Her Royal Weirdness

For our final full day in London, we were thrilled to discover that the Queen was having a birthday party at the palace, located approximately one quarter of a trillion mill-o-metres from our hotel (About five U.S. blocks.)

The streets around the Palace were shut down for the celebration…

…and the area was totally decked out for what promised to be a hell of a party...

...featuring an air show, a procession, a gun salute and, of course special appearances by not only the queen, but by America’s Sweethearts, William and Kate!

So, obviously we left the hotel early in order to get a good view of this once-in-our-lifetime celebration.   

Even the flag poles are wearing royal crowns!

Just kidding:  We took a walking tour of “Quirky London” instead.   

In my defense, I booked the tour weeks ago, way before the Queen decided she was going to be bourne that day 80u5 years ago.  So, despite her royal begging (seriously, lady, get a hold of yourself!)  

we found our way to our Quirky London Tour guide:  A man named Hedley.

And if anyone was born to give a quirky tour of anything, it was Hedley. 

Hedley prefaced the tour with a brief introduction to London, describing it as a “mental hospital where even the doctors have gone mad.” 

That seems about right, considering what we’ve seen…and what we will see later.  (More on that in the next post…)

Anyway, Hedley took us to some wonderful places on this tour, regaling us with tales that we never would have known (mainly about whores and dead things) along the way. He was quite entertaining (although the two Dutch girls that were also taking the tour with us didn’t think so, but I digress…) 

It’s a truly unique take on London, and we saw some incredible things that we otherwise would have missed, like the posh and super-fancy Savoy hotel…

…where basic rooms start at 2500 pounds a night. 

Obviously while inside, we didn’t even dare take photos (or breathe) out of fear we would break something.  Hi, we don’t know how to behave in a place where “everything must be the best.”  You know, because we’re the worst. 

Some of the less intimidating places on the tour include where Charles Dickens used to work…

"Please Sir, May I have Some More…

...stuffed potato skins?"

We also got to see the only street in the city where Londoners drive on the right side of the road.

It was like a little slice of home...except, of course, we still almost managed to get killed, since we weren't expecting it.

All in all, I'd recommend this tour for anyone who is looking for an excuse to avoid a massive birthday party down the road (or if you just want a unique look at London through the eyes of the crazies that you know you love.)

After the tour, since it was our final day in London (and we were still somewhat hungover from last night) we decided to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon.

Or....