Day 8, London

Marble Arch

Britt and I started the day with a very good breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs at our B&B, Five Summer Place. Then we took the Tube from South Kensington to Hyde Park Corner. Here we got on the Big Bus, a double–decker, open–air (on top) get–on and get–off sightseeing bus. It is somewhat difficult to take photos from the top of a double–decker while it is moving, so the angles of some of my photos are a bit strange. This photo shows the Marble Arch, built in 1828 and designed by John Nash, who also designed the state rooms in Buckingham Palace. The design is taken from the triumphal arch of Constantin in Rome. It was first erected as an entrance to Buckingham Palace and later was moved to serve as an entrance to Hyde Park.

Marble Arch

London Street

Interesting building on our tour of London.

London Street

Another London street scence.

London Street

Still another London street scene.

London Street

Regent Street

If we had had more time in London, this is one of the areas where we would have taken some long walks. There were many interesting buildings to view, winding streets to explore, and many stores to windowshop at.

Regent Street

Piccadilly Circus

One of the major squares in London. Note the statue in the square. This is another good walking area.

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus Statue

Close up of the statue of Eros, which represents the Angel of Christian Charity and not the Greek god of love. In was erected in 1893 to commemorate the the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Cooper, who was the champion of the rights of workers, the poor, and the mentally ill.

Piccadilly Circus Statue

Trafalgar Square

Another of the main squares in London. The large building is the National Gallery and the church is St. Martin–in–the–Fields. This is another area where we would have spent more time if we had stayed longer.

Trafalgar Square

Statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson, a British naval hero. The column is 170 feet tall. The battle of Trafalgar in 1805 against the French is his Nelson’s most famous victory.

Trafalgar Square

The Horse Guards

The reason that we didn’t get off the bus at any of previous sights is because we wanted to watch the changing of the horse guards at 11 a.m. Photo of one of horse guards. This structure is on one side of St. James Park and Buckingham Palace is on the other side of the park.

The Horse Guards

A Horse Guard

Close up of one of the horse guards.

A Horse Guard

Changing of the Horse Guards

The changing of the horse guards takes place in the parade ground behind the building in the previous photos. In this photo, the horse guards in the black uniforms are waiting for the horse guards in the red uniforms to arrive. They come from Buckingham Palace through St. James Park. There is a movie clip of the Changing of the Horse Guards on this website: Go to Movies, Western Europe, England, “Changing of the Horse Guards, London.”

Changing of the Horse Guards

Here come the guards from Buckingham Palace.

Changing of the Horse Guards

The horse guards lined up with each other.

Changing of the Horse Guards

Another view of the horse guards lined up. They were lined up this way for quite some time and we kept waiting for something to happen. We realized that nothing was going to happen for awhile, so we crossed the street and rushed through St. James Park in hopes that we would be in time to catch the Changing of the Guards in front of Buckingham Palace. But the changing of the Horse Guards was a colorful ceremony, which we greatly enjoyed seeing.

Changing of the Horse Guards

St. James Park

Flowers at St. James Park.

St. James Park

The Royal Geese at St. James Park.

St. James Park

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace taken from the edge of St. James Park.

Buckingham Palace

Statue in Front of Buckingham Palace

This is the Queen Victoria Memorial.

Statue in Front of Buckingham Palace

Changing of the Guards

In this photo, you can see the guards starting their procession.

Changing of the Guards

I was so busy taking movie clips of the Changing of the Guards that I forgot to take still photos of the procession. I took these next three photos from these movie clips. The movie clips of the Changing of the Guards on this website: Go to Movies, Western Europe, England, “Changing of the Guards, London” and “More Changing of the Guards.”

Changing of the Guards

Another view of the Changing of the Guards.

Changing of the Guards

Another view of the Changing of the Guards. Britt decided it would be fun to follow the guards, which she did. They marched to the barracks, had another ceremony, and then disbanded, with some of the guards, in full uniform, walking down the street to catch a city bus.

Changing of the Guards

London Policemen

Before leaving Buckingham Palace, we got in line to buy tickets to see the state rooms of the palace. This line was very long, but the line for advance tickets was very short, so we decided to instead buy advance tickets for the next day. Now we were off to see Westminster Abbey and headed back through St. James Park. On the way there, I asked these two policemen if I could take their picture. Actually, they were thrilled to be asked. The one with the rounded hat is a bobby. The other is an inspector. The bobby told me that there is one rank below him (constable?). The inspector is one rank above the bobby. We found the London policemen to be very friendly and were a great source for directions (Britt couldn’t imagine asking a French policeman for directions).

London Policemen

St. James Park

Another view of St. James Park, a very lovely park.

St. James Park

On the Way to Westminster Abbey

We were surprised to see this statue of Abraham Lincoln. We found Westminster Abbey, but we were hungry and wanted to eat lunch before we did more sightseeing. We didn’t see any restaurants in this area, so Britt stopped a man in the street (in a suit) and asked him if he knew where any close by restaurants were. He said there was a cafe across the street in the building where he worked. He took us there and got us temporary badges so we could eat at the cafe. We found out that we were in the building of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Britt had a salad and I had a sandwich. When we had finished, we had to turn in our badges to a security guard. He told us that it was pandemonium there yesterday as 200 of their members had taken part in the protest against the fox hunting ban. They were all getting food at the cafe and using the bathroom as the protest was right across the street. I think they will be talking about this for quite a long time.

On the Way to Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

St. Margaret’s Church at Westminster Abbey. This church was consecrated in 1523 and has served as the church for the House of Commons since 1614. No photography was allowed in the church.

Westminster Abbey

Front of Westminster Abbey. This is Britain’s National Shrine, its greatest religious building, and where most of its kings and queens were both coronated and later buried. The inside of Westminster Abbey is absolutely fascinating (no photography was allowed here, but it would be worthwhile to check a site to view its inside). Everything inside the Abbey is beautiful, including the tombs that have intricate scuptures on top of them. The building’s construction was started in the 13th century.

Westminster Abbey

One of the abbey’s entrances.

Westminster Abbey

Another view of the outside.

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

View of Big Ben and he Houses of Parliament from Westminster Abbey.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

London Scene

From Westminster Abbey, Britt and I got back on the Big Bus. Our next stop was to be St. Paul’s Cathedral. We saw this view of Big Ben through the London Eye on the way there.

London Scene

Some interesting buildings that we passed.

London Scene

More interesting buildings that we passed.

London Scene

St. Paul’s Cathedral

We were disappointed that St. Paul’s appeared to be having a cleaning job done on it. When we went inside, there was much scaffolding and little of its beauty could be seen (no photography allowed inside). St. Paul’s is about 300 years old and was the site of the wedding of Prince Charles to Princess Diana.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Another view of the cathedral.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Tower Bridge

We again got on the Big Bus and it took us over the Tower Bridge. Note the strangely shaped modern building in the photo. What its name is I do not know. It was not thought of interest to remark on it by our tour guide, and we had to depart the bus so quickly when it stopped, there was no opportunity to ask her. I guess we could have stopped someone on the street to ask, but we failed to do so.

Tower Bridge

Still traveling on the Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge

Detail of decorations on the side of the bridge.

Tower Bridge

Photo of the Tower Bridge taken from the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

The land side of the Tower of London. It was begun by William the Conqueror about 1066. It has served as a palace, prison, execution site, arsenal, and royal mint and jewel house. Among the prisoners executed here, were Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s second and fifth wives.