Detailed Photo Review of Paris and London Trip in June 2019

[Bimmer09]

12 hours ago, deladane said:

 

Oh wow, you are leaving so soon!  I look forward to seeing your photos and reading your review since you will be doing some of the things we did not do during our trip.  I really couldn't get enough of the pubs in London... bars in San Jose just don't look that nice so it was a fun change of pace to visit such beautiful pubs.  Service was always fine, even considering how crowded it was, but we only stayed for one drink at each pub so perhaps we would have thought differently if we stayed longer?  Either way, I hope you find your perfect pint when you are there next week, and I wish you safe travels and a wonderful vacation! 

 

 Yes Dana, I am leaving on Thursday of this week.

Bars in NJ where I came ashore back in 1986 were single story buildings with no exterior decor and were very dark inside and had TVs showing football (November) . Those British pubs vie for business with their name, their exterior and interior look and since I lived there-their food offerings. Bangers mash and beans was pretty much the cuisine when I frequented those pubs 33 years ago. 17 years ago when I was last in N Ireland my sister took me to local pubs with really good food with a wide variety of options so I know that the pubs have woken up there.

In N Ireland  people can spend the whole day in the pub. They are totally wasted by the time comes to go home of course.

I can't follow in all of your footsteps-you guys pack so much energy into a day whereas I, given my druthers, would sit at a cafe with a drink and a pack of cigarettes and be happy to watch the world go by. Carol booked us for the Churchill War Rooms as we are both big Churchill fans-she from the tv series starring John Lithgoe and me from reading his book The Second World War so many years ago. She booked the Mamet play in the West End whereas I would have sat on a bench staring at the Thames for 2 hours. We love Mamet's work and I like the idea of visiting an English theater. We can't do it all in a couple of days. I lived in London from 1970 to 72 and from 1974 to 1986 and  saw a lot of the sights and enjoyed the Museums  etc but that city's treasures are so vast that it's hard to see them all and definitely not in a short space of time.

 Living there I drove over Tower Bridge many times and passed Buckingham Palace etc but they were just things I passed by on my way to somewhere else. I never took pictures or delved into the history. It was just the city I was living and working in.

 

Now I am excited to be seeing it again , after 25 years when I lasted visited it for a day and credit goes to you and your husband for activating my anticipation.

 

Norris

[deladane]

15 hours ago, Walt fan said:

Work and life got me sideways but I am back and eagerly following along!  Your days in London are stuffed full.  So enjoying all of the pics; you should write a travel book.

 

Welcome back!  It's funny... we don't set out to stuff so much into a day, it just always seems to happen like that.  When I was planning the trip, I only put 2 or 3 things on the agenda for each day, but in the moment, we're always saying "okay, so what should we do next?" and then we add in other things to fill the rest of the day.  On Thursday, the only things on the agenda (besides taking the Eurostar from Paris) were the 1 hour river cruise, visiting DH's coworkers (which was only going to be for a few minutes because they were busy with meetings and such), and the nighttime walking tour.  That left a whole lot of downtime to fill and somehow we ended up doing and seeing a ton of other things in between the planned activities.  I guess that's just how we roll! 

[deladane]

9 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

 Yes Dana, I am leaving on Thursday of this week.

Bars in NJ where I came ashore back in 1986 were single story buildings with no exterior decor and were very dark inside and had TVs showing football (November) . Those British pubs vie for business with their name, their exterior and interior look and since I lived there-their food offerings. Bangers mash and beans was pretty much the cuisine when I frequented those pubs 33 years ago. 17 years ago when I was last in N Ireland my sister took me to local pubs with really good food with a wide variety of options so I know that the pubs have woken up there.

In N Ireland  people can spend the whole day in the pub. They are totally wasted by the time comes to go home of course.

