Happy 4th of July from London! This morning we started at Buckingham Palace, and it was insane! We saw the changing of the guards, as well as we could in the hordes of people. The horses are really beautiful and the band is good; they randomly played Star Wars. Then we strolled down to the Royal Mews and took in the state cars, carriages, and horses. Again, the horses were really beautiful! The stables smelled like my childhood. The workers there were super friendly, and all wished us a happy 4th of July. One of the girls in security was even American. The signs said people usually work there for generations, but maybe not that one.

We did a bit of souvenir shopping and then headed to the Tower of London. We had lunch on the wharf, then started climbing. You go up and down about a million and a half steps, as it's a complex of towers, so you go up one tower, then down, then up to another, then down... then repeat all day. It's really cool though. We saw the Crown Jewels and lots of armor/weapons. We saw Henry VIII's armor, Henry V's giant sword, and Edward VI's tiny armor. We also saw a giant's armor (They used to credit to John of Gaunt, but that's disputed now.) and the Guinness Record beside it. They used to house the Royal Zoo here, so there are replica animals everywhere. We joked around with a Beefeater, then saw one of the famous ravens attack a little girl whose parents let her wander onto the grass. Toria bought a book and a journal. Gabe bought a Horseguard and a knight/horse combo.

After the Tower, we went to Harrods, and it's pretty fancy! We went through the cosmetics and perfume sections en route to the food area, and saw LOTS of really expensive stuff. They had face cream for 1500 pounds per jar, just right in the walkway for anyone to knock over. The food area is really neat; you can get food from everywhere, or fancy chocolates, or beautiful pastries. Toria got a spinach and feta turnover, the boys got weiner schnitzel and gratin au dauphine, and I got salmon en croute with greek salad. We got a yummy bottle of wine and the cubs got a cinnamon roll and a chocolate/hazelnut danish. The trains back from Harrods were jam packed and we had to wait through 3 then split up and just cram our way in. At our flat, we ate our dinner and uploaded our pictures, which is our nightly routine.

We're still not used to the time change, but need to try and turn in early tonight since we're getting up early to go tour Stonehenge/Windsor Castle/Bath tomorrow. It's from 8 am to 7 pm! The guy said traffic's bad that time of morning, so we must leave early. It's almost 10:30, so we better try and turn in. The TV here is hysterical, and they're all dying laughing at some show right now.