A Day in London

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Friday 28

I woke up early and went to eat breakfast at the hotel lobby. There wasn't much to eat for the £7 that I spent. Since I still had a good 3 1/2 hours before I was able to get into Buckingham palace, I decided to go to one of the other Evans store south of me. I took the Victoria station tube to Brixton. The shop was upstairs across the street from the station. I picked up a few more times and then travel back on the underground and made my way back to the hotel to drop off the packages. I then used the hop on hop off bus that I got for free for using Booking.com twice during my visit to catch a ride to Buckingham palace. I then spent some time visiting the Royal Mews.



A Royal Mews is a mews (i.e. combined stables, carriage house and in recent times also the garage) of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross (where Trafalgar Square is currently) and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace. The site is open to the public throughout much of the year. The state coaches and other carriages are kept there, along with about 30 horses, together with their modern counterparts, the state motor cars. Coachmen, grooms, chauffeurs and other staff are accommodated in flats above the carriage houses and stables.



The tour was self-guided with a free multi media guide, which included games, videos, thanks and stories. I don't think I have time to listen to all the information so I did not use the headset. I walked around and took pictures of all the carriages and the cars. Some carriages were quite impressive. The diamond Jubilee stagecoach was beautiful with it's black and gold decorations. This coach contained more than 100 artifacts from across 1000 years of British history. The other more impressive coach was the Golden State couch which has been used at every coordination since that of George IV in 1821. There was an area where you could take a picture of yourself in a replica Landau, but the line was a little long and I didn't want to wait. Of course when the tour was over it emptied you out into their tour souvenir shop. They even had a vending machine for water with a Buckingham palace label done and white and gold. I then made my way to Buckingham palace.



Buckingham Palace, located in the City of Westminster, is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Originally known as Buckingham House, the building at the core of today's palace was a large townhousebuilt for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotteand became known as The Queen's House. During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, who constructed three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the East front, which contains the well-known balcony on which the royal family traditionally congregates to greet crowds. The palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb during World War II; the Queen's Gallery was built on the site and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection.



I was still an hour early before I could enter to see the state rooms so I went around to the front of Buckingham palace and took some pictures. I was able to watch the changing of the two guards that stand in front of the palace. Finally I was able to get in line to enter the state rooms. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed once you get into the line and until you get out to the gardens. The pictures I have posted in my blog are from the postcards that I got from the souvenir shop.



The State Rooms: The term ‘State Rooms’ is applied to those rooms that were designed and built as the public rooms of the Palace, in which monarchs receive, reward and entertain their subjects and visiting dignitaries. Today the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are used extensively by The Queen and members of the Royal Family to receive and entertain their guests on State, ceremonial and official occasions. The Palace's nineteen State Rooms predominantly reflect the taste George IV (r.1820-30), who commissioned the architect John Nash to transform what had previously been known as Buckingham House into a grand palace. Many of the pieces of furniture, sparkling chandeliers, candelabra and other works of art in these rooms were bought or made for Carlton House, George IV's London home when he was Prince of Wales. Today the State Rooms are furnished with many of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Van Dyck and Canaletto, sculpture by Canova, exquisite pieces of Sèvres porcelain, and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world. Many of the other State Rooms also have particular uses today. It is in the Throne Room, for example, that The Queen, on very special occasions like Jubilees, receives loyal addresses. On 29 April 2011 this room was the setting for the formal photographs following the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. In the Music Room, guests are presented to The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and the visiting Head of State on the occasion of a State visit. The White Drawing Room, perhaps the grandest of all the State Rooms, serves as a royal reception room for The Queen and members of the Royal Family to gather before official occasions. This summer marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales on 31 August 1997. From the outset of her marriage, The Princess undertook many official duties in support of The Queen, both at home and abroad. As a tribute to The Princess, this work is remembered through a special display in the Music Room, one of the State Rooms open to the public as part of the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace. The centerpiece of the display is the desk where The Princess worked in her sitting room at Kensington Palace, writing letters, and reading official briefings and correspondence. Many of the objects shown on and around her desk have been selected by The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry to reflect their mother's commitment to duty and their personal memories of her.



It was wonderful walking through the palace. The decorations and fine furniture were beautiful. Treasures presented to the queen were also on display from the various different countries. Coming across the princess Diana memorial in the music room was very touching. It was the most crowded room since most people actually stayed and stopped to read and look at everything unlike the other rooms. Upon leaving Buckingham palace you entered into the Gardens area. They had a little café set up where I dined on a pastry treat that wasn't all that good. The ice cream was good. After using the restroom and looking through the souvenir shop, I walked along the path that meandered through a part of the garden. It took about seven minutes along the paved path to get to the opening of the wall that surrounds the palace. Most of the plants were of trees and bushes and a few flowers at the very end of the path. There was a few ponds in a lake where I watched a family of birds swimming around.





With the rain been spotty and it was already after 2 o'clock, I headed for the hop on hop off bus. I figure I would see London one more time on the 2 1/2 hour trip around. It was a long enjoyable trip other than the very loud talkative child that sat in the back with her parents. Thankfully they got off the bus after 30 minutes of listening to her chatter nonstop. Along the way we even passed Trafalgar's information center almost exactly the same time as the day before. As we went past Big Ben I noticed that we were repeating the route again. So I went down to talk to the driver only to find out that I should've transferred at the last stop to another bus route. So I got off at 10 Downing St. and walk back to the Westminster Bridge underground tube station. I took that back to Victoria station and then walked back to the hotel after doing some souvenir shopping at the station. I didn't see anything worth eating in the area so once again I ordered the barbecue chicken pizza with the caprese salad for dinner. I went to bed early since I have to be up at two for my 3 o'clock in the morning trip to Heathrow.

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