I can't follow in all of your footsteps-you guys pack so much energy into a day whereas I, given my druthers, would sit at a cafe with a drink and a pack of cigarettes and be happy to watch the world go by. Carol booked us for the Churchill War Rooms as we are both big Churchill fans-she from the tv series starring John Lithgoe and me from reading his book The Second World War so many years ago. She booked the Mamet play in the West End whereas I would have sat on a bench staring at the Thames for 2 hours. We love Mamet's work and I like the idea of visiting an English theater. We can't do it all in a couple of days. I lived in London from 1970 to 72 and from 1974 to 1986 and  saw a lot of the sights and enjoyed the Museums  etc but that city's treasures are so vast that it's hard to see them all and definitely not in a short space of time.

 Living there I drove over Tower Bridge many times and passed Buckingham Palace etc but they were just things I passed by on my way to somewhere else. I never took pictures or delved into the history. It was just the city I was living and working in.

 

Now I am excited to be seeing it again , after 25 years when I lasted visited it for a day and credit goes to you and your husband for activating my anticipation.

 

Norris

 

I totally understand what you are saying about living in a major city and ignoring all of the tourist and historical attractions because they are just other buildings you pass on your way to work.  Living in Manhattan, I had to force myself to "play tourist" every so often so I could take advantage of all the things the city had to offer.  But to this day, I have never been to the Statue of Liberty (aside from viewing it in the distance from land or the Staten Island Ferry!)

[deladane]

So, do you remember how hot it was when we were in Paris?  The high temperatures so far in London were in the mid-70’s so it had been warm but relatively pleasant… that is, until today!  Today’s high temperature was 87 degrees!  It was a brutally hot day for London standards and we needed an indoor activity to fill some time in the afternoon.  We decided to walk over to the British Museum in hopes that it was air conditioned.  We considered taking the Tube, but there was no direct line from Westminster to the British Museum, and it was only a mile and a half to walk there so we decided to take a leisurely walk and see some new parts of the city on the way. 

 

As we approached the Horse Guards Parade, there was a bit crowd outside so we crossed the street to see what was happening.

 

 

We couldn’t resist another touristy photo with one of the Guards.

 

 

 

Apparently our timing was perfect because they were about to start the changing of the guards ceremony!  We actually already had a tour booked to see this tomorrow morning, and we assumed that guide would explain everything that was happening, so today we just watched for a few minutes.

 

 

 

Out on the other side, there was a large crowd gathered so we stood behind them to see what we could over their heads.

 

 

 

It’s always fun when you come across something unexpected like that (although I suppose this ceremony happens on a schedule so we could have planned to be there intentionally haha).

 

[deladane]

Continuing on with our walk, we wandered up a side street to see this pub with a Sherlock Holmes theme.  It was a little too early in the day to grab a pint or we may have gone inside, but we just settled for a photo of the pretty exterior!

 

 

It was getting warmer and warmer by the minute, so we picked up a quick take away sandwich for lunch and walked the rest of the way to the British Museum.  When we arrived, we went through a security tent on the outside of the building, then continued up the front steps to enter the museum.

 

 

Just like I did for the Louvre, I made a map while we were still at home to locate some of the most significant works in the British Museum.  First up on that map was the Rosetta Stone, a stone slab inscribed in 196 BC with 3 languages used to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.  Understandably, it was housed in a glass case, but that made it really hard to take a good photo of it.  There were probably 100 people crowded all around the case so we waited until some people left to get a little closer to look at the details of the inscriptions.

 

 

I have no idea what this says, but it’s incredible that you can still clearly see each character over 2200 years after it was etched.

 

 

 

[deladane]

We kept walking through a few smaller rooms until we got to a large open room at the far side of the museum to see the sculptures of the Parthenon.  It was kind of funny for me to see these items here in London because I have visited the Acropolis in Athens, but I certainly couldn’t get this close to the stone sculptures when they were mounted on the top of the Acropolis! 

 

 

Up next, we went towards the back of the museum to see Hoa Hakananai’a, better known as the Easter Island statue.  It is definitely on my bucket list to visit Easter Island and see these statues in person, but who knows if or when that will ever happen, so for now, I was excited to see this statue in the museum.

 

 

I never realized these statues have engravings on their backside too!

 

 

Next, we went upstairs to see a few other key things that I did not take photos of, and finally, the Mummy of Katebet.  This exhibit actually had several mummies on display, and there was an interesting explanation of the mummification process hanging on one of the walls.

