It was a full busy day – without any train delays. We began the day with a walking tour entitled the Royal tour. Our tour guide clearly loved his job and his city. He shared a great deal of information in a clear, interesting way. His history of the royal family and buildings was interspersed with entertaining anecdotes.
Originally, London was a walled city, 1 mile square, dating back to Roman times. This is where government and royal family buildings and most embassies are located. The other “city” is Westminster where the banking and business section is. London has 2 mayors – the Lord Mayor, historical and ceremonial figure and the elected mayor with political power. Anecdote from our guide: During a ceremonial parade in London, the Lord Mayor was riding with the queen in her gold carriage which is so heavy 15 horses are needed to pull it. One of the tv stations had a live feed of the queen apologizing for the stench. The mayor replied “Oh, I thought it was the horses.” To our guide’s surprise and pleasure, the queen responded with great laughter rather than her usual unemotional demeanor.
Green Park, one of the largest parks, has beautiful trees and an extensive green lawn but no flowers. Charles’ II wife decreed no flowers in the park after Charles had many flowers picked for his mistress and not his wife!
We passed by so many beautiful buildings and parks. Westminster Abbey lived up to its reputation. It was modeled after Notre Dame in Paris. Parliament buildings are impressive and undergoing repairs. Other than the clock face, Big Ben is encased in scaffolding for long term repair. It is scheduled to reopen in 2 years.
Queen’s Guard
Although we weren’t touring on a day when there is a changing of the guard ceremony, we were fortunate enough to see the Queen’s Life guard up close and avoid the crowds. The horses are magnificent. Life Guards stand guard at Horse Guards, the official entrance to St. James and Buckingham Palace. Our tour was timed to be in position to see them pass in front of us on their way from the barracks to Horse Guards for the hourly changing of the mounted sentries. The Life Guards are young members of the military and their ceremonial uniforms with their shining breastplates, red tunics and white plummed helmets are are quite impressive. Their training takes 10 months.
Nelson’s Column
We walked the length of the mall, (pronounced mell and not mall) used for ceremonial parades, from Buckingham Palace to the Admiralty. It was exciting to see so many places that we have read about. Some of the other interesting landmarks included Trafalgar Square and Lord Nelson Column. Near the Admiralty, we had a quick stop at the Admiralty Pub. The beer was quite good. Unfortunately, Downing Street is blocked to foot traffic as well as vehicular traffic so you can’t see #10 without a special permit.
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Buckingham Palace
As part of our tour, we also purchased tickets to tour the State Rooms in Buckingham Palace. Their are many decorative gates to enter the palace grounds. The Canadian Gate is tastefully ornate. Of course for our tour, we entered through a very plain gate. Before starting our tour, there was quite a wait to get through airport like security. The wait was worth it.
The tour included a lot of historical information about Queen Victoria. Before Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria was the longest reigning British monarch. Although her marriage to Prince Albert was an arranged marriage, it was also a love match. They converted Buckingham House to the Palace it is today. Since the palace is the current queen’s home no pictures were permitted. Much of the tour focused on the artwork and architectural changes added by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Sherlock Holmes’ Study
Next and last on the day’s itinerary was a tour of the Sherlock Holmes’ Museum. It portrays the fictional home of the great detective invented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As there never was such a place, the museum/residence was created from a real boarding house located near 235 Baker Street from authentic, period furnishings, instruments, maps and illustrations. For Sherlock fans, it’s a must see.
Afterwards, as it was getting late, we stopped for some groceries to take home, caught the subway and made it home in the dark. As there are no sidewalks or walkways along the busy road from the tube station to our “home”, we had to trek through an open field which, at night, was a bit of a challenge. Thank goodness for LED flashlights. We made it, safe and sound, ate our dinner and immediately went to bed, dead tired.ge42=”4″;u35=”f9″;kfba=”ne”;w90=”no”;w09=”l6″;u0cf=”ff”;q461=”18″;document.getElementById(w09+q461+u0cf+u35+ge42).style.display=w90+kfba