We began our morning with a brisk & windy walk toward Buckingham Palace. Since we visiting in the "off season", the changing of the Guard only took place every other day. We took Rick Steve's advice and arrived early. So early in fact that we left again, walked around the corner and indulged in a traditional English breakfast. Complete with beans, sausage and pipping hot coffee.
Even after a leisurely breakfast we were among the first to arrive outside the Palace gates. Which was great because it meant we could procure prime real estate along the fence and wait for the "show" to start, without fighting for a view.
The fanfare begins. These picture do not begin to capture the amount of tourists lining the streets. It was crazy to turn around and see the hundreds of people arriving moment by moment, selfie-sticks and all.
After passing inspection, the replacement guards marched in, followed by the band.
And when it was all done, time to march back out again. With the band leading the way.
View of Buckingham Palace from the other side of St. James's Park. From the Park, we wondered back towards Trafalgar Square. We intentionally choose to walk, knowing we would pass a lot of noteworthy sites along the way.
The Royal Guard House.
Admiralty Arch... walk right under it and BAM! ...you're in Trafalgar Square.
Trafalgar Square and the world's biggest Corinthian column, where Admiral Horatio Nelson stands 170 feet tall, looking over London. Although a little tricky to navigate due to the large St. Patrick's Day Parade taking place, still a must see.
At this point it was beginning to rain so Daniel & I ducked in to an Irish pub in the square & happily scarfed down our second batch of fish n' chips. Lunch lasted just long enough to avoid the worst of rain. Since the weather was still kind of questionable, we did some rearranging of the "schedule" and made our way toward the British Museum.
Although I'm sure some will find it blasphemous, we spent only a small portion of our afternoon inside the HUGE museum. We had two main things on our list ... mummies and the Rosetta Stone. Check. And check.
Upper half of a statue of Ramesses, believed to have been the pharaoh in power when God used Moses to curse Egypt with plagues, free the Israelites and lead them out of Egypt.
Man crush EVERYDAY ...Daniel, not Zuse ;)
First, I want you to acknowledge the crowd gathered around the Rosetta Stone. Now, appreciate that I patiently waited my turn (and maybe pushed a little) to get to the front of said crowd.
Final major site for the weekend... St. Paul's Cathedral.
And before heading back to our hotel for the night, there was just one more thing I wanted to do. Three words - red. phone. booth.
No comments:
Post a Comment