 

 

Within seconds of entering the museum, it was obvious that we weren’t the only ones who wanted to stay cool with an indoor activity today.  It was very crowded and that made it hard to really enjoy our time here at a leisurely pace.  We found ourselves just wanting to quickly see each of the things on my list so we could get out of the museum and away from all the people!  We spent about an hour here, then decided we’d had enough and were ready to move on.  The British Museum is filled with hundreds of artifacts and fascinating pieces of history.  I loved that it wasn’t an art museum filled with endless walls of paintings, and I think it deserves more than an hour of our time so I look forward to visiting here again if I ever return to London.

 

Before we left, we caught a great view overlooking the Great Court…

 

 

[geoherb]

Still loving your review. I haven't toured Parliament, but I got to sit in the visitors' gallery of the House of Commons a few decades ago. That was very interesting. 

I was trying to figure out the rally from your photos. I saw the guy holding the "YMRA" flag and thought that may be a clue. Turns out it's really just a one-sided "ARMY" flag that bleeds through in reverse.

[deladane]

13 hours ago, geoherb said:

Still loving your review. I haven't toured Parliament, but I got to sit in the visitors' gallery of the House of Commons a few decades ago. That was very interesting. 

I was trying to figure out the rally from your photos. I saw the guy holding the "YMRA" flag and thought that may be a clue. Turns out it's really just a one-sided "ARMY" flag that bleeds through in reverse.

 

I think the rally had something to do with a veteran being held prisoner when he shouldn't be, or maybe the government wasn't treating him well despite him being a veteran?  Something like that but I can't remember the details.  

[deladane]

We left the museum around 2pm and wow was it hot outside!  We were less than a mile from our hotel, so we started walking in that direction.  We had a few more hours before dinner but we were getting hungry, so we stopped into a Caffe Nero for our own version of afternoon tea.  They had amazingly cold air conditioning and comfy couches near the windows in the front so we plopped down to enjoy our snack and some people watching.

 

 

Eventually, we knew it was time to move along, so we walked the rest of the way back to our hotel to get changed for the evening.  Remember those unlimited ride passes we had for the City Cruises Thames River sightseeing boat?  Well they were due to expire at the end of the day today and we had only used them that one initial time.  We had plenty of time before our dinner reservations, so on a whim, we decided to go down to Tower Pier and ride the boat back in the opposite direction from how we did it last time.  We had to hustle a little bit, but we made it to Tower Pier just in time for the 3:15pm boat.  It was super hot outside and we were dressed nicely for our evening plans, so opted to sit inside on the lower level.  As I suspected on Thursday, it was basically impossible to take a good photo down here.  We sat on the starboard side of the boat, so any photos of the port side were obstructed by other people and the frame around the windows, and all the photos I tried to take out our windows had a glare.  I gave up on photos pretty quickly and we just enjoyed the ride as much as we could.  The commentary was exactly verbatim what we heard on Thursday, even though the speaker was a different person.  Oh well, at least it was free!

 

I was hoping there would be air conditioning downstairs, but no such luck.  The glass windows created a greenhouse effect, so it was very hot down there.  We tried using our USB-powered fans, but after about 15 minutes, they both overheated and stopped working!  I didn’t even think that was possible! Haha  Notice how you can see the 2 blades on my fan?  That’s because it was barely spinning at this point.

 

 

[deladane]

The boat docked at Westminster Pier around 4pm, and our dinner reservations were about a mile away at 5:15pm.  It was too early to go to dinner, so we kept our eyes open for a fun pub to get a quick drink.  Right around the corner from Westminster Pier, we found The Red Lion Pub.  That was easy!

 

 

This pub has a really interesting history, which was explained on this plaque next to the bar.

 

 

It was fairly busy here given it was a Saturday afternoon, but we saw a couple getting ready to leave so I waited for their table as DH got us a few drinks from the bar… no surprise that it was a cider for me and a beer for DH!  We really enjoyed the pub vibe throughout London.  It was usually very clean, the décor was charming, the staff was friendly, and they usually had a good selection on the taps.  Yet another reason that we loved London!

