Day two: Across the Pond

Okay, I'm getting back to blogging about our recent trip to the U.K.  Day two in London started with a tour of the state rooms in Buckingham Palace.  For a few weeks each summer while the Queen is on holiday at Balmoral the state rooms are open to the public.  I was thrilled that our visit coincided with the Queen's holiday.

When I purchased our tickets I chose the earliest time available which was 9:30.  We had a full day planned and I wanted to get started.  Much to my relief Mr. Beans didn't complain about having to get up early.

Buckingham Palace became a royal residence in 1761 when George III purchased the house for his queen, Charlotte.

Several monarchs added their own touches to the palace, but Victoria and Albert made it into the regal palace that we see today.

All of Victoria and Albert's children were born at Buckingham Palace; however, upon his death Victoria went into mourning for two years and the palace was closed.

Victoria's son, Edward VII, recognized the need for the royal family to have a base in London so he reopened the palace and completely redecorated it.  The rooms were decorated with the white and gold motif that still exists to this day.  Edward also modernized the palace by adding toilets and hot water.  The palace has been the royal residence since, Queen Elizabeth II has lived in the palace for over 60 years.

The taking of photos was not allowed inside the palace so you'll have to take my word for how incredible it is.  Everything was covered in gold, the artwork was amazing, everything is perfect.  Makes me wonder why England never revolted against the monarchy.  

When our tour finished it was down pouring rain and guess where our rain gear was.  Yep, back in the flat we rented.  We had hot chocolate and cake at the palace's tea garden while we waited for the rain let up then we hopped back on the subway to grab our rain gear before heading to the Tower of London.

By the time we got to the Tower it was nice and sunny (that's what happens).

I made the boys join me on a tour by a Yeoman Warder.  I'm a history nut, I'll soak up every morsel of information that I can.  Did you know that all Yeoman Warders are required to have at least 22 years of military service and that there are only 37 of them?  They live within the Tower's walls with their families including teenage children.  Our warder said that can be real interesting if a teenager doesn't make it back into the gate by 10:00 p.m. when the gates are locked.  Everyone knows who came in late.

The Tower was built in 1070 by William the Conqueror and has served as a fortress, palace and prison.  Henry VIII welcomed his new bride, Ann Boleyn, to the Tower before her coronation as as queen.  Three years later she returned to the Tower through the Traitor's gate prior to her execution.  Three queens were beheaded at the Tower:  Ann Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Jane Grey.  King Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth, was held as a prisoner in the Tower.

They have a tremendous display of armor that has been used by kings over the years.  I especially liked the full size horse armor.

The tower was supposed to have been a very imposing fortress back in the day.

Now, it's overshadowed by the plethora of modern buildings that surround it.

After leaving the Tower we walked across the Tower Bridge which I learned has always been a draw bridge.  It would have been great to see it open, but I'm sure that really messes with traffic.

Then we found a cafe along the Thames River and had some lunch.  Mr. Beans is always happy if there's pizza involved.  During this lunch he told us he'd really like to live in London because "there's so many cool things to do". 

After lunch we loaded up on a river taxi and made our way down to the Parliament area.  There's Big Ben in scaffolding. 

There's the Parliament building aka The Palace of Westminster.  The Palace ceased being used as a royal residence in 1512 when it was destroyed by a fire.  Construction of the current structure began in 1837

We had pre-purchased our London Eye tickets which allowed us to go the front of the line.

Irv and I have been on the London Eye before and we thought Mr. Beans would enjoy the view.  Boy, were we wrong.  He grabbed a seat in the middle of our capsule put his head down and didn't get up until I suggested that he might want to get up and take a look.  That's okay though, it was an epic failure on the part of his grandparents who thought he'd like it.

Even if he didn't like it Irv and I enjoyed it much better this time.  This time there weren't a dozen Italian teenage girls who were only interested in taking selfies--they'd even ask us to move so that we wouldn't be in their shots.

Here's the obligatory "Grammy wants a photo" shot of Mr. Beans.

And of course a selfie of the three of us.

Parliament from a birdseye view.

Here's the capsule next to ours at the top of the Eye.

After the Eye we made our way to Camden Market--the hippest area of London.

Mr. Beans found some used LPs to use in his new DJ gigs.  Who new an 18 year old would be interested in something that was popular when Pappy and I were teenagers?

Another fun day in London!

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