My U.K. Adventure – Part Seven, London Pomp and Wanderings

My final day in London dawned somewhat sunny, which was a surprise to me since the Weather.com app claimed it was going to be full-on raining all day (I also learned on this trip that the app is less than reliable in England). I scrambled out of bed so I wouldn’t waste a minute more of the day.

I jumped on the Tube and found myself exiting with a crowd of people who were all heading in the same direction I was, towards Buckingham Palace. The Changing of the Guard ceremony isn’t a daily occurrence in non-summer months and I was determined to see it before I left the city. On the way from the Tube station, I walked through Green Park and it hit me that London has so much green space for such a large city. It was really pleasurable to walk amongst the trees and winding paths.

Popping out of the other side of the park, I could see the large gates of the Palace. And the crowds of people who had gotten there before me… I squeezed my way to a spot directly behind a mom and a stroller, thinking I would have good luck seeing over the head of a toddler (who seemed abnormally tall for someone riding in a stroller). You could hear the band coming down the Mall well before you could see them. I was surprised at how many guards were part of the ceremony. I’ve seen changing of the guards at other palaces in Europe; but this ceremony was the granddaddy of them all in terms of pomp and circumstance.

The contingent of the guards and band marched past where I was standing and then inside the gates. Everyone rushed to the other side to watch. Being a short woman in a sea of much taller people meant that I wasn’t able to really see what was happening – that is, until I realized that all of those people with selfie sticks recording the ceremony gave me a view of the activity that I would never be able to see standing on my tiptoes. So, it was a little weird, watching the phone and camera screens to take in what was happening only a few yards away from me in person.

There was random shouting, marching, salutes, and then the band started playing a medley of Elton John hits. That last bit was unexpected, to say the least. I kept watching the windows of the Palace to see if any curtains would be twitching. And I thought of how odd it would be to have hundreds of people show up outside your door to watch your bodyguards change shifts. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the spectacle because I did, but having your house be a major tourist attraction has got to get old every once in a while. I’m sure the Queen can’t roam around her house in her pajamas and go get a snack from the kitchen in the middle of the night… and that seems kinda sad to think she can’t even get super comfortable in her own home.

The whole ceremony lasted about 45 minutes. When it was all done, I loitered around a bit, taking photos before walking down the Mall. For whatever reason, I wanted to go see Piccadilly Circus and so headed that way. However, once I was there, I was nonplussed. It’s not like Times Square in NYC, way too less flashy neon and looked like a pedestrian death trap trying to cross the street. I shrugged my shoulders and turned down Piccadilly Street, back towards Green Park. On the way, I ducked into St. James Piccadilly church. There was a lunchtime concert starting in a few minutes and I decided to stick around to see it. It was male/female duo of opera singers accompanied by a pianist. The acoustics in the church were amazing and an hour later, I found myself back on Piccadilly Street refreshed and ready to continue.

Then, I just…wandered. I wandered through Green Park again on the winding paths in the interior of the park. I found myself at the entrance of Hyde Park and wandered through there as well. For a few hours, I just ambled along, stopping to see the various statuary, the flowers, the swans. It was so relaxing and so surreal that right in the middle of a metropolis, you could find yourself in nature like that. I contemplated the rushing water of the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and decided to keep walking all the way to her former home, Kensington Palace.

Entering into city life again on Kensington High Street, I found myself in front of the Prince Albert Memorial, right across the street from the Royal Albert Hall. My legs were tired, although it was mostly my feet aching. Thankfully the scar wasn’t giving me any issues. But I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to try walking all the way back to my hotel, and it was nice out so I didn’t want to take the Tube. Sitting on the steps of the Albert Memorial, I was staring into space when I realized that there were a hell of a lot of double-decker buses going down the street, and one of my travel goals for London was to actually ride in one of those on the upper deck, front seat.

And wouldn’t you know, there was a bus stop for a route that ended right at Kings Cross practically right in front of where I was sitting. I hopped on the next bus, dismayed to find the upper front seats were already occupied. But after a few stops, one of the people in the front got off the bus and I scampered up to that seat before anyone else could grab it. And then enjoyed a journey through Knightsbridge, catching a glimpse of the Marble Arch before rolling down Oxford Street and seeing a ton of people out shopping; then heading north towards Euston and then finally Kings Cross.

I wasn’t quite ready to go back to my hotel, trying to squeeze out every minute of my last day in town. I decided to walk around the streets of Pentonville, through Clerkenwell, and then back down to my “neighborhood”. It occurred to me that I should take myself somewhere nice for dinner to celebrate my time in London; so I made it a point to stop at every pub and restaurant to check out the menus for dinner. And after I went back to the hotel to freshen up, I took myself out for a very nice celebratory dinner, complete with a very full glass of wine to cheers an amazing week in England…

But the best part was, I still had another part of my U.K. adventure on deck!