Today we woke up with a plan. We were going to attend The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We again ate our huge breakfast and again we snagged a few extra cheeses and cookies for later. We rode the hotel shuttle to the Canada Water station, which remember, this is the closest Underground station that will take us all over the city, and when we got there it was shut down for the day for maintenance. Convenient! Brent goes into immediate panic mode, while I suggest that we could just ask how someone how to get there by bus. There were some very helpful Underground employees who explained what bus we could catch to take us to another station that would be walking distance to Buckingham palace. I think we all perked up when we saw the bus that we were supposed to get on and realized it was one of those double-deckers that we'd been wanting to ride.
We hopped on and flew up the stairs to find the seats closest to the very front. We were in luck; we get the front row! It was LONG bus ride with all the many stops it had and we were anxiously watching our watches. The ceremony starts at 11:30 and we were told that we needed to be there at least 30 minutes early. We finally arrived at Victoria station at 11:15. Brent asked the gentleman working at the station what train we should get on to get to the Palace. He quickly informed us that this was the closest station, but that the Palace was within walking distance. We walked, and walked, and walked! My walking distance and the Brit's walking distance are clearly two totally different things!
I could not believe what I saw when we rounded the corner...there was a sea of people! And one too many of them were smoking fags! Have you ever been afraid that someone was going to catch your hair on fire with a cigarette, or fag rather? Blair grabbed onto Brent's belt-loop, while Ashley and I walked single file behind them bumping into people each step of the way. Brent just kept walking, so we kept following. I'm not real sure where he was going, but we were following him wherever he was leading. All the sudden he decided he wanted to turn back, so we turned around and headed back. A little info is necessary so that you can visualized what happened next. Buckingham Palace is surrounded by a iron fence, you can see that in the pictures below. In front of the Palace there are two large gates for driving through. Everyone who is attending The Changing of the Guards is behind the fence, stacked 7-10 deep to see the ceremony, but NO ONE is in front of the gates. There is a mounted police in front of each gate to make sure that you keep moving and do not stand in that area. Hopefully I painted a clear enough picture that you can "see" what happens next. Brent, being the one to never miss an opportunity to take a great photo, walked behind the mounted police and steps up to the front of the gate to take a picture. The mounted police turns her horse around and yells, "GET AWAY FROM THE GATE!" She had a switch in hand and for a second I thought Brent was going to get flogged! I witnessed Brent move faster than I've ever seen him move! I so wished that we had taken our video camera and I had been videoing when all this happened. It would be so much better than me trying to explain!
Here are just a few of the pictures that we took while we were there at the Palace:
I was just sure these boys were coming to take my husband away for his stunt earlier!
Interesting bit of trivia here. If the Queen is present at the Palace, there are 4 of these guards posted, if she is absent, there are 2 guards present. Funny how knowing that and only seeing two guards while we were there, I still kept looking up at the windows just waiting for her to peak her head out and wave to the crowd. The funniest part is when they are finished they raised their leg high in the air and then stomp it as hard as they can. I guess that means they're done.
These young boys, I mean guards, are very interesting to watch. The stand still and then all the sudden the start using very animated robotic type movements, marching a few feet away and then turning back to their little guard shack.It's not the best, but he is a short video clip:
A couple of the mounted police stopped right in front of me to allow their horses a little nuzzle time.
The gate:
I didn't get a good picture of the people that were standing right in front of the Palace, but in front of it is a round about. This is what is in the middle of it and you can see the all the people that are over there to view this as well.
Brent and the girls standing in front of the Palace:
Buckingham Palace side view. You can clearly see all four guard shacks in this picture, but only two guards.
The iron fence that surrounds the front and part of the sides is absolutely beautiful. We just wonder if it is painted gold or if it is gold plated. I haven't researched it to find out yet.
When the ceremony was over we decided that we head toward Hyde Park and Savile Row. One of Brent's customers insisted that he took his wife shopping at Harrod's, so we were off to find Harrod's. This was the walk from Buckingham Palace, toward Hyde Park...absolutely beautiful and this picture really doesn't do it justice!
This the wall that surrounds the entire Buckingham Palace compound, except for the very front and part way down the sides. Doesn't appear that they want anyone to scale the wall, does it?
I just loved the street signs in London, they were all so cute!
I cannot remember what this was...my note taking should have been better!
I pity the poor person who orders sushi for lunch and thinks that it's going to be express. The poor chap is going to have to air up his tires before he can deliver anything.
The architecture in London and the rest of Europe that we experienced, is so unique. I enjoyed just looking at buildings and thinking what my life might be like if my family just had a flat to live in. I have a better understanding of the abundance of space that we have in this country!
Picadilly Circus is like Broadway in New York, only on a much smaller scale. After exhausting the Hyde park and Savile row area, we took the Tube to Picadilly Circus. When we arrived it started raining, so we didn't get to explore too much. Not to mention the fact that we were all exhausted, once again.
I just had to take these photos! Brent absolutely loves this saying. Every time the train stops there is a warning that is played saying, "Mind the Gap between the train and the platform."
We decided to ride the tube to the other side of London. #1 it's raining and tube is warm and dry, and #2 Ashley has been begging to go back to the Tower of London all day long. She really wasn't interested in all the sight-seeing that we had been doing for hours. By the time we arrived we all needed to find the nearest loo. So, we went into the KFC that is underground and on my way into the loo I had to duck, and this is posted:
The inside of the KFC...everything is so old and neat looking!
Our mission was the Tower of London and we were there! We walked up to the ticket counter and the lady tells us that we are too late. So, we decide that we'll come back tomorrow. I was so exhausted that I cannot remember how we got back to our hotel early that evening, but we did.
We all rested for a short bit, and when we slowed down we realized just how hungry we were! So, my darling husband suggests that we head back to Canada water and catch a bus to Waterloo, which is an enormous station that has the underground, trains, and buses. We wanted to check it out since we were catching a train out of there on Monday morning. We just knew that we'd find something good to eat either in or around the station. I suppose since we'd ridden so many buses that day since our local tube station was closed and we were feeling a little too confident at this point. We arrive at the station, study the map and decide that we need to catch the 381 bus. Seconds later one of us spot the lucky double decker bus and we all hop on. We rode, and rode, and rode, and rode, and rode......and then 45 minutes later the announcement said, " This is the final stop for 381 Peckham." We hopped off the bus totally confused. Did we miss Waterloo? None of us heard them call for a Waterloo stop. After more studying of the map and talking with a driver we discovered the error of our ways. One end of the 381 route is Waterloo, the other end is Peckham. Canada Water, were we hopped on, being in the middle of the entire route. After looking around we realized that we were the only fair skinned people around and it become apparent that we needed to get out of Peckham in short order. Before too long we saw another 381 bus pull up and before Brent would get on he asked the driver to make sure he was headed to Waterloo. We hopped on and rode the same route in reverse. We didn't ride it all the way back to Waterloo because our stomachs just wouldn't allow it. We stopped near the London Bridge station and found a quaint little French restaurant! I'm so exhausted and have been so hungry for so long at this point. Blair is a little fussy and Ashley too. Well, maybe it'd be more honest to say that we were all a little fussy! I'm sure my feelings were similar to those who find water in the desert. Our lunch was 7 hours prior and only consisted of a bowl of tomato soup and a cup of hot tea. Not a real "stick-to-your-ribs" kind of meal! It's amazing what you become very thankful for when you can't or don't have it.
A thoroughly delightful, educational, and memorable day!
Really enjoying hearing about your trip!! Looking forward to the rest. Sounds like you all had a really good time!
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