment to finally see these two famous babies in person! I felt my heart jump into my throat because i was just so happy at finally being here. As we drove along the banks of the Thames the audio guide on the bus informed us that Big Ben is actually the name of the Bell inside the Parliament House clock tower. And being the lucky lasses we are, Cass and I not only had time to snap some blurry photos of the place while we were stopped at the lights, we also got to here Ben give us a chime or two. As the lights turned green we were take around the back of Parliament and on towards Westminster Abbey, where there had not long ago been a royal wedding. It was nice to drive through after having watched the procession on Tv in Stavoren. It was quite funny to think how much had happened since that summer. 

 such a beautiful building! Ive only recently started to like the abbey, you see while snapping photos here Cass and i were thinking of heading inside for a sticky beak when we discovered it would cost us 16quid entry... now thats near three times the minimum hourly rate here in the UK and im not overly fond of religion to begin with. so bollocks to that i said! and we left with me feeling rather cranky and ready to pick a fight with the first rosary wielding nun i saw. Recently however i have learned that you can be a tad sly and enter the church for free and pretend you are there for a specific service. Best part is you can relax while admiring the view from a comfy church pew. Since then my feelings towards this incredible building have somewhat mollified.

The Abbey and surroundings were heaving with tourists and big shots en route to lunch, so the bus was slow going. Making it easier for Cass and I to continue on foot. I was very startled to walk past a tent community protesting the end of the wars. It was confronting but also liberating that people in this giant city had the balls to go against the grain.

I came by this spot just the other day and im sorry to say that the tents are all but gone. Hopefully they managed to secure a deal to bring the troops home and left with heads held high... unfortunately one of the biggest things Ive learnt over here is that often, these cool and outspoken intellectuals are often severely treated by their opponents... aka. the dudes over the road in Parliament house and a part of me knows that their admirable intentions regarding the protest would have influenced little in the end :(

After all the politics and religion running about in my head i wanted nothing more than to head elsewhere in this amazing city and forget these unhappy thoughts. So back to the bus it was. And over Westminster bridge past the living quarters of the bishop of london. (yes he lives in an old castle. where do you think all the money from the donation boxes goes!) around the loop de loop and back over the river towards green park and Buckingham palace to pop in and see Lizzie at the Palace! Boy was it cool to drive towards Buckingham Palace and see all the tourists clambering about to get a good shot of the poor palace guards. They aren't standing outside the gates like i always believed. Rather they are a long way inside the gates looking very unformidable. There would be no monkeying about trying to make them laugh today!

no signs of lizzie or some sexy british gaurds to have fun with, there was however a huge line waiting for a chance to get into the palace grounds and so after a while of waiting cass and i became quite annoyed and realized it was time to move onto the next touristy place... madame tussades!!

Tune in tomorrow night for the continuing photos and stories...