Part 1 – Moving into Buckingham Palace
We started the day a little later (9:15) with a walk to Buckingham Palace for the ‘inside tour’ of some parts of the private residence since the Queen and her entourage spend August and September at their Scotland palace. Everything went smoothly since we had booked on-line in advance (others were waiting in a long line and they were nearly sold out for the day already (Note1: Tim taught us the 7 P’s: proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance – Note2: Chris Lawson apparently adheres to the 17 P’s, which are the 7 P’s times two plus a few more – that’s why the vacation is going so well!!). The tour was of 19 rooms and was an audio-guided tour with excellent narration.
It is hard to describe the size (700+ rooms, 200+ bedrooms, 78 bathrooms) and the opulence of the Palace. As you might expect, the rooms were quite large with very high ceilings all adorned with incredible motifs that were gilded in gold. There was enormously elaborate furniture, paintings of royal family members from the distant past and the present, ornate chandeliers and mirrors and exquisite decorations. Of particular note was the large entry way and Grand Staircase to the upstairs, the throne room, the large ballroom which displayed THE wedding dress with accessories as well as a replica of the wedding cake, the music room with it grand view of the 30 acre gardens outside the large windows, but most spectacular was the hall with the fine art. For those art history fans out there, the room exhibited no less than 4 Canalettos, 3 Rubens, 2 Rembrandts, 4 vanDycks and a wide assortment of other top tier painters from the Renaissance through the Baroque. We were not allowed to take pictures so you will just have to use your imagination.
We left through the back portico and out to the gardens. We did some shopping in the souvenir shop before completing our walk through the gardens and back to the hustle and bustle of London city streets. If you are ever in London in August or September, I highly recommend taking this tour – very impressive albeit the excesses of royalty.
Walk: 1 mile to Buckingham Palace
Estimated walk inside and around the grounds – 1 mile
Part 2 – Lunch at the Hard Rock Café
We went to the original Hard Rock Café very close to Buckingham Palace. Once seated at our table, a bubbly waitress named Danielle was determined to make our lunch better than the breakfast we had with the Queen (at least that is what we told her). And as we really do not speak the same English, when she asked me how I was doing, I said the usual, “Stellar!” which she promptly wrote on her order pad until Michele noted that I did not want a beer (Stella) but was conveying my state of mind! Lunch was casual, tasty and enjoyable. It was at this point that Tim announced to us that Chris’s birthday was that very day – she was celebrating her 39th birthday for the 21st time. The rest of the day featured off-and-on comments about this special milestone.
Walk: 0.5 mile to Hard Rock
Part 3 – Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, The London Eye
We walked to Westminster Abbey only to find that they stopped taking visitors at 3:30 and we arrived at 3:29. No amount of convincing of the attendant could persuade him that my watch was right and his was wrong. The ladies needed a bathroom break at this point and they experienced the pleasures of public toilets in London – 50 pence. They also had the opportunity to buy a “chewable toothbrush” while inside the facility! We found that quite interesting.
Walk: 1 mile to Westminster Abbey
We walked across the street to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We stood underneath Big Ben as it chimed 4PM with its booming gong, and then walked across the Westminster Bridge to the other side of the Thames. We decided to take a ride on The London Eye (the huge Ferris wheel) to get a spectacular view of the city. The view was indeed quite special and all enjoyed sharing pictures at hundreds of feet over the city.
Walk: 0.5 mile to the London Eye
By now we had been walking and standing for the better part of the day (except for lunch). The guys took a seat on the Thames embankment while the ladies shopped for what seemed like an inordinate amount of time. Tim swore that they must have either walked by us, went the wrong way or fell into the Thames. When the ladies did actually return, we braced ourselves for the long walk (2.5 miles) through a different part of London back to our hotel area.
Part 4 – Roller Derby on the Streets of London
We walked through the theater district, took a crazy picture by a traditional phone booth, walked through several huge plazas including Piccadilly Circus and more. At the Portrait Gallery Museum we saw an amazing replica of a van Gogh painting that was all done entirely with plants on a wall that was 25 feet high and 40 feet wide.
Now, the part of London we walked was extremely crowded, especially since it was rush hour. Just to give you an idea … Tim likened it to the crowds leaving a Colts game (for those not from Indy, think any major sporting event) when there are people everywhere on the surrounding streets. The difference is that the extremely crowded streets went on for miles with people walking in all directions. Debbie said it was like playing “Red Rover” or “Chicken” – people coming right at you like they were trying to break through our six-some or waiting for us to change course on the sidewalk.
Walk: 2.5 miles of grueling roller derby on the wild streets of London
Part 5 - Dinner and a Soap Box
We arrived at St. Christopher Street, which we were advised as a cool place to eat since it was not “touristy” and there was a wide variety of ethnic foods. We landed at an eastern Mediterranean restaurant with a Turkish proprietor, largely because they advertised that they served drinks in 2 minutes and appetizers in 5 minutes. We had the Turkish version of tapas, which included 12 dishes of a wide variety of foods hot and cold. There were some different tastes and textures, but all was good. At the end of our meal, the proprietor came to see how our food was and proceeded to give us his philosophy of life and other words of wisdom on how the world should work. It lasted a good 10 minutes. Of course, his English was less than pure, so not all of his gems were well-understood. At the conclusion, Debbie commented that it was like being at a Catholic Mass when they have a visiting priest from some part of the world whose pronunciation can leave one guessing as to how much money he wants us to contribute to his mission efforts.
Walk: 0.5 miles to hotel.
Total miles: 7.0 miles (Whew!)
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