London in May

May has been an amazing month of travel so far.  We started the month out with our anniversary trip to Victoria Falls, went back to SA for 24 hours to do laundry and re-pack and then left for London.  We arrived on a Saturday evening and checked in to our hotel in Kensington.  We rode the Tube from Heathrow to the Earl's Court station, dragging along 6 bags of various sizes.  We caught a cab from there to the hotel and collapsed after a long 24 hours of travel from SA.  Sunday we got up and took off for Buckingham Palace, where we got to experience the changing of the guard.  The temporary broadcasting booths from the Royal Wedding were still being dismantled while we were there and having just watched all the wedding events on television, so many landmarks were still fresh in my mind.  The changing of the guard is quite a spectacle as the military band leads the new guard in and the old guard out.  It is such a tradition and the pageantry is spectacular.  However, just when you think some traditions never change, the military band broke into a medley of Michael Jackson songs as the guards were changing.  The crowd began murmuring at first, looking at each other as if to say, "are we really hearing 'Bad' and 'Thriller'?" 

Changing of the Guard

Buckingham Palace

We walked from there to Westminster Abbey, which was closed for worship services. We walked past Parliament, #10 Downing Street, the Horse Guards, down the Mall, Wellington Arch and on and on through Knightsbridge to Harrod's department store, where we had a late lunch.  We had a wonderful day.

Trafalgar Square

Westminster Abbey

Monday jet lag caught up to me so I hung out and rested my tired feet to prepare for my big night out to go see Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace theatre.  That was incredibly fun and the theatre was just what I expected-all red velvet and ornate gilded trim and fixtures.

Tuesday I bought a big bus ticket and rode for 5 hours on the top deck of an open air double decker bus all over London seeing the sights and listening to the narration.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and everyone in London came out at lunch to eat outside in the glorious weather.  What an incredible city and such a rich history.

The Thames River and Parliament

Wednesday I walked to Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana lived and took a tour of a few of the public rooms on display.  I walked all over Kensington Park and down to Hyde Park as well.  It was a drizzly day but not so bad as to get very wet.  The Parks were green and the trees huge.  There were dogs everywhere, owners tossing balls and frisbees.  Bikers in suits and even high heels, cutting through the park and pedaling to work.  It is amazing how much open green space there is in London.  I wondered what the long dead royals would think if they knew how so many commoners were tramping all over their private gardens and hunting lands every day.  At least most of the commoners are considerate enough to scoop up the commoner dog poop in plastic bags.  I bet the royals had servants to do that for the royal dogs.

Kensington Palace

In the afternoon I rode the Tube to the Tower of London.  This place is so steeped in history and mystery.  The Beefeaters are spectacular storytellers.  I spent about 3 hours there walking through all the buildings, seeing the Crown Jewels, an extraordinary display of ancient armour, watching the ravens hop around the green, and just imagining what it must have been like over the centuries to have lived or visited there.  Most likely it would have been really smelly, considering the now-dry moat was a giant open sewer.

The Tower of London

A Beefeater talking to one of the Ravens

What was Jon doing all this time I was seeing London? He was working of course!  I am very lucky to have been able to tag along with him and as much fun as I had, it would have been much better if I could have done all of this with him.  Maybe next time. 

We left London after 5 days and headed for a 2 week stay in the US.  More about that later. Jody