A Bold Day In The Heart of London

Day four of our already incredible trip was packed with all sorts of shenanigans. First, our group headed over to the Faraday house to meet for our packed schedule of the day. From the house, we took the tube to go see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. I thought it was a cool event to be a part of; however, I thought it was a little overrated because you could not see that much of the action from where we were standing. From there, we walked through beautiful and scenic hyde park to go see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the Parliament. I took terrific photos of all these places and could not believe how beautiful and clean these areas were. Then, we ate a terrific lunch at the Methodist church cafe in the Parliament where I tried my first ever jacket potatoes. Yummy!

After a delicious lunch we went over to the Hackney council where we heard a terrific lecture from Charlie Forman, one of the Hackney council members for the 2012 summer Olympic Games. He discussed the building of the city of London from a "tourist" country to an Olympic powerhouse. He also touched on different topics relating to the Olympic Games. Some of these included the economic benefits that will affect London because of the games as well as the expanding job offers that may now be given out because London will need so many people to work the Olympics. Many of the people who were once unemployed may now have a job and find work elsewhere once the Olympics are finished.

Then, our last stop was to Abbey Road, where the Beatles once stood in their famous cover of their photo album. The only problem was the stop on the tube wasn't the REAL Abbey Road. However, we retraced our steps and found the real one on Swiss Cottage where we were treated to many flashbulbs and cars honking their horns at us during rush hour. All in all, it was a great time and glad I went out of my way to find it.

Finally, to conclude my evening I met up with an old friend of mine out in Soho, a hotel concierge named Abban. In addition he brought his work friend Millan. Myself and some of my other friends on the trip came with me to catch a delicious dinner at Byron's, one of the main delicious burger chains in London. We all talked, quickly made friends and caught up on old times and adventures. All in all, it was a jam-packed day and I couldn't have asked for anything better than that.