That was the plan for today. View the symbolic Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace with its celebratory atmosphere (not to be confused in any way with the solemn Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery) and then head to the city center for an in-depth visit. But upon arrival at Buckingham, it was clear that the mob present in front of the Buckingham fence and gates would dictate the need to try again later in our visit. There were many warnings from the officers patrolling on horseback that "there are pickpockets in the area." See the sign in the pictures warning the pickpockets that there are undercover officers in the area also. It reminded me of the photo radar warnings to drivers in Denver.
So we spent the next five hours touring the city center on foot. The markets, the plazas, the unique retail makeup of central London with entire areas selling the same type of item such as books, the beautiful buildings, gardens and storefronts. Lunch at La Roche (modern Mediterranean cuisine with Moroccan and Lebanese influences), the Temple Church (http://www.templechurch.com/), Kings College, Trafalgar Square, St. James Park and then dinner at Haandi (North Indian Frontier Cuisine) in the Brompton area.
In rushing through here as a tourist focused on the major sights, it is easy to overlook how beautiful this city is. We are getting to enjoy that aspect of it this time. The buildings with their cleaned exteriors revealing their beautiful architecture, grassy and tree filled squares in every neighborhood, beautiful parks and the flowers adorning windows and facades all over the city.
During our lunch at La Roche we met Sarah the manager. She is probably about thirty and has that medium brown skin color that to me seems common to many nationalities. So I was not sure where she might be from in this city that is more international than anyplace I think I have been. Her answer to that question was Persia. I thought that to be an interesting answer. Perhaps using the word Iran with Americans is deemed potentially bad for business?
Great update, looks like a perfect trip so far!