Half past midnight and it has been an exceptionally wonderful day if not long. Have been up since 7 am and pretty much on the go all day. The plan today was to go to Buckingham Palace and see some of the sights close by. When we arrived we found out the Changing of the Guard occurs every other day and as luck would have it, today was not the day. No matter though as we went through The Royal Mews instead and will plan on the Palace tomorrow.
The Royal Mews is where the carriages in all their glory are stored and is the Royal stable and riding school. We took the audio tour, where you are supplied with a headset and get a very informative commentary on each carriage. Some of these are so ornate and are hand painted, even the coats of arms. One of these was celebrating a 200 year anniversary of Australia and when completed cost AUD350,000.
Now if we thought those 4 carriages we saw were ornate, we were to be completely blown away by The Golden Carriage. There are no words to describe the beauty of this. The gold is actually wooden carvings with gold leaf laid over the top. The attention to detail is very impressive and it is massive. This is the carriage used for coronations and takes the staff 2 days to get it out of the coach house as they have to dismantle one wall to get it out.
We took a short stroll through some of the streets to Big Ben and were just in time to hear it strike 12 midday. Sent shivers up my spine and made me go all goosey.
This is of course right next door to Westminster Abbey as well. After a tour of St Margaret's church (a smaller church right next door to the Abbey, we then went into the Abbey. Of course this is where Prince William and Kate were married so it was incredible seeing in real life what we had only previously seen on TV. That said there is absolutely no comparison for seeing it in real life. The history here dates back some 700 to 800 years but unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos inside so we reckon you all need to come over here and experience it yourselves. I have to say this was without doubt the highlight of the day even knowing there was going to be a lot of history here, you simply can't comprehend it without seeing it.
Next it was off to the Tower of London. We joined in a tour with one of the Yeoman Warders to hear all about the history, much of it very cruel, with what seems to be family killing off family after throwing them in jail. Some were tortured, some executed in a spectacularly gruesome ways and then executed by beheadings or being hung, drawn, disembowled and quartered. I guess for me the most gruesome tale was of one dignitary who was beheaded, then realizing their mistake had to stitch his head back on again so they could have his portrait done as none existed before his demise. Obviously this portrait was done with a rather large ruffle around his neck. The painter was only given 24 hours to complete his task.
We also got to see the Tower Bridge right next door while we were there.
From there it was a hasty trip back to the hotel for a quick change as we had purchased tickets to see Les Miserables. Whilst we both found it hard to stay awake in the hot stuffy auditorium we thoroughly enjoyed this show and were quite taken with the English being so appreciative of the cast at the end of the show with loud clapping, cheering and standing ovation. Something I reckon us Kiwi's could learn from.
So as you can see a full on day and now to some shut eye before tomorrow's busy day.
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