Big Ben and the London Eye in the rain 

Because everything around the palace was still closed, we walked to the House of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. That was kind of a bust. We couldn’t get into Parliament since we’re not UK citizens, and Westminster Abbey was closed until the mid-afternoon. Plus, it started pouring as we were walking there, and even our umbrellas couldn’t keep us dry.

We walked back to the palace area, and checked out the Queen’s Gallery. This museum holds various works of art from the Queen’s collection and some rotating shows. It was a little tiring though. The one cool thing was the collection of some of the royal jewelry (a necklace with a 60 and 90 carat diamond) and these little figurines that were carved out of semi-precious stones.