Monday, March 15, 2010

Ello!

Well, if you've finished your spot of tea, (the rave of Englishmen!), shall we venture out on this lovely English evening and take a quick turn around London? I thought you'd say yes!

Since we've already experienced the tall red buses at the beginning of our tour, I thought that we would forgo that and get some exercise by walking. The weather is fairly mild & wet so make sure you bring your jacket and an umbrella!
Our first stop will be Buckingham Palace. (So maybe my blog header isn't really Lacey's Corner!) ;-) As we step inside this massive piece of architecture we can view the beautiful Grand Staircase.

I'm not quite sure if we're supposed to be in this next room -- the Throne Room...so we'll just take a quick peak and then leave.
Quick! Be quiet and curtsy -- just as we were coming out of the Throne Room, I spotted Queen Elizabeth II!!I knew it was her because her clothes consist mostly of solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, which allow her to be seen easily in a crowd. Her main leisure interests include equestrianism, photography, and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis.

Now that we've left the palace, we can take a quick picture in front of Big Ben for the sake of saying "Been there, done that"! :-) It's the largest clock in Great Britain. Because of changes in ground conditions since construction, the tower leans slightly to the north-west. The clock is famous for its reliability.

After crossing the London Bridge (by the way, a bridge has existed at or near the present site over the period from the Roman occupatiom of the area, nearly 2,000 years ago. The first bridge across the Thames in the London area, probably a military pontoon bridge, was built of wood by the Romans on the present site around 50 AD.), we are now back at our hotel.
Hope you enjoyed our little visit in England. (I'm thinking that our next stop will be done in a more timely fashion!) But, before you retire, make sure you finish British authoress, Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice" near your bedstand, which she wrote in the year 1813.

Pack up and sleep tight because we'll be leaving (hopefully by Wednesday) for our next destination, which is -- wait, why not surprise you? :-)


Pictures courtesy of photographer, Derry Moore,
The Royal Collection 2010
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and
Wickipedia.com
Bits of information retrieved from Wickipedia.com

2 comments:

Rachel said...

Fun! Peeking nervously into the throne room I felt a little like Maria from "The Sound of Music" when she first visited the big house and went tiptoeing around where she wasn't supposed to - I was sure someone would give us a scolding. :)

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful day! I ahve wanted to post for a while but jsut never did. I ahve enjoyed my stay in London. I would have been at stop two but I did not follow you all but went to France( that was my birthday theme). I see you have waited for me so I can join you for stop two.At a nother time perhaps I will vist Frqance again as I love this place!!!!!!!!!!!!! Valerie