 

Back to the planning phase for a moment… When we bought our tickets for Les Mis, our confirmation instructed us to pick up the tickets at will call between 5:30pm and 7pm on the night of the show.  The show started at 7:30pm, so if we went at 5:30pm, that would make for a rushed dinner to get back to the theater in time to use the restrooms and get to our seats all the way upstairs.  Instead, we decided to go to dinner first and make sure to get to the theater before 7pm when the box office closed.  I wanted to find somewhere that took reservations so we wouldn’t need to worry about a long wait for a table, and I also wanted to find somewhere with a good pre-theater price fixe menu.  I looked on Open Table at all of the restaurants within walking distance of the Queens Theater, and we narrowed down the menus until we found the one we liked best.  That led us to Estiatorio Milos, a Greek restaurant that focused on imported Greek fish.  They offered a 2-course price fixe for £20 or 3-courses for £24, and all of the options looked really good.  We made our reservation for 5:15pm to give us an hour and a half to eat, and then 15 minutes to walk to the theater.

 

Milos was located in a beautiful stone building, right near the statue to the Duke of York.

 

 

[deladane]

We were seated immediately at a table along the windows at the front of the restaurant, conveniently located right next to an air conditioning vent!!  I was in heaven and I hadn’t even tasted a bite of food haha  The restaurant has a modern elegant atmosphere with floor to ceiling windows, white tablecloths and funky globe-shaped lighting fixtures.

 

 

This restaurant specializes in Greek fish, and they had this huge display in the back next to the kitchen with all sorts of fresh fish on ice.

 

 

I loved the look of this huge wine cellar on the lower level of the restaurant (I only found it because it was next to the restrooms haha)

 

 

We looked at the menu and did something we rarely do… we both ordered the exact same thing!

 

 

For our starters, we got the Poikilia, which was a sampler platter of several spreads including tzatziki, hummus, tarama (the consistency of hummus but made with fish roe instead of chick peas), and tyropitaki (similar to spanikopita), all served with fresh warm pita bread and raw vegetables to dip into the dips.

 

 

We weren’t expecting such a large portion size!  Had we known, we would have had one of us order the starter and main course and shared this starter, and the other would have ordered a main and a dessert to share.  Everything was delicious and we agreed it was a shame that we couldn’t take any of it home in a doggy bag because we couldn’t finish it all and still leave room for our main course.

 

For our main course, we both ordered the grilled lamb chops, served with Greek fried potatoes.

 

 

We were pleasantly impressed with Milos.  The service was excellent, the food was very tasty, the ambiance was classy, and the price was right! 

 

[deladane]

After dinner, we walked over to the Queens Theater to pick up our tickets. 

 

 

 

When we see the traveling Broadway shows in San Jose, they have signs just like this in the lobby for each show so we always take a photo with it.  It was fun to see a similar sign here in London and we knew we needed to take our usual photo!

 

 

It was a little annoying that we had to arrive at the theater by 7pm because they didn’t start letting people go up to their seats until 7:15pm.  When they did let us in, we went up to the third level to find our seats. 

 

 

I always enjoy when the stage exposes the pit below it and you can see the musicians, as a reminder that this is live music and not a pre-recording.

 

 

 

In those photos, you can see that there was a velvet padded arm rest along the top of the safety railing.  Yes, we did have to lean forward to see the stage, but at least it was soft and padded and relatively comfortable.  We actually could get away with leaning back in our seats when the actors were upstage, but we definitely had to lean forwards when they moved all the way downstage near the pit.  The leaning forward wasn’t as big a deal as I expected it to be, but unfortunately, the lighting rig that was mounted directly below our seats gave off A LOT of heat.  Perhaps, had we seen the show on a day that didn’t reach a high of 87 degrees, then we wouldn’t have noticed the heat from the lights.  We were not that lucky, and we could definitely feel the heat.  In fact, I could feel the difference between when the scene was darker and the lights were turned off versus when the lights were on.  I know the theater was due to be renovated a few weeks after we were there, so I hope they did something to change the location of that lighting rig!

