They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace, Christopher Robin went down with Alice. Alice is marrying one of the guards. "A soldier's life is terrible hard", says Alice.
It was going through my head like an ear worm. So I thought I should really go. Except that, they weren't changing the guard. Apparently in winter they only need to change every second day, and my last day in London wasn't one of them. But fortunately the Horse Guards do feel the need to change every day, so I jumped on the No 9 bus and headed down. I jumped off at Green Park so I could wander through and at least see Buckingham Palace. I loved the gates at the edge of the park but I must admit I was a little underwhelmed by the palace itself. A few police standing around, a couple of guards, lots of school kids, and lots of tourists taking photos of themselves. Ho hum. So I headed down through St James's Park to the Horse Guards. The park was lovely. I was thinking that Dad would have approved of the various beds because they provided a range of foliage and colour even though it was winter. It reminded me of some of the vistas you get at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. There were lots of birds in fenced off areas next to the lake and lots of grey squirrels running around. I was delighted to happen upon a sign indicating the site of the infamous Pagoda fire which features in a number of my Regency books. It had been set up as part of the Waterloo celebrations, with fireworks supposed to go off from it, but unfortunately a lantern set alight the whole building, which was built on a bridge across the lake, and the fireworks all went off prematurely. The people gathered thought it was part of the show, not realising there were people inside.
There's a bridge in the same spot and from it you can look down the lake to a collection of buildings which from a distance made me feel like I was in Italy. Lots of domes.
There was a small crowd for the Horse Guard changing. The old guard were lined up waiting, sitting perfectly still on beautiful black horses. The new guard came down the parade and into the square. They circled around and faced the old guard. There were various barked commands and swords moved up and down. At a signal from the bugler some of the new guard peeled off and went through the arch to the other side of the building. The leader of each guard then rode forward to the middle and started talking, and kept on talking. I wasn't the only one who lost interest in waiting until they had finished for the old guard to leave.
I am very impressed with the horses. They have to stand still for significant lengths of time, and put up with tourists coming over to stand next to them or even pat their nose. I wonder how long they are trained before they are allowed to be on duty? Perhaps they breed them for their placidity?
From there I journeyed on to Trafalgar Square and intended to get to Kensington Palace, but never did. Next time?
It was going through my head like an ear worm. So I thought I should really go. Except that, they weren't changing the guard. Apparently in winter they only need to change every second day, and my last day in London wasn't one of them. But fortunately the Horse Guards do feel the need to change every day, so I jumped on the No 9 bus and headed down. I jumped off at Green Park so I could wander through and at least see Buckingham Palace. I loved the gates at the edge of the park but I must admit I was a little underwhelmed by the palace itself. A few police standing around, a couple of guards, lots of school kids, and lots of tourists taking photos of themselves. Ho hum. So I headed down through St James's Park to the Horse Guards. The park was lovely. I was thinking that Dad would have approved of the various beds because they provided a range of foliage and colour even though it was winter. It reminded me of some of the vistas you get at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. There were lots of birds in fenced off areas next to the lake and lots of grey squirrels running around. I was delighted to happen upon a sign indicating the site of the infamous Pagoda fire which features in a number of my Regency books. It had been set up as part of the Waterloo celebrations, with fireworks supposed to go off from it, but unfortunately a lantern set alight the whole building, which was built on a bridge across the lake, and the fireworks all went off prematurely. The people gathered thought it was part of the show, not realising there were people inside.
There's a bridge in the same spot and from it you can look down the lake to a collection of buildings which from a distance made me feel like I was in Italy. Lots of domes.
There was a small crowd for the Horse Guard changing. The old guard were lined up waiting, sitting perfectly still on beautiful black horses. The new guard came down the parade and into the square. They circled around and faced the old guard. There were various barked commands and swords moved up and down. At a signal from the bugler some of the new guard peeled off and went through the arch to the other side of the building. The leader of each guard then rode forward to the middle and started talking, and kept on talking. I wasn't the only one who lost interest in waiting until they had finished for the old guard to leave.
I am very impressed with the horses. They have to stand still for significant lengths of time, and put up with tourists coming over to stand next to them or even pat their nose. I wonder how long they are trained before they are allowed to be on duty? Perhaps they breed them for their placidity?
From there I journeyed on to Trafalgar Square and intended to get to Kensington Palace, but never did. Next time?
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