It’s been raining for weeks, with no sun in sight.

I don’t think you understand. It’s been raining all day, every day, for weeks. Plural.

In Ohio it’s 80 and sunny, and my mom came here for 48 degrees and rainy. Still! It’s London, and even under the safety of an umbrella you can have fun.

We started out at Leicester Square and walked around the West End for a bit.

Chinatown

After walking around Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Chinatown for a bit we were hungry so we stopped in Byron.

Byron gets two enthusiastic thumbs up for being totally cool with swapping the beef patty for a ‘shroom for me. We both ordered the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee special. Not sure what spicy green chilis, spicy mayo sauce and cheese have to do with a Diamond Jubilee, but it was good. Pickle on the side topped it off!

What I love about the West End is that all the major sites are within a five-minute walk of each other, so it’s easy to do a quick overview with visiting guests.

Trafalgar Square

The official Olympics 2012 clock. It shows a different amount of time on the other side, so originally I thought it was broken but I think maybe it’s for different things? I don’t know. I could look it up, but I’m lazy.

My English friend said if it was in fact broken it would be so tourists wouldn’t get the impression that things here actually work. I love English cynicism!

The walk to Westminster

Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives

And a really boring picture of Big Ben.