| Jun 20, 2006 - Kings,Queens,Knights, Guards, clocks and a VERY English picnic!
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 | Buckingham Palace
| | Marching Guards
| | Us at Buckingham
| | Palace Gates
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 | Here they come
| | The Horsemen look cool
| | Recognise this famous explorer...?
| | Trafalgar Square
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 | No bearskin but he wouldn't move (Where's Trents hand?)
| | Made it to Big Ben, and the weather was great
| | The Clocktower at midday
| | The English Pub
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 | | Nice view
| | Westminster
| | Can't get it all in one shot
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| A little slow getting up and orgnised this morning...starting to feel a little weary but hanging in there.
We still managed to have breakfast and be on the underground by 10am on our way into one of the most famous places we've seen yet- Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard.
Jay had the day off work and decided he would come along and be our guide for the day. The ceremoney is at 11.30am so we had plenty of time to wander through Green Park and take lots of photos of the Palace before the new guard arrived.
Jay suggested we wait a little further along the road so we could get a good view of the parade however after hearing some music from the Palace we thought we may have missed it and rushed toward the Palace. By this time there were lots of people walking past us to the the Palace. As We got closer we could see no guards or anything so we decided that we hadn't missed it and positioned ourselves right on the 'African'corner of the roundabout(each entry to the Palace has pillers with the imperial nations represented on them... apparently there is one for Australia but we didn't look for it).
At precisely 11.30am the new guard rounded the corner and began their parade along the main road up to the gates of Buckingham Palace. I had a great spot balancing on the fence railing that ran along the side of the road. Have a look at the Pic's. We couldn't believe the guards had a police escort and that they all carry machine guns except for the guy who gets to play the flute instead...very macho!
Anyway we didn't stick around. Too much to see and do so we made our way down to Trafalgar Square but not before taking a picture of a very familiar historic figure that we just happened to pass on the way...see picture.
Unfortunately they were restoring the massive Lord Nelson monument but the square was still amazing and Jay directed us to a great view of Big Ben from the steps of the museum.
From there we headed straight down past the Muse of Buckingham Palace and Downing Street(we were very surprised at the seemingly low level of security after having just come from NY but then all the police had machine guns as trent felt compelled to document in a photo), and there, after passing some cute little english pubs, on the diagonal of the intersection was Big Ben and London's Houses of Parliament. Also right in front of us were the hallowed grounds of Westminster Abbey...can somebody pinch me please?
We were beginning to feel a little peckish so we quickly decided to go into the little pub straight across from Big Ben for a pint and something to eat.
After sweating to death over a share platter and a pint of Export lager trent and I set off for Westminster while Jay, having already been, stayed at the beautiful little English Pub.
As we passed through the gates and the medieval church, St. Margarets with its sundials on the four faces of its tower and entrance, we were busy preparing ourselves for the history that was about to engulf us.
The line wasn't that long and we got some good pic's. Once inside however it was just the most amazing place with tombs and monuments everywhere. The most amazing moment though would have been standing before the tombs of Kings Richard II (The Lion Heart) and Edward III; that was definitely the moment when we realised the magnitude of the history buried within the walls of this 1000 year old building.
Among the thousands of tombs we saw were other Kings and Queens of England, Newton, Darwin, Chaucer and some rather famous composers like Elgar, Vaughn Williams, Handel and of course there was also the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier".
We also saw the coronation chair, the Pyx Chamber with its massive door to stop the normans stealing all the church gold and the amazing Chapter Room with its medieval tiled floor and painted walls.
Well needless to say we were a little drained after that and so headed back over to the little pub to meet Jay and have another well earned pint.
Jay and Fiona wanted to take us for a picnic at their local Palace, Alexandra Palace or as the locals call it, Ally Pally. Unfortunately the weather got a little too English( that is, it turned icy cold and even had a few little specs of rain) so we ate our food in the beer garden of the pub at the top of the hill and went inside for a few pints to warm up. The view of London was really amazing from up there though and it was good to just chill out for the evening. Unfortunately though we're all glutons for punishment and when we got home we all stayed up talking music and singing with the guitar. We'll feel it tomorrow! |
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