London - Buckingham Palace: Just Another Tourist

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I got woken up early from a text from James to say that Cam and Arevik have got engaged! How exciting! - (hope that’s not still a secret guys!)

I got an e-mail from my friend Paul who I haven’t seen since he left NZ, saying he is coming down from Middlesbrough this weekend and should catch up! But I’m going be in Germany! 😞
I e-mailed Topdeck and told them unfortunately I couldn’t find them a replacement for Brendan, and to refund me what they could.

After lunch I caught a bus to Buckingham Palace and got tickets for ‘A Royal Day Out’, which allows me to see The Royal Mews, The Queen’s Gallery and The Buckingham Palace State Rooms.

I had a wander through The Mews first, while I waited for my 3pm entrance to The Queen’s Gallery. The Mews is the area of the Palace where all the horses, coaches and royal cars are kept. We got to have a good look around at the various coaches that have been used in Royal precessions, including the coach used by Princess Dianna for her wedding to Prince Charles, which is the same one the Queen used for her wedding.

I made my way down to the Queen’s Gallery and had a look through the collection of various paintings and furniture, as well as some crown jewels. I ran out of time, plus the line was too long, to have a look through the Palace State Rooms, so decided to come back tomorrow and instead took a few touristy photos outside of the Palace.

While I was there I got a text from a girl, Mel, who saw my add on Gumtree and wanted to know if I still had the ticket for Oktoberfest. However, I had told Topdeck this morning that I didn’t want it!
I called Mel and told her the situation, then searched for an internet café in Victoria to get hold of Topdeck, but the only one I found was full! So instead I decided catch a tube home, which took a lot longer than I had thought.

I found the first internet café from the tube station in Shepherd’s Bush and managed to get hold of Topdeck just before 5pm. They said they were able to stop the refund payments and change the booking for me! Yay!
I ran home and forwarded Mel the details she needed to give them and organised to meet her tomorrow for afternoon tea in town. Phew! Just in time!

On Tuesday I woke up at 8.30 by knock at the door. I was too tired to get up and just ignored it. Brad got up and answered it later.

I got up a little bit later and went back to Buckingham Palace to have a look around the State Rooms - Wow! The rooms were amazing. Each room was very grand but quite different in design and theme. Most of them decorated with intricate gold detailing and of course furniture that is just as precious.

They had a special exhibition of 80 of the Queen’s favourite dresses to mark her 80th Birthday. The dresses were exquisite and were shown from the early 1900s to the present day. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos inside the state rooms, or of any of the dresses.

I carried on my tour through the rest of the rooms, with guided commentary from a walkman type gadget, before reaching the Buckingham Palace gardens.
The gardens were immaculate. The lawn stretched out from the Palace to the large tree-lined pond in the centre.

The walkway weaved through the trees and around the edge of the pond, with glimpses back to the Palace. Along the way there was a little café that was selling the official Buckingham Palace ice-cream. I couldn’t say not to a bit of chocolate ice-cream for ₤2, and it was pretty good!

I walked back through Hyde Park to meet Mel and Bond Street Station. We went for a drink at a local pub and had a bit of a chat to get to know each other and got all excited about leaving for Germany tomorrow!

I did a little shopping and ended up walking back to Shepherd’s Bush from City. After dinner I watched a DVD: “Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind” with the Flatties plus Matt. I went to bed a little bit late without much packing done for tomorrow!

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Photos

Buckingham Palace - Hannah
Wouldn't mind living here...

Buckingham Palace
From the Gardens

The Glass Coach
The Coach Lady Dianna arrived in at her wedding.

The Gold Coach
The Coach the Queen arrived in for her recent 80th B'day celebration - the heaviest of all the coaches!