The Day That Began With The Changing of the Guard

I heard from many different people that I HAD to go to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace while I was in London. It is a very quintessential thing to do while visiting the city because it encompasses everything England is supposed to be - full of strangely dressed guards, obsessed with monarchy, and full of pomp & circumstance.

Apparently, everybody else visiting London on this Friday morning also was going to see the changing of the guard. It was a very busy place. Jenna and I had been distracted from the palace (we were early) by the fun waiting in Green Park - this time it was lit up by the earth's big light bulb (the sun) instead of that one creepy street lamp. The leaves were colourful and were lining the ground, the weather was great, and there was a cool fountain. It had something to do with Canada - either as a gift to it or from it. Then, we heard clop-clopping coming from the road and we saw a large group of horses coming down the road with redcoated guards riding them. They circled the area and then left inexplicably. Their arrival did signal us to the fact that we should find a spot to stand to watch the real thing start happenin'. Before they did, Jenna and I played a fun game called "Based on what kind of car this person has, how important are they?" where we ranked the people going through the gates into Buckingham

Soon a marching band came into the area, and eventually entered the courtyard of the palace. After marching around a little bit more, a few musicians broke off into an ensemble to play classic songs like "Eleanor Rigby." As for the actual changing of the guards, there was ceremonial marching and one guard left as another came. There wasn't a whole lot more to it. It was simple, yet elegant.

I was advised to eat lunch at Harrod's, and to see the store in general. I had heard the food hall was a maze of glass cases full of the world's finest epicurean delights. How could I not go?!? When we got off the Tube on the very fancy Brompton Street, Jenna and I saw a massive red stone building with Christmas windows that make the weak faint and the pocketbook cringe. Inside, the phenomenon was even more pronounced, between the designer labels and the red marble and gold decoration. Jenna and I headed to the Christmas/Harrod's gift portion of the store and found some cool presents and candies. We then went to the food hall, which was everything I thought it could be. They even had an Iberian Ham bar! That's right, my dream of eating delicious razor thin slices of ham just sliced from the pig leg mounted behind the counter (with the hoof proudly displayed, as to show how good of a pig it actually was) came true. I had a feast on a little bit of the ham, then Jenna and I poked our noses around to find something more substantial. We ended up with pea and bacon soup to share, I got a pastrami ciabatta sandwich, and she got a ham croissant. Deelicious! We, the little children that we are, found the actual Christmas floor and looked at the shiny trees, lights, and ornaments. Shiny!

Our afternoon activity was a ride on the London Eye - a massive ferris wheel on the banks of the Thames. After waiting in line to pick up our reserved tickets, and waiting in line to have our tickets approved, then waiting in line to get into our pod of the ferris wheel, we finally got on the Eye. There were about 12 other people in the same pod as Jenna and I, including a few rabidly wild children who were far too close to opening the door and falling many stories to their death. There were also some inattentive parents on board. The vistas from the Eye were eye-catching. It really gave you an idea of how big London is, and how everything is laid out in relation to other things, much better than the Tube stops can.

That night, Jenna and I went to explore Oxford Road, which is one of the main shopping roads. I ended up buying a shirt on sale, and some shoes. I had wanted similar shoes from the same store in Dublin, but wouldn't buy them because they were so expensive. BUT because the pound is a lot weaker now than it was, it was much cheaper to buy them in London! We also looked for a piece of street art that was supposed to be in the area by the most famous street artist in the world, Banksy. We didn't find it, which was disappointing, but it was an adventure. After that, Jenna and I went back to the easyHotel and watched more British tele, which is SO much better than American TV.