The crowds of tourists were already building in front of the palace. We bought coffee and a muffin from a kiosk.
We stood around till well after 11, there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing of a few soldiers but nothing spectacular.
Eventually we asked a policewoman what was going on and she told us they'd already done a "wet change" because of the weather. This means a cut down show with no music etc. A bit disappointing, given that the weather was actually fine, as forecast.
We decided to walk all the way to Portobello Road Market. First back up Constitution Hill to the Wellington Arch.
Then all the way through Hyde Park. The snowdrops were out already.
Lots of ducks, swans and other birds around the Serpentine.
We had a look at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.
Then through the streets of Notting Hill to Portobello Road.
There wasn't much of a market on today, certainly by the time we got there.
We had our lunch in a Malaysian street food restaurant - Makan chicken fried rice, sweet corn bhajis and samosas.
After lunch we caught the Underground back to Tower Hill and visited Tower Bridge.
The walkways at the top both have glass floors so you can see the bridge and the Thames below.
We saw the old steam engines which used to power the lifting of the bridge.
After leaving Tower Bridge we walked along the south bank of the Thames past Shakespeare's Globe theatre towards the Tate Modern.
We went into the gallery and got the lift to the 10th floor where the viewing gallery is. Good views in the twilight.
We looked at a few pieces of art, such as the fountain in the turbine hall.
We walked across Waterloo Bridge towards Leicester Square, stopping at the Harp pub for a pint on the way. We had a bite to eat at McDonalds, then had a look in the Lego shop.
We then went to the cinema, and saw 1917 at the Cineworld Imax.
Later we caught the Tube back to Hanger Lane and had a nightcap pint at the Ashbourne just next to the hotel.
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