London, CHECK! July 14 - 16, 2016

Changing of the Guard - Buckingham
Palace

 An 8:20 train from Flint, North Wales, arrives at Euston station, London by 10:30 leaving ample time to hop a tube to Green Station and make your way to Buckingham Palace about 15 minutes before the daily 11:30 changing of the guard! Not much is more British than the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.  The crowds had started gathering for the event hours before I imagine. After much jockeying for position, we managed to find a spot where we could catch a glimpse of the Queen's Guard as they marched onto the Palace grounds before the ceremony. We could hear the band playing, but could see nothing so we again jockeyed for position, this time, along the rope facing away from the actual palace. We waited through the entire 55 minute ceremony and were finally rewarded with a good view of the guard as they left the palace. Though the actual ceremony was beyond our view, it was still fun to be part of the crowd and witness the pageantry and excitement of this British icon.

The visit to London was a quick 'check the box' sight seeing trip from the outside. In three days, there was no way we could do justice to all the magnificent buildings, museums, sights and events so walking the city was the order of the day. In light of that, this blog will mostly be pictures and visuals during our travels.

House of Parliament & Big Ben on
the right. Magnificent!!

A well guarded 10 Downing
Street

The weather was bright and sunny so after the Changing of the Guard, we strolled along The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk through St James park, ambled past government buildings, were astonished by the first glimpse of Big Ben and the House of Parliament along the River Themes. Westminster Abbey is just as regal as it looks on TV!

Theresa May was in her 2nd day as the new Prime Minister so we loitered in front of Number 10 Downing Street to see if we could spot anyone famous. We didn't! The police guards were friendly and jovial posing and photo bombing pictures! We walked past Horse Guards Parade where the Queens Guard keeps the horses, past Admiralty Arch, through Waterloo and finally had dinner on the outdoor patio of an Italian Restaurant on Leicester Square before we finished the day walking through Piccadilly Circus.

Piccadilly Circus Fountain 

Lights of Piccadilly Circus

I've always heard of Piccadilly Circus but never realized what it was. As we approached, I realized it was a shopping area sort of like Times Square in New York. It has similar lighted signs that dominate the area and a signature fountain where you can people watch, use as a meeting point, etc. The term circus refers to the the fact it used to be a complete roundabout or circle. When Shaftesbury Avenue was built in 1886, it was no longer a complete circle but the name stuck. The Piccadilly part comes from a shopping street and Piccadilly Hall, a house belonging to a tailor who specialized in a type of collar known as a piccadill which was fashionable in the late 16th and 17th centuries. As far as the fountain goes, it has an obscure history as well. It is famous for it's statue reputed to be the Greek god of love, Eros. It appears, however, the statues' official name is the Shafetesbury Memorial Fountain, built in 1893 to commemorate Lord Shaftesbury. It was intended to be the Greek go Anteros, but the bow in his had reminded people of cupid and is therefore confused with the Green god of love, Eros. Who knew?

Tower Bridge

Ambassador Theater

The second day started out at the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, past the Monument to the Great Fire of London, the Bank of England Museum, St Paul's Cathedral, the London Museum then capped off a Theater show, STOMP at the Ambassador Theater.

British Museum

We were waiting for a rainy day to do the British Museum, since it's an inside venue, but that never came. Though the weather was glorious, we decided that no trip to London would be complete without a visit. The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art, and culture and has about 8 million works in it's permanent collection! One entire day is not enough to do it justice. We skipped around to some of the recommended displays:

• The Rosetta Stone - Allowed scholars to read hieroglyphics for the first time.
• The Elgin Marbles - Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, removed 56 friezes and 19 statues from the Parthenon over a 10 year period. For many years, the Greek government had demanded the marbles be returned to Athens, so far to no avail. Note; The museum has a brochure that explains the pros and cons of this decision 
• The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Helmet - Anglo-Saxon warrior's helmet
• The Lewis Chessmen - a large chess set carved from walrus ivory and whale bone during the 12 century
• Egyptian mummies - a phenomenal display
• The Portland Vase - a glass vessel believed to have been made in Rome between AD5 and A25
• Aztec turquoise mosaics - masks, snakes and other animal figures



Gold Cape on display at British
Museum found in Mold,
North Wales (a replica sits in
the Mold Library)

Of course we had to take a look at the golden Mold Cape found only a few miles from Michael's home in North Wales in the Market Town of Mold. A replica is on display in the library at Mold. What a treat to see the real thing!

Being completely exhausted and unable to take in any more we caught an early train back to Flint!

London definitely deserves another, more in-depth visit!

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