Hello Adoring Fans (All two of you out there... or "Hi Mom and Dad" ),

We started the day off with a "hostel" breakfast- cereal and milk. Then we checked-out and headed down the street to where we will be tonight- Hotel Imperial... much nicer than the hostel. It is hard enough adjusting to the times changes from MI, but when we got to the hotel we found out London sprung forward an hour- so we had to really rush to make the Changing of the Guard ceremony at 11:30am. We took the Underground to the Green Park station, walked through the park to BUCKINGHAM PALACE. It is HUGE and gorgeous. You are welcomed off the park by huge golden gates with royal coat of arms. We got a spot outside the gates to the palace for the Changing of the Guard- there were a couple people in front of us, but with my 10X zoom we got some good pics (wayyy too many of them). We got there an hour early to get the spots, so Nick thought after it was done that it "under delivered for all the hype" but I reallly enjoyed it. It was about an hour long, beginning with guards marching with guns, then a band played a few songs and they were those tall fuzzy black hats, which I really thought were cool (they played "when the saints go marching in" and the gladiator theme song). It was a huge event for just changing the guards :) Kristen nearly passed out because we stood for 2 hrs crammed in with tons of people, so we left a couple minutes early and hit up a hot-dog stand in Green Park and sat by the Canadian leaf fountain. Then we walked around Buckingham Palace grounds and luckily ran into the Royal Mews, which we really wanted to tour (good planning again- walking around not knowing where you are going and running into what you meant to see!). This is a tour of the carriages of the royal families- they were gold painted with crowns atop and seals. There were about 5 of them (one Irish made one!) and a massive gold carriage with beautiful carvings. They also had the carriage that all the royal brides travel in on their wedding day- "the Glass Carriage." Even Princess Diana rode in it on hers (gave Kristen "ideas") (Ya, Princess Kristen sounds good..)! We took their audio tour and learned about making/riding/history of the Mews- which by the way they are called the Mews b/c originally it was an area where hunting birds were kept and the name stuck when the stables were added. All the workers at the Mews live on the premises, and have for several generations. We bought an ornament for the Buckingham Palace- our only London purchase b/c we have to make weight tomorrow with our bags Then we walked for about a half hour to Harrod's- one of the most expessive shops we have/will ever be in! The first escalator ever was placed in the store years ago. They had anything from expessive underwear, Gucci anything, chocolates and fruits, sports equipment, and our favorite- a Harrod's Scrabble Game for 1,999 £ (pounds) or about 4,000 US Dollars. Then we took the Underground back to Russel Square and finally showered in the hotel. We then met up with the rest of our tour group (there are 33 other people) and our Conitiki tour guide named Ryan. He seems cool and fun. We have to be ready to go at 6:45am tomorrow and then will bus for about 2 hrs to then take a ferry over to France- and will drive to Paris. We just ate dinner- fish and chips London style again... we REALLY like it- almost as much as little English kid's accents! An elevator= a lift, bathrooms= washrooms... OOOO and Nick blew-out my straightner- I guess he didn't know how to work the adapter(or knew how to work it perfectly) so afro will be in every pic... and I forgot a brush- so we are FINDING one asap tonight! We have to go "shed some weight to make our bags weigh 20 kilos (44 pounds) by morning.... this will be a challenge. Our video cam ended up not working since the minute we got here, so this is taking up precious space. We miss everyone at home, but are realizing how hard it is to trek across a country (on the Kristen's back, knees and feet--- Nick thought his knees were bruised, but it was just his blue jeans dying his knees!!! lol). We have absolutely loved the sights, food, and culture of London and really anticipating the journeys the next cities will take us on.

God Save the Queen (Nick saw this on a pillow and thought it would be cool to sign-off with... hmmm) (Kristen wanted something more original),

- Nick and Kristen