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| Map showing location of Buckingham Palace |
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| Arial view from web of front of Palace with Victoria Monument in the middle of the circle |
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| The band marches past |
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| My view through the fence |
Because it was a weekday, the colorful mounted Horse Guards did not take part and only the Grenedier Guards in their winter grey uniforms marched in to change the colors at the Palace; it seemed a lengthy process and difficult to take good photographs; the guard was change with much marching and saluting and then the band assembled in the courtyard of the palace to play a presentation of big band tunes! I expected something English, maybe "God Save the Queen" or "Land of Hope and Glory" or something but "Begin the Beguine"? They were good though but it was out of character and not what we expected at all!
If you do want to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (like Christopher Robin) do so at the weekend for the more traditional ceremony; get there early; lots of crowds By all means, stop by at another time of day but not at 11:30 AM and take pictures; you can even take a tour of the palace and art works there throughout the day.
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| The Guard who was to be changed |
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| The front of the Palace through the fence |
After an hour standing at the fence line outside the Palace, the Guards were indeed changed amidst the watchful eyes and cameras of multitudes of assembled tourists and the band of the Grenedier Guards, a battalion that Evie's dad joined in 1921, played on. By now we needed a place to sit down and visit a bathroom called a "toilet" or "lavatory" here, not "restroom" or "bathroom" which appear to be foreign terms to the English!! We walked a couple of blocks and had cake and tea at a shop in a high end business district not far from Victoria Station.
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| Nice but expensive little cafe near the Palace |
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| The babe with the iconic sign |
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| An interesting sculpture nearby, dedicated to Henry Purcell (famous English composer of early music) |
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| Front view of St. Paul's |
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| The famous dome |
Next stop, St. Paul's Cathedral, pronounced Sint Paul's with an almost silent t. I keep thinking about St. Louis imagine calling it Sint Louis? Traffic was light on this weekday out of season and with pre-purchased tickets we went through a separate line, no wait and got the free audio tour headset. Of course, the cathedral is spectacular, built on the site of previous churches right after the great fire of 1666 when most of London burned. They say it's the second largest dome in the world after St. Peter's in Rome.
Situated on what is called Ludgate Hill, the highest ground in ancient London, the original church was founded in 604 AD. That one was burned during a brief return to paganism but rebuilt in the 8th century. That one burned down, along with much of the city in 1087, shortly after the Norman conquest; this was only the first "great fire". The Normans under William began a replacement, built largely of wood, and that took more than a century to complete. By the mid 1600's, that church was in bad shape, had been vandalized during the Civil War (a lot of anti church sentiment) but the second "great fire", this one in 1666, gave a good pretext to raze the Norman cathedral and build a spectacular new one. The architect was Christopher Wren, the premier designer of the age, and the structure was largely completed in his lifetime being dedicated in 1711. It was financed by a tax on coal, the main energy source of the time.
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| Aerial view of St. Paul's (net image) |
The cathedral is one of the most recognizable sights of London; its dome has dominated the skyline for 300 years. At 365 feet high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world. It is the location for many notable weddings, funerals, and other celebrations.
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| Statue of Queen Elizabeth out front |
No sooner did we get situated in the cathedral, then a choir started singing the "Evensong" program, which they apparently do every day at 1pm. We sat and listened: it was all teenage boys and girls, and they were very good availed of incredible acoustics. When they stopped a song or hymn, you could still hear it for a few moments as it resonated under the dome.
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| The interior of the dome |
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| Under the dome |
Numerous signs throughout the cathedral pronounced "no photos or videos" but so many people were using I-pads and phones to take snaps that I broke the rules a bit and snuck in a few photos. These images can't do the this cathederal justice; a much wider angle would be necessary, a tripod, long exposures and such but I'm amazed what the hand-held camera was indeed able to pull off.
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| School children listen as teacher points to the dome above |
We walked through the main floor, listening to the various bits of information, history, etc., then went downstairs to visit the crypt where tons of famous people are buried amongst which was the tomb of Admiral Lord Nelson, Captain of the fleet that defeated Napoleon's forces at the battle of Trafalgar in 1804. He was killed by a sniper on another ship and died moments after the battle was won and is a national hero of the highest rank. Many others are here, some with tombs like Christopher Wren and others with plaques or crypts like Alexander Fleming, alas, too many to linger over. Of note is that Lady Diana and Prince Charles were married here and the funerals of Margaret Thatcher and Sir. Winston Churchill were performed here.
It was possible to climb the stairs to the "Whispering Gallery" about half way up the dome, and even to climb all the way to the very top, but it was some 500 narrow and winding,steps to get up there and an equal number back down. Neither Evie or I felt up to it, especially with my vertigo at heights, so we had to be content with the view of London from the Eye- which was a much easier way of overlooking London.
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| The central "nave" |
The cathedral was a particular target of the Nazis during the Blitz of London and although it was hit several times, it suffered no major structural damage. One huge time-delay bomb crashed into it but the quick action by a bomb disposal squad defused it and carried it off. When they detonated it at a remote location, the huge explosion showed that if it had exploded as intended, it would have destroyed the cathedral. The leader of the bomb squad was knighted for his action! One of the iconic images of the war is of the cathedral, shrouded by smoke from fires, but standing, proud and unshaken.
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| Blitz photo by Herbert Mason, 1940 | " | . |
"Wreathed in billowing smoke, amidst the chaos and destruction of war, the pale dome stands proud and glorious – indomitable".
We exited the cathedral and walked to the next square where there is a tall monument to the great fire of 1666, built on the spot where the fire is supposed to have started.
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| Pillar to commemorate the Great Fire of 1666 |
We then bought sandwiches at the "Pret a Manger" store on the square; ready to eat food. We both got great baguette sandwiches and took them onto a bus back to the hotel where we ate them and rested before getting ready for the big event of the first week and Evie's BIG treat: The Classical Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall (RAH)!
After our rest period, we took a taxi to the venue because it was raining hard by now. Eve though it's only on the other side of Hyde Park with traffic and the roundabout way that traffic must go to get there, it was L20 with the tip! Living large!!
The RAH is quite something, perfectly round, three or more tiers with lots of velvety seats all in plush Royal Red. It was opened in 1871 and is named for Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert; it hosts at least one event for every day of the year from classical to pop, rock, and even school functions.
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| Web photo of the Royal Albert Hall |
The show was very good, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Rigby, augmented by the Welsh Guard band and two choirs, plus a full laser light show. They played several patriotic British pieces, including "Land of Hope and Glory" and "Rule Britannia" (repeating the final chorus several times, with lots of people singing along and waving flags) and finished with the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, complete with two thundering cannons and period dressed soldiers firing muskets from the gallery..
We were upstairs with a very good view of the proceedings, better than being close on the floor because of the view of the entire stage and of course the light show. I took a couple of photos and one turned out with a pretty good exposure!
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| The Classical Spectacular concert |
We took a bus from the front steps of the RAH that went back up to Bayswater Road where we stopped in a restaurant for a late meal. I was pleased to find a steak and potatoes with a beer for L10. We had to wait quite a while but it was good and we just hopped on the next bus; even at 11:30 at night we didn't have to wait long and in minutes we were back in our room and ready for bed.
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