It was an air conditioned, roomy van and the drive to London was very enjoyable. We chatted with the driver most of the way and as we got into the city I was amazed. It was a totally different city. Gone were most of the cars. Gone were the masses of people. Gone was the confusion. A different place. It was a very sunny day and in the 80's. A heatwave the weather people kept saying warning people to drink lots of water and seek cool shelters if need be.
We had told the drive to take us to Buckingham Palace because I wanted to see the changing of the guard. The tour book recommended getting there an hour before it started and we were right on track. As we drove into the area there were quite a lot of police presence, and I began to wonder at that time. My guess was that the queen was planning on hightailing it to Windsor for the weekend and that we would get to see her motorcade roll out of the grounds.
Our driver dropped us across the street and we walked to the palace. It was like seeing the white house for the first time. We could walk right up to the gates, one of which was open and guarded. I was looking for the queens guards in the red coats and the bearskin hats, but they were not to be seen. Grandma kept saying that the last time she had been there the guardsmen had been stationed outside the fence. I knew the queen was in residence because the royal flag was flying above the palace. When she is not in residence the Union Jack flies.
We found a spot directly in front of the palace so that we could watch the ceremony. I kept giving everyone time updates and explained that the changing happened in stages. As we stood, the sun beating down on the backs of our necks, I was getting excited. The girls and Grandma were hot and not as interested in the whole thing as I was. Grandma had seen it before and the girls were over "the whole castle touring thing".
Eventually the entire area was cleared and we all stood in excited anticipation. Two horses and riders appeared in front of us and patrolled. Every once in awhile they would direct tourists who were arriving to stand behind the marked off areas. Then we heard the band.
They continued down past us and disappeared. A marching band appeared from both sides and entered through the two gates that were open and that we had peered through. The crowd was discussing the lack of queens guards. Where in the world were they? We stood and waited. Suddenly two helicopters appeared; one behind the crowd and the other to the side of the palace. Hmmm...I thought. Here comes the motorcade. I knew I should have stayed in Windsor.
Me: (in my British accent) "Grandma, after the changing of the guards we will let the crowd leave, but we will stay behind in case the queen wants to see me."
Grandma: "Did you call her to let her know you would be here today?"
Me: (scoffing) "Please. The queen knows I'm here."
I turned back to stare directly at the front of the palace and suddenly, no sooner then those words left my mouth,
the doors to the balcony opened and out came the queen! She was dressed in yellow with a pink hat on her head and she was accompanied by Prince Phillip. She came out to the end of the balcony and the crowd gasped. It was a huge surprise and suddenly the crowd erupted and we all threw our hands into the air and waved. I admit I shed a few tears and I was shaking. I was very excited. I had come to England and now I was seeing the queen in person.
I did not pay much attention to anything else, my eyes were on the queen and they stayed on the queen. Madison had to point out to me that the other door had opened and that the entire royal family was on the balcony. Prince William, Prince Charles, Kate, and some other people. Holy Royal Family!
They stood for some time and then the guard in front of us pointed over our heads and we turned around to witness a flypast of aircraft from WWII and present including Spitfires, Hurricanes, and Typhoons (odd names for jets I thought).
It turned out (we found this out later) that it was the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, Germany's attempt to gain air superiority over the RAF. The RAF held strong and Germany was prevented from invading Britain. The Royal Family stood on the balcony in the same spot that Queen Elizabeth had stood during VE Day in 1945.
The Changing of the Guard (the queens guards were on holiday) was performed by the Royal Air Force. Then came the Feu de Joie, a rapid series of gunfire that had the horses in front of us pooping and prancing, and then the band played the national anthem and gave three cheers for the Queen. The Queen stepped forward on the balcony and gave her royal wave to all of us. We returned it and then the Royal Family went back inside the palace. See a small snippet here
It was all very exciting, and Grandma had to admit that she had never seen the Queen or experienced that before. So it turned out to be a win win for all of us. Most of the tourists made their way to the exits after finding out that the guards they were hoping to see change were on holiday. We stayed and watched the Royal Air Force march back out of the palace and down the street. After we were allowed to leave we went instead and took more pictures.
I could have stayed another hour or so walking around the palace and the mall, but the kids were ready to move on and so I obliged and moved on. Madison hailed us another cab that took us to Westminster Abbey also on my list. We stood in line to get tickets (Tom opted out) and then went inside and went our separate ways. Madison and I stayed together.
