The rail service (pardon me, tube line) on the two lines that come out to Uxbridge were both under construction last weekend, so we took a bus kindly provided by the London transit authority as a rail replacement service to another tube station further east of us, called West Ruislip (pronounced Rice-lip - they don't seem to be hooked on phonics here in the UK). Heading downtown, we got out at Westminster near Big Ben, picked up sandwiches and picnicked in St James's Park. 
The gardens in the park are gorgeous, but I think the birds were the most entertaining part of the walk. They are so pushy - people aren't supposed to feed them but some bring bread anyway. The greylag geese (which are now my favourite geese - sorry Canada geese, I have to go with my gut) are particularly pushy, remarking on every incident of inequitable bread distribution with tenacious quacking and pushing the other (smaller) bird species out of the way. They remind us of a few dogs we know.
Left - doesn't this expression look familiar to dog owners everywhere?
Right - they are so lovely and plump and orange, don't you think? They look like what a child would draw if you told them to draw a goose.
Walking through St James's Park, you come upon Buckingham Palace. The flag was up, which means the Queen was in but no amount of peeking through the gates gave us a glimpse. We had to settle for taking pictures of the Canada gates on one side of the traffic circle, to the left of South Africa – just one of several decorative gate posts.
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