Day Two in the UK

This is a picture I missed posting in the Buckingham Palace chapter - we were lucky enough to be there for the changing of the guards - complete with music and horses.  It was a great experience - lots of pomp and circumstance!  Loved every second.

Another view of the guard changing - it was so impressive!

Our travel arrangements were made through CAA - they were amazing - definitely will do that again.  The tour providers for the first part of our UK adventure were booked with Trafalgar Tours, again I recommed them to anyone thinking about a tour.  So......... this lady is a local Trafalgar Tour guide who took us to visit St. Paul's Cathedral.  She was very knowledgeable and prepared us well for the visit.  

This is the view from behind the cathedral - where we had to park the bus.  Then...

We had to walk around the block to get to the front....

... and around.. we could see it in the distance...

... another angle....

It is beautiful, but when we arrived, we discovered that we could not get in that day - there was special service going on.......so, since we had some time to spare, we decided to explore a bit, so

... we wandered to a pedestrian bridge which crossed the Thames River.

This is the view from the bridge...

.... and this is the Tower Bridge further up the river!  Too soon it was time to get back to the bus!

If You Guessed....

.... that we went to the UK.....

........ then you are absolutely correct!  Our friends (and landlords) from Florida actually live in the UK and had been suggesting that we visit the UK for quite a long time.  We finally decided we should do just that.... to see their country which is also where Poppa was born.  He came to Canada when he was six months old and has never been back!  So, finally after a lot of years, we decided we should do just that!  We left Canada on August 29th at 6:35pm and arrived at London Heathrow airport August 30th at 6:35am - an 8 hour flight, but because of the change in time zones we got there a day after we left!  I like to say "we left today and got there tomorrow!"

We were a day early for our tour to begin, so we took a tour to Buckingham Palace.  The actual palace was not open while we were there, but we did get to see the stables....

... look how clean!  I'm not sure any horses actually live in this part! There are a lot of....

......gorgeous carriages on display there.  This one is the carriage used for Queen Victoria's coronation.  If it appears that the gold is real - that's because it is!  No expenses spared for the royalty in that period of history.  It is really more beautiful than the picture can capture!

I think this is the newest mode of transport on display - it was also lovely - it would definitely be an impressive ride!

After the tour of the stables was finished, we walked around to the front of the palace.  There were a lot of people milling about as you can see.

There is a beautiful park behind these gates and each pillar represents a member of the British Empire.  The one on the right is for Canada!

The gardens are absolutely beautiful and extend all around the grounds in front of the palace.  I took a LOT of pictures and have tried to choose the highlights for you.  Incidentally, the carriage that you saw Poppa sitting on the the previous post was the only one visitors were allowed to touch!

This large statue stands in the center of the gardens and I had to get my own "Englishman" in the photo!

Here is my last shot of Buckingham Palace.  As you can see, it is quite large and very impressive - we were not disappointed! But....

...we were very tired after all the walking we did.  When we were finished at the palace we walked to Trafalgar Square to catch our tour bus back to the hotel and after a quick bite to eat, we went to bed!  Lots more to come!