Day 11 - The Last Hoorah

Today was the last day of the tour :( but it was still very busy. We drove around and saw the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is the highest point in the city and can be seen from nearly every point. Then off to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards, but we just watched the beginning of the process so we wouldn’t get caught gawking at the gates for an hour.

After that we went into inside the Queen’s Palace while she is off on holiday. We saw 5 coaches that the Queen and Royal Family used to get around, along with one of the Bentleys the family uses on less important travels. We were allowed to walk through 20 grand rooms (out of about 755) that the Queen uses for state occasions. It was utterly ridiculous what was in each room and the extravagance of everything. But we weren’t allowed to take pictures, so I apologize once more for that. Left: front view, Right: back view.

Unfortunately for our last dinner together, a few people were separated from the rest of us as we sat at the pub for a traditional British meal. With our tour director headed home, things weren’t as neat and organized as we had been used to all week. After dinner, we went for a short cruise along the River Thames to see the city from a different view. We passed under London Bridge (and yes, I did sing the song in my head), saw Big Ben again (left), the Eye of London (right) and some other neat buildings along the riverside.

All too quickly we were back at the hotel saying our final farewells to the group that we had traveled around with for the past 11 days. With wishes for safe travels exchanged, and good nights all around, so ended The Essentials of Europe tour.

Top left: Dad with Chris (left) and Brian (right)
Top right: Eustace and Shirley
Bottom left: Melissa, Sarah, and me
Bottom right: Me, Dad, Mom with Karen and Lex (our metro traveling group)