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Published: August 14th 2013
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Rebecca, our tour guide
Rebecca took us on a 90 minute walk, lots of interesting and funny Royal history, and we watched the changing of the guards. Our day started with the train and tube to Trafalgar Square again this morning to meet up with Rebecca, our walking tour guide to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace; still all included in that one ticket we bought for the Hop-on, Hop-off bus. That REALLY was a good deal. 😊
Our 90 minute walk took us first to St. James Palace, to watch the new guards march out at 11:15AM and move towards Buckingham Palace. The new guard was the Scots regiment preceded by the Welsh regiment pipe and drum band. The old guard appeared to also be the Scots regiment preceded by the Coldstream regiment brass band. We also lucked into seeing the Blues & Royals regiment horse guards replacing the Life Guard regiment. The mounted Regiments change The Queen’s Life Guard at the entrance to Horse Guards; Horse Guards is the official entrance to Buckingham Palace. There were 12 mounted guards as the queen was not in residence; when she is, there are 17 mounted guards.
All the pomp and pageantry seems so Disneyland especially with the thousands of tourists lining the streets to watch but this is serious business which takes place every
Changing of the guards
The Coldstream regiment day regardless of who may or may not be watching. There are Bobbies on horseback everywhere stopping traffic and keeping the pedestrians at a distance and one poor tourist on a bicycle got stopped by the cops for trying to cycle along with the horse regiment. He seemed to be doing a LOT of talking to try and explain his way out of serious trouble.
Our walk ended where it began in Trafalgar Square and we found the Albannach Restaurant and Whiskey Bar on the square with a $10 GBP deal for steak, salad, chips (fries) and a glass of wine. A very nice lunch which gave me the energy to head off walking again for the rest of the day.
Trafalgar Square was FULL of Scots in kilts. And by full, I mean packed with THOUSANDS! And, they were all drinking heavily, throwing their empties into the fountain, waving flags, cheering and singing, stripping off and throwing each other into the fountain and just generally being a little rowdy. There were Bobbies all around the square but pretty much just watching and leaving them alone. I suppose any attempt at trying to stop them or move them
Scot football fans in Trafalgar Square
Thousands of drunk Scots in town for the 150th anniversary of the Football Association, to watch their team play England at Wembley Stadium. on could have provoked more trouble than they already had. Apparently they were all in town to cheer on their football (soccer) team, playing England at Wembley, part of the 150th anniversary of the Football Association. I'm sure the cops were thankful that this only happens every 150 years!
Chris and I decided to walk Fleet Street today from near Trafalgar Square to St. Paul's Cathedral. Fleet Street began as the road from the commercial city of London to the political hub of Westminster.
It was the home of British national newspapers until the 1980s. Even though the last major British news office, Reuters, left in 2005, the term Fleet Street continues to be used as a metonym for the British national press.
The length of Fleet Street marks the expansion of the City in the 14th century. At the east end of the street is where the River Fleet flowed against the medieval walls of London; at the west end is the Temple Bar which marks the current City of London/City of Westminster boundary, extended there in 1329.
To the south lies an area of legal buildings known as the Temple, formerly the property of
the Knights Templar, which at its core includes two of the four Inns of Court: the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple. There are many lawyers' offices (especially barristers' chambers) in the vicinity. Nearby, on Strand, are the Royal Courts of Justice and the Central Criminal Court.
For many years Fleet Street was especially noted for its taverns and coffeehouses. Many notable persons of literary and political fame used to frequent these, and a few, such as Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, have survived to this day. We ended our walk meeting up with Garth & Sue in the Cheshire for a drink before heading back home for dinner.
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