Hey All,
Today was a pretty great day, with one somewhat off-putting exception. The first thing on our agenda was to go see the Changing of the Guards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace. I had seen it last time we came to London, but actually remember very little of it, and Becky had never seen it. We got there about 45 minutes before anything was supposed to start happening, and it was already pretty crowded. We opted for spaces where we could see the new guards and the band process in, rather than fighting through everyone to get to spaces with a (still obstructed) view of the actual ceremony.
So, we stood at the rail for half an hour or so (it was raining - go figure) and looking through the settings on my camera, when all of a sudden we heard a pretty decided thunk. A tourist (I can only assume) got clipped by a passing car, maybe 30 yards away from us. The car stopped immediately, and the response from security was very fast, but the gentleman didn't do much moving for the remainder of the time that everyone in the (fairly sizeable) crowd stared at him. The ceremony still occured, but I think that they did a modified version, to keep everyone out of the way of emergency vehicles that were en route to assist. Fortunately, the emergency vehicles arrived fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the procession and the ceremony were hidden behind approximately ten rows of camera-toting tourists. Becky had mentioned a few times, that if a tourist was going to get injured in London, it was while crossing the street (we automatically focus on looking the right way, everywhere except the UK). This definitely drove that point home.
After our lack of guard-changing viewing, we hopped back on the Tube and went to an area of the city that is well regarded for shopping and street performers - Covent Gardens. After walking around for a while, we went to a pub and had lunch. I am somewhat shame-faced to admit that the bartender asked me several times if I wanted "Oice," and I had no idea what he was saying (he was asking if I wanted ice in my water... no clue). After lunch, we had planned to go to the British Museum, but upon further reflection (and a tinge of exhaustion), we decided to mosey back to the Hostel and relax for a few hours before going out to the West End tonight.
I'm really glad that we decided to take it easy for the afternoon. We've taken this trip at a somewhat breakneck pace, and, while I hate to "waste" part of a trip day, I have every faith that both Becky and I will return to London and go to the British Museum another time. The bonus was that we were both well-rested to go see Shrek: The Musical, which was AMAZING. So so good. They did a really good job connecting with all the things you hope for from the movie, and there were a lot of little quippy one liners that were very amusing. I was really impressed with just about all of it, but I haven't been to that many shows. In talking to Becky afterwards, she said that she was especially impressed with the use of technology throughout the show. I mean, at one point, a working bridge arose out of the floor so that Shrek and Donkey could cross the river of lava to reach Princess Fiona. I actually think that my favorite character was Lord Farquad, who was acted by a gentleman who had to do everything from his knees, so that his character would be appropriately short. It was such a blast :)
On the way back, we stopped off at Westminister to see the river lit up at night. Tomorrow, we'll get up, head to the airport, and hop a flight halfway back across the Atlantic. I can smell the slightly sulpherous Blue Lagoon Spa and Hot Springs already. So excited!
More from Iceland!
Catherine
Today was a pretty great day, with one somewhat off-putting exception. The first thing on our agenda was to go see the Changing of the Guards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace. I had seen it last time we came to London, but actually remember very little of it, and Becky had never seen it. We got there about 45 minutes before anything was supposed to start happening, and it was already pretty crowded. We opted for spaces where we could see the new guards and the band process in, rather than fighting through everyone to get to spaces with a (still obstructed) view of the actual ceremony.
So, we stood at the rail for half an hour or so (it was raining - go figure) and looking through the settings on my camera, when all of a sudden we heard a pretty decided thunk. A tourist (I can only assume) got clipped by a passing car, maybe 30 yards away from us. The car stopped immediately, and the response from security was very fast, but the gentleman didn't do much moving for the remainder of the time that everyone in the (fairly sizeable) crowd stared at him. The ceremony still occured, but I think that they did a modified version, to keep everyone out of the way of emergency vehicles that were en route to assist. Fortunately, the emergency vehicles arrived fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the procession and the ceremony were hidden behind approximately ten rows of camera-toting tourists. Becky had mentioned a few times, that if a tourist was going to get injured in London, it was while crossing the street (we automatically focus on looking the right way, everywhere except the UK). This definitely drove that point home.
After our lack of guard-changing viewing, we hopped back on the Tube and went to an area of the city that is well regarded for shopping and street performers - Covent Gardens. After walking around for a while, we went to a pub and had lunch. I am somewhat shame-faced to admit that the bartender asked me several times if I wanted "Oice," and I had no idea what he was saying (he was asking if I wanted ice in my water... no clue). After lunch, we had planned to go to the British Museum, but upon further reflection (and a tinge of exhaustion), we decided to mosey back to the Hostel and relax for a few hours before going out to the West End tonight.
I'm really glad that we decided to take it easy for the afternoon. We've taken this trip at a somewhat breakneck pace, and, while I hate to "waste" part of a trip day, I have every faith that both Becky and I will return to London and go to the British Museum another time. The bonus was that we were both well-rested to go see Shrek: The Musical, which was AMAZING. So so good. They did a really good job connecting with all the things you hope for from the movie, and there were a lot of little quippy one liners that were very amusing. I was really impressed with just about all of it, but I haven't been to that many shows. In talking to Becky afterwards, she said that she was especially impressed with the use of technology throughout the show. I mean, at one point, a working bridge arose out of the floor so that Shrek and Donkey could cross the river of lava to reach Princess Fiona. I actually think that my favorite character was Lord Farquad, who was acted by a gentleman who had to do everything from his knees, so that his character would be appropriately short. It was such a blast :)
On the way back, we stopped off at Westminister to see the river lit up at night. Tomorrow, we'll get up, head to the airport, and hop a flight halfway back across the Atlantic. I can smell the slightly sulpherous Blue Lagoon Spa and Hot Springs already. So excited!
More from Iceland!
Catherine
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