London - Day 1

Well, this trip has been pretty much all work and no play.  But the first day we landed, I did get some time to walk around London and explore.  

Our hotel, Le Meridian Piccadilly, set in the heart of London's West End, was a great location to start exploring from.

Our hotel    (Not bad...)

Abercrombie & Fitch (Yes, I shopped...)

A museum...I think.

I found Hyde Park - it was giant -  and wandered from one side to the other.  It really was just gorgeous.  I like the idea of a big, serene park in the middle of a crazy city.

When I popped out on the other side, near Kensington Palace, the crowds were gathering. People hanging from fences and lining the streets...  I had no idea what was going on, but decided it must be something worth hanging around for! 

Apparently it was the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace.  

This was as close as I could get to the action:

I didn't really see what all the fuss was about, especially since I couldn't tell what was going on, so I snuck off to keep exploring London.

St. James Church

It really wasn't too exciting of a day, but it was cool to be in another country for the first time (and driving on the other side of the road).  I had fun exploring on my own, too, since there isn't a language barrier here.  

After a fancy dinner that night, it was off to work the next day: more meetings with my boss.