After a good night’s sleep we were up feeling refreshed and ready to go Monday morning.  After a stop at the concierge desk to book tickets for Tuesday’s excursion to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath we headed out to do a Hop-on-Hop-off tour of London.  We chose the Big Bus Company per a recommendation from one of Mom’s friends, purchased our all day passes, and boarded the double decker, finding the perfect seats on the top.  

The first stop we chose to exit off of was Trafalgar’s Square where we met up with Tim Barton, our guide for a walking tour of the changing of the guard.

Thanks to Tim we were able to get an up close and personal view of some of the exercises done for the changing of the guard.  Of course the guard changing was at the end of the Royal Walking Tour which walked us in a circle for about 45 minutes and watched the changing for 15.  But all the circle walking gave me lots of time to take pretty pictures

This is the newest statue in London, it’s of the Queen Mum!

And this is the house where Charles and Camilla live

A detail shot of the brick wall around the palace

This is the old palace that was in use before Buckingham Palace

There was an empty guard stand that we had some fun with

Around the corner from the empty guard post, there was a not-so-empty post

Then the action started with the changing of the guard

After the changing of the guard was through we said goodbye to Tim, took some photos, and got in line to tour Buckingham palace.  

The palace was very secure!

We weren’t allowed to take pics inside so that was a downer.  It’s really hard to describe how amazing it was inside.  It was very ornate with gold all over the place.  Just breathtaking.  They also had an exhibit called the Queen and the Commonwealth going on of some of the dresses that have been worn by the Queen over the years.  They were all so beautiful!  My favorite part of the palace, however, was a long hallway completely full of amazing works of art.  There were several works by Rembrandt and other well known painters but I found the painting “Judith with the Head of Holofernes” by Allori to be the most captivating.  It along with others can be seen alongside this article.

As per usual in historical sites, there was some restoration being done.  The restoration experts were concentrating on some of the marble statues at the palace and I was so pleased to find that instead of just doing their cleaning and restoration, they were kind enough to put out a sign about what they were doing.  You know how marble statues often look kinda milky?  Well that’s because they are coated in wax!  Apparently it takes 2 to 3 days per statue to clean and restore it and the wax coating is added at the end to make the process not need to take place again for several years.  Who knew??!!??

After we completed our tour of the palace, we had a snack at the little cafe they have set up on the terrace during the summer months.  YUM!  That royal chocolate torte was amazing.  

Next up was Westminster Abby.  Again no photos inside, but I’m really not sure I would have been able to do it justice anyway.  We were greeted by Jeremy Irons on our audio tour and some amazing choir music.  I literally teared up while standing before the spot where Diana’s body had laid in state.  I couldn’t help but think about how sad it must have been to fall in love with a prince and have a fairy tale wedding only to find out two babies later that he doesn’t really love you and then to have it all end in a casket at an age that was entirely too young.

Probably the most interesting thing I learned from the audio tour was about the final resting places of Mary I, Elizabeth I, and Mary Queen of Scotts.  Elizabeth assumed control of the throne after her sister Mary had passed.  They held very different views and Elizabeth ended up reversing much of what Mary had done during her rein.  When Elizabeth passed away she was buried on top of her sister Mary and on her tomb was a statue of herself (Elizabeth) which was said to be made from her funeral mask and believed to be an extremely accurate depiction of her face.  Since Elizabeth had no children her successor was James I, son of Mary Queen of Scotts.  Elizabeth had Mary Queen of Scotts imprisoned for 19 years and eventually beheaded for plotting to take over the thrown.  When James I assumed control of the kingdom he had his mother Mary Queen of Scotts’ body moved into the Abby, directly across from Elizabeth’s body in an even more elaborate tomb.  Elizabeth must have rolled over in her grave!!  Gotta love an old English Drama!

Mom outside of the gift shop

When we finished up at Westminster Abby, we hopped back on the bus and completed our tour of London via double decker.  We really enjoyed our tour guide and learned all sorts of interesting tidbits which I will relay to you via photo

Our guides – one live and one recorded

Margaret Thatcher lives here.  When the guard is out front she is home.  She was home during our visit, but we decided against going to knock on her door, LOL!

 

Madonna recently purchased one of these apartments and our guide informed us that she has been rumored to be up for the role of Wallace Simpson in a new movie

Nicky Clarke’s is where Diana got her hair cut – remember when everyone had the “Diana” haircut in the early 80s?  You can thank Nicky Clarke for that.

The Vivian Westwood flagship store

A Nashville taxi cab!

Mom looking gorgeous in the London sun!

The hotel where Liz Taylor had a few of her weddings

And some other things that caught my eye

After we arrived back at our hotel we dropped off the days purchases and wandered across the street to a different pub.  This time we tried Victoria’s.  It was very popular with the locals – lots of business men and women hanging out front in the outdoor smoking section.  We found a seat in the back and ordered up yet another dinner of fish and chips.  These were far better than the ones we had the night before and we had great service from a cute little British boy.

After dinner it was back to our room to rest up for Tuesday’s big adventure – Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath!