My thought process while sightseeing sometimes goes like this...
"Wow, that's a beautiful palace, a bit smaller than I imagined for the Queen of England."
"Oh man! There are the guards that I always see pictures of...how awesome!"
"Dang, I could never be that stoic with all these people staring and me and taking pictures."
"Good thing I'm an American and never will have to guard a queen."
Day #1 in UK, Day #15 traveling
After falling quite ill in London, I sorely neglected to keep up my blog up to date with my wanderings. So for my own memory's sake, I'll be filling in the last week of my travels.
Per usual, I started off my London sightseeing with a free walking tour. The tour covered the City of Westminster part of London. Westminster is the "royal" side of London, containing Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben. However, since the tour didn't start until 11, I amused myself with a stroll through Hyde Park (No, I don't fully comprehend how awesome it is to say "I was bored so I went to Hyde Park").
According to the tour guide, the Queen doesn't really like Buckingham Palace (perhaps the ungodly number of tourists in her backyard on a daily basis?) and usually resides in Windsor. I was a bit disappointed in the size of Buckingham...I was expecting something a bit grander for the queen of England.
Well, my disappointment had an explanation. The part of Buckingham that's most famous is the backside. It was built by Queen Victoria as a nursery for her fourteen kids and NEVER meant to be the part everyone saw. However, as most of us would probably would be annoyed, the queen disliked all the journalists and tourists on her front lawn and banished them from ever photographing the front of the palace...or seeing it ever really for that matter.
While standing outside of the palace, a bunch of goofy looking guys on horses road by. Apparently, they're part of the Queen's Guard and are responsible for making sure things stay safe. It's really weird in England...even police officers don't have guns. And I'm pretty sure these soldiers were also unarmed. Unfortunately, during the off-tourist season, the Changing of the Guards only happens every other day so I missed see it.
I was pretty disappointed that 10 Downing Street is mostly blocked by police barricades. Seeing as two of the greatest politicians of modern times lived there (Churchill and Thatcher), I was hoping to get a cool picture of myself with the house or something. Alas, Great Britain might be the only European country who rivals the U.S. in security precautions (See: no trash cans near the Palace). Outside the prime minister's residence, is a giant field...where the beach volleyball competitions in the London Olympics happened!
The second half of my sightseeing day was in the City of London part of London. This is where the mayor of London lives and most of the country's banking and financial sector is located. There's some strange ceremony where the Queen of England has to meet with the mayor before she can enter this area of the country to try to raise funds for different programs. I was a bit unclear on the whole thing, just remember it sounded very strange.
One of our first stops here was St. Clement Danes. It's the one of the only parts of London that still bears the scars of the German blitzkrieg during WWII. Built in the 9th century by a Danish community, the church was rebuilt on numerous occasions over the course of history. In 1956, the Royal Air Force adopted the church and to this day care for its upkeep. They decided to keep the marks on part of the building as a reminder of the horror London underwent as a monument to their fallen ranks.
Perhaps the funnest fact of the day was given during our visit to the Royal Courts. The lawyers in England still wear white wigs when arguing cases in the court. It's SO old fashioned and I made the tour guide repeat himself because I wasn't sure I was hearing him correctly.
The tour ended at the Tower of London...it was quite dark by this time so I didn't get any great photos. Most of the interesting sights cost literally an arm and leg to get inside. So I passed up the $35 entrance fee to the Tower of London and just enjoyed a view from the outside.
After all this walking (around 6 hours of tours) my brain was fried, my feet were wet, and I was cold! And thus, on this day, London got me sick.
"Wow, that's a beautiful palace, a bit smaller than I imagined for the Queen of England."
"Oh man! There are the guards that I always see pictures of...how awesome!"
"Dang, I could never be that stoic with all these people staring and me and taking pictures."
"Good thing I'm an American and never will have to guard a queen."
Day #1 in UK, Day #15 traveling
 |
| This guy made me appreciate my current career choice. |
Per usual, I started off my London sightseeing with a free walking tour. The tour covered the City of Westminster part of London. Westminster is the "royal" side of London, containing Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben. However, since the tour didn't start until 11, I amused myself with a stroll through Hyde Park (No, I don't fully comprehend how awesome it is to say "I was bored so I went to Hyde Park").
According to the tour guide, the Queen doesn't really like Buckingham Palace (perhaps the ungodly number of tourists in her backyard on a daily basis?) and usually resides in Windsor. I was a bit disappointed in the size of Buckingham...I was expecting something a bit grander for the queen of England.
 |
| Another day, another palace |
Well, my disappointment had an explanation. The part of Buckingham that's most famous is the backside. It was built by Queen Victoria as a nursery for her fourteen kids and NEVER meant to be the part everyone saw. However, as most of us would probably would be annoyed, the queen disliked all the journalists and tourists on her front lawn and banished them from ever photographing the front of the palace...or seeing it ever really for that matter.
 |
| Big Ben! |
I was pretty disappointed that 10 Downing Street is mostly blocked by police barricades. Seeing as two of the greatest politicians of modern times lived there (Churchill and Thatcher), I was hoping to get a cool picture of myself with the house or something. Alas, Great Britain might be the only European country who rivals the U.S. in security precautions (See: no trash cans near the Palace). Outside the prime minister's residence, is a giant field...where the beach volleyball competitions in the London Olympics happened!
The second half of my sightseeing day was in the City of London part of London. This is where the mayor of London lives and most of the country's banking and financial sector is located. There's some strange ceremony where the Queen of England has to meet with the mayor before she can enter this area of the country to try to raise funds for different programs. I was a bit unclear on the whole thing, just remember it sounded very strange.
 |
| Marks made by German bombs |
Perhaps the funnest fact of the day was given during our visit to the Royal Courts. The lawyers in England still wear white wigs when arguing cases in the court. It's SO old fashioned and I made the tour guide repeat himself because I wasn't sure I was hearing him correctly.
 |
| Royal Courts of Justice |
After all this walking (around 6 hours of tours) my brain was fried, my feet were wet, and I was cold! And thus, on this day, London got me sick.
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