The Union Jack flew over Buckingham Palace,
which signified that the Queen was not in residence that day
Our recent vacation, a bus tour of Great Britain and Ireland, began for Susan, Dan, Marilyn and I when we arrived two days early to spend some time on our own in London. We were sort of overwhelmed by the city - its size, the volume of people, and the traffic. Good God, but the traffic was overwhelming. We were told that taking a Hop On/Hop Off bus was a good way to see the sights, because "they go past everywhere." That may well be true, but the volume of traffic is such that it took forever to get from Point A to Point B, so you couldn't really see all that many of the places that you wanted to see.
Still, while walking around on our own that first day, we were able to see some impressive and historic sights nonetheless.
Westminster Abbey....
Yep, Westminster Abbey has a gift shop!
Parliament and Big Ben....
That's Big Ben on the right, covered in scaffolding.
Like Pittsburgh's Big Ben, the one in London is also
undergoing some reconstructive repairs this year.
A statue of an historical figure of some note...
The London Eye.....
Unfortunately, by the time we got to the London Eye,
it was too late to take the ride that night.
On our second day, we were able to visit Buckingham Palace, and we got to witness the Changing of the Guard.
The Changing of the Guard ceremony is done three days a week. There were thousands of people on hand to watch, and I am sure that there are that many people there everyday to witness it. It was very cool to see. It is interesting that while the red-coated and bearskin-hatted guards are impressive to see, they were led in on all occasions by London mounted police. While the ceremonial guards are no doubt well trained soldiers, it seemed to me that these were the people that you didn't want to mess with at any time....
Fun fact about the ceremony. While inside the Palace gates, two the songs played by the Guards' Band were The Beatles "Michelle", and the "Theme from 'Fame'". I'd have preferred them play "God Save the Queen", but we took what we could get that day.
We then found a great pub to have lunch....
The Rose and Crown has been operation since 1704!
Took a stroll through Hyde Park where we walked this particular path....
And then visited this place....
Really, you might ask, you went to London and went to a department store? I had the same thoughts, but trust me, Harrods is a store unlike any you have ever seen. It really is a tourist destination in itself. They even had a high end, full scale butcher shop on the first floor. You don't think of going to a department store to order a prime standing rib roast, but at Harrods, you can.
Back on the Big Bus.....
...which took us past places like Notting Hill and Trafalgar Square, places where would have loved to have stopped and lingered, but we simply ran out of time.
London was the embarkation point of our tour, but it was not a part of the Tour itself. There are so many things that we would have liked to have done while there (the Tower of London, Downing Street, various museums, see a show, Abbey Road), but we quickly came to the conclusion that to do that, you really have to camp in the city itself for several days and make these places destinations in and of themselves. There is just too much to see in just two days. So there are still some things remaining on our London Bucket List. Maybe some other day.
On Saturday morning, we met up with our tour group, boarded our Trafalgar touring coach and began the eight day journey that took us through England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Wales. Future Grandstander posts will chronicle those visits.
When our eight day tour ended, we disembarked in London once again for one more night. The four of us found a great Italian restaurant within walking distance of our hotel, where we ended our stay with a terrific meal and then walked back to the hotel in a London drizzle, where I was able to capture this nighttime shot on my phone. It seemed a fitting way to end our trip.
Stay tuned for future installments.
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