Friday, September 15 - Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace

“I had a pleasant walk in Kensington Gardens on Sunday [where] everything was fresh and beautiful,” -Jane Austen in a letter to her sister Cassandra, April 1811

Breakfast was at The Tower Hotel again. Mom had an omelet made for her, and I reminded myself what muesli tastes like. They even have almond milk here, so coolio. 

10:00 am We rode with Uber driver Eduardo from Moldova twenty-five min. to Buckingham Palace (Victoria Memorial)

11:00 - 12:00 Changing of the Guard

11:00-11:15 “New Guard” gathers for inspection at Wellington Barracks

11:00 Horse Guard changing of the guard at Horse Guards Parade (opposite end of St. James’s Park)

11:15-11:30 Tired St. James’s Palace guards and Horse Guard both head for the palace down the Mall

11:15-11:30 Fresh replacement troops head from Wellington Barracks to Buckingham Palace down Spur Road

11:30-11:45 All guards gradually converge around Victoria Monument in front of the palace

11:45-12:00 The Changing of the Guard ceremony inside fenced courtyard of palace

12:00-12:10 Fresh guards head for St. James’s Palace up Spur Road

12:15 Smaller changing of the guard ceremony in front of St. James’s Palace

Despite the zillions of people,  we had a great view of much of the ceremony.  We both love all the pomp and circumstance of British events! Bagpipes and horses were unexpected highlights.  We enjoyed talking with visitors from Japan and Canada. 

Mom's cane seat really comes in handy sometimes. 

All those matching black horses 😍

Queen Victoria Memorial 

We took an Uber with Umer from Surrey to Kensington Palace.

Queen Victoria was born here in 1819, and it was here that Victoria learnt in 1837 that her uncle had died and she was now Queen. All three floors of the palace are accessible via lift.

"The apartment...could not have been more comfortable...calm, close to the town but...with the view over the most magnificent park with a beautiful bit of water." -The Duke of Kent, on the day of Victoria's birth at Kensington Palace

1:00 We showed our tickets and borrowed a wheelchair to tour the palace. Mom was in awe that she was in the very rooms where young Victoria grew up.  We read every plaque and sign and learned more than we already knew about this wonderful queen. 

Glass doors in the lift

Victoria's dolls 

Victoria was born in this very room, which was the dining room.
They took the furniture out and  moved beds in so that the birth
could happen above the kitchens where they had easy to access hot water!

Jewels that Albert had made for Victoria, and
a crown he had made later to match.
Pictures don't do these beauties justice.

Lunch at Kensington Café was sandwiches and a chocolate muffin.  The rooms in the palace were hot and stuffy, and I drank so much water and a soda with lunch.

Back in the palace, we viewed the "Crown to Couture" exhibit, where we saw a few Georgian outfits and several modern Met Gala gowns and suits - mostly very weird. My favorite was Blake Lively's dress that she wore recently. If you haven't seen it, look at the Blake Lively dress transformation and you'll see why it's so well-known.  LINK to YouTube of Blake Lively

We weren't allowed to take the wheelchair outside, so I took a walk around the Princess Diana Memorial Garden while Mom waited and killed another round of Wordscapes.

Diana with her sons and her niece

One of the lakes in Hyde Park

Victoria again. Boy, did they love this Queen.

In front of Kensington Palace

Mom wanted to try to find Sandals that didn't hurt her toe, so we walked to Marks & Spencer and H&M but didn't have any luck.  Mohamed from Egypt drove us home to Tower Hotel and didn't draw breath for an entire hour.  Between his thick accent and the unfamiliar things he was talking about, we were exhausted from trying so hard to listen. We now know how much he hates the English people, how Egyptians were the first to believe in Jesus, and that he really wants to move to Texas with the Americans. 

I walked around St Katherine Docks to an awesome grocery store called Waitrose and Partners where I finally found HOBNOBS. I also got us some Gouda, crackers, and grapes. Mom had brought some of her brew from home (Postum, Pero, & Nestle Quick), and we dipped the Hobnobs into the brew and about died from the bliss.

Sad to say goodbye to our last night view of Tower Bridge. 💙

Buckingham Palace to Kensington Palace