Westminster Abbey is the church directly responsible for the Sovereign. It holds the coronations of the Kings and Queens and is the burial site for seventeen British Monarchs. Built in 1042 (rebuilt in 1245) it is the most important church in the UK and one of the most important Gothic buildings in the country. We were given a headset and audio guide to wear that had Jeremy Irons giving us the history of everything as we toured. It is a necessary tool as there is not a lot of information given on signs to explain what you are seeing. Madison and I spent hours walking through everything. It was fabulous.
No cameras were allowed. We started out in the nave which was finished in the 1500's. It houses the Scientist Corner with a monument to Sir Issace Newton and the bodies of famous scientists including Charles Darwin. The Grave of the Unknown Warrior at the west end of the nave is the grave of an unknown soldier killed in France in 1920. It is the first tomb of unknown soldiers.
From the nave we entered the Quire where the monks originally worshiped and where the boys choir now sings for daily services. The organ above the choir screen was grand. The audio guide played us music from the organ as we walked which added to the beauty of it all. We went next into the High Alter where a marble pavement from 1268 is in front of the alter. There was a guide in this room I suppose to protect it from people. The Ambulatory Chapels contained many small chapels with the royal tombs and memorials of Elizabeth I, Mary I, James I, Charles II, and Mary Queen of Scots as well as others. Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth are buried in a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The tombs were interesting with all of the ornate embedded jewels and gold not to mention the sculpting of the person. It was as if we were looking at the person frozen. I had to remember it was just a tomb and that inside were bones.
We went next to the Poets Corner. Buried here is Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens. Alfred Lord Tennyson, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Browning and more. Statues and dedicated plaques are on the walls and the floors to honor famous writers and poets like T.S. Elliot, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth, the Bronte Sisters, and of course William Shakespeare. There were hundreds of memorials and they all brought back so many memories of the works I read in college of most of these poets and writers. It was like taking a step back in time.
The last place we visited was the Cloisters as we exited the church. People were taking pictures here so I chanced it and did so too. We visited the Chapter House which was once the meeting place of Parliament and the Pyx Chamber where the oldest alter in Westminster sits. We visited the small museum last and then left to find the others.
Tom was sitting outside on the lawn and Grandma and Darcy were eating. We joined them for a hot dog and then we got up and hiked across the street to see the Palace of Westminster, Parliament Building and Big Ben.
We walked around all of these buildings taking pictures and just gawking. The architecture and beauty of these structures was amazing. The girls popped down into the Westminster Station tube to check it out while we stood looking up at Big Ben and the Palace.
We crossed the street to see the Eye and the Westminster Bridge over the Thames before Madison hailed yet another cab to take us to Harrods where we had reservations for tea.
Grandma had insisted that she take us to have afternoon tea at Harrods. We were all for it since our last tea experience had been so grand. As we left in our cab I noticed that the royal flag had been replaced by the Union Jack over Buckingham Palace. The queen was gone and now in residence at her Windsor Castle!
The tea room was very elegant with white linen tablecloths and napkins and fresh roses on the tables. The first course consisted of champagne and a prawn salad. Then we ordered our teas. I had Earl Grey, Maddy had White Tea, and Tom had a fruity tea. Grandma had coffee and Darcy had a coke which I tsk tsked. Our waiter then brought us two tiers of pastries and sandwiches. We had chicken curry, roast beef, cucumber and cream cheese, salmon, and egg salad sandwiches. The pastries were all different including chocolate, eclairs, lemon, and meringue. It was all quite posh and delicious.
As we finished more sandwiches and pastries were brought out until we thought we would explode. The next course was fresh baked scones with jams, lemon curd, and fresh cream and then after all of that Tom's and my tea included fresh strawberries and cream. Needless to say we were stuffed when we left the tea room. We wandered around Harrods to walk off the calories and to make some purchases, and then for fun we rode the Egyptian escalator all the way to the top and then again to the bottom.
On the last floor of Harrods was a dedication and memorial to Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayad, which I found really strange until I found out later that Harrods is owned by Dodi's father Mohammed. Ah.
The shrine was a fountain that had their pictures on it and an inscription. There was also a statue of the two dancing. It was actually a very nice memorial and had information about the good works that the two had done over their lifetimes.
We exited Harrods and hailed another cab to take us back to Windsor and to our hotel. We all agreed that it had been a wonderful day and the perfect ending to our UK trip.
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