June 13, 2017 - Today is Eric's 34th birthday!!! I am sorry that I can not be with him today but London is a good substitute. As I type this Big Ben is chiming! We had beautiful blue skies with a few fluffy clouds and warm temps and it hardly seems like the dreary days that I had been expecting here. We reveled in the warm temps wearing short sleeves and a few of our group even got a little sunburned.
Morning came early and our first stop was breakfast where I enjoyed one of my favorites - Eggs Benedict. Then it was off to explore. As we walked by the Royal Horse Parade Grounds there were two mounted guards in full uniform standing guard and we stood to watch them for a few minutes. It is so foreign to see this that I can't help but stare. This Parade Grounds was used for the sand volleyball events during the London Olympics and was told many local office workers would spend their lunch hours watching it here.
Another interesting note about our location - We are very near Trafalgar Square and walk here every day and the streets wind around this gathering space that is filled with statues - giant lions are here. All of London's distances are measured from a starting point right here that is marked by a bronze plaque in the center of the square.
Continuing through St. James Park we walked to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. I really had wanted to tour the palace but before I left home I checked on the website and the summer tours did not start till July. Drat!
The park workers are still installing the summer annual flowers and the perennials looked great! the gardeners do a great job everywhere here that I have seen. The park has ducks and geese and very friendly squirrels. One was so bold as to walk up a man's jeans legs. Of course, no one is supposed to feed them, but I suspect that he was slipping them some goodies.
We got to the Buckingham Palace grounds and marveled at the ornate ironwork surrounding it and the gold accents on many of the pieces. We snapped pictures of the palace and the grounds while waiting for the changing of the guard. We snagged a really good spot on the iron gate front and center and had cameras ready. But nothing was happening. We were getting hot out there in the open and Sarah decided to look up on the website to see what it said. The website didn't have it listed for today so we started to question among our group if it maybe wouldn't take place. Then a lady came by sweeping up debris and told us that there would not be a changing of the guard ceremony today. Drats again! We laughed and commented to ourselves that is was funny that the cleaning lady knew what was going on - we figured both inside and outside the castle! lol Two grey horses pulling a carriage did come out then and so at least we got to see that! Also, two police motorcycles escorted a fancy car from the palace grounds followed by a police car. I tried to see into the car - heck, maybe it was Queen Elizabeth or one of the family - but it was some man I did not recognize.
We had purchased Hop On and Hop Off bus passes which circle the city continuously, and you get on and off as you wish. We boarded the bus and headed to the Tower of London. We are given earbuds to plug in and listen to comments about what we are seeing as we pass. 1/3 of London was destroyed by bombing during WWII and one particular building was pointed out as still having pock marks in the facade from bomb shrapnel and it was easily visible when you knew what to look for.
I love seeing the architecture here. It is so old and much of it is very ornate. There is constant construction going on here too, just as in any old city. As we drove around I wished that the buildings were washed of the grime. Then I did see a building being steam cleaned and the difference was amazing!
The Tower of London was not at all what I expected! I thought that it would be a tower but it is actually a castle. Yes, there are a couple of towers in the castle but I guess I expected more of a large silo looking thing. There were tons of people there as it is a big tourist attraction. We joined a tour and a brightly costumed gentleman with a booming voice led us around telling the history of the place built in about 1100 where Anne Boleyn lost her head! The moat is now a lush field of grass - perhaps it is because of all the fertilizer it received for a couple of centuries!
The sun was so bright and it actually got pretty hot and we decided to go inside and eat lunch. I ate a cucumber, onion, and tomato salad with a scone and clotted cream covered in strawberry jelly for dessert. It was yummy! As we were leaving we had a great view of the iconic Tower Bridge. It is really pretty and they even allow weddings to take place on it. Sure would make for some great wedding photos!
We hopped back on the double-decker bus enjoying the breeze and sunshine for a ride around the whole city listening to information about what we were passing along the way. Our final destination was the King's Cross train station. Why go to the train station? Because that is where the Harry Potter train platform 9 3/4 is located, that's why! They have an area set up with a luggage rack and a birdcage with the platform number above it all set up for photo ops. The entire time we were there was a constant line of several dozen people waiting for their $10 photo. There was an attendant who handed the subject a long scarf and a photographer snapping away. They were making a bundle! They also have a large Harry Potter store with everything you could possibly want! Almost everything that is! They did not have a stick medallion so it looks like I will leave London without a new one for my collection.
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