 

Despite all of that, the show was phenomenal!  It was everything I wanted a musical on the West End to be, and more!  The actor who played Jean Valjean stole the show, but really everyone was excellent and the level of talent was quite impressive.  It was an experience we will never forget!

 

Fitbit Daily Summary… Steps: 22,898,  Miles: 9.8,  Flights of Stairs: 26 

[Bimmer09]

8 hours ago, deladane said:

We were seated immediately at a table along the windows at the front of the restaurant, conveniently located right next to an air conditioning vent!!  I was in heaven and I hadn’t even tasted a bite of food haha  The restaurant has a modern elegant atmosphere with floor to ceiling windows, white tablecloths and funky globe-shaped lighting fixtures.

 

 

This restaurant specializes in Greek fish, and they had this huge display in the back next to the kitchen with all sorts of fresh fish on ice.

 

 

I loved the look of this huge wine cellar on the lower level of the restaurant (I only found it because it was next to the restrooms haha)

 

 

We looked at the menu and did something we rarely do… we both ordered the exact same thing!

 

 

For our starters, we got the Poikilia, which was a sampler platter of several spreads including tzatziki, hummus, tarama (the consistency of hummus but made with fish roe instead of chick peas), and tyropitaki (similar to spanikopita), all served with fresh warm pita bread and raw vegetables to dip into the dips.

 

 

We weren’t expecting such a large portion size!  Had we known, we would have had one of us order the starter and main course and shared this starter, and the other would have ordered a main and a dessert to share.  Everything was delicious and we agreed it was a shame that we couldn’t take any of it home in a doggy bag because we couldn’t finish it all and still leave room for our main course.

 

For our main course, we both ordered the grilled lamb chops, served with Greek fried potatoes.

 

 

We were pleasantly impressed with Milos.  The service was excellent, the food was very tasty, the ambiance was classy, and the price was right! 

 

Dana, as a lover of Greek food these are some delectable looking plates in a nice looking restaurant and you didn't pay a King's ransom so kudos on taking a chance on Milos. We still haven't picked places to eat apart from that Fish and Chip shop. I am lobbying for the restaurant in our hotel (Royal Horseguards hotel) as I like to be near a bed after a heavy meal with wine. I also wanted to eat in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant but that's a major spend and it's only one meal to stop the stomach caving in-we have been known to go 13 hours without eating a morsel on holiday.

Our hotel also has a garden with outdoor dining that will be the setting for my first Guinness and cigarette after check-in.

 

Carol has heard me raving about the little British bakeries with hot sausage rolls and Cornish pasties etc. I want some of those. I just reminded Carol we only have two more nights of sleeping in Chicago....she said "yikes!"

 

Fantastic review of an amazing vacation!

Norris

[toseaornottosea]

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

We were pleasantly impressed with Milos.  The service was excellent, the food was very tasty, the ambiance was classy, and the price was right! 

We have eaten in Milos in Athens, New York City and in Montreal and have never been disappointed.  

[cairns local]

Dana, you are doing a fantastic job of getting everyone's feet itchy.  Can I please ask you about your experience booking the sky garden free tickets?  On your recommendation, I am trying to book for the late afternoon on the day we fly in, but all days so far only show 15min intervals up to 2.45pm.  How did it work for you?  Thanks.

[deladane]

12 hours ago, toseaornottosea said:

We have eaten in Milos in Athens, New York City and in Montreal and have never been disappointed.  

 

OMG! I had no idea that Milos has other locations!  I will have to look into eating there in other cities too!!

[deladane]

12 hours ago, cairns local said:

Dana, you are doing a fantastic job of getting everyone's feet itchy.  Can I please ask you about your experience booking the sky garden free tickets?  On your recommendation, I am trying to book for the late afternoon on the day we fly in, but all days so far only show 15min intervals up to 2.45pm.  How did it work for you?  Thanks.

 

Thank you!  The timing for Sky Garden is a bit peculiar.  The times vary every day and I haven't noticed any consistency... some days they do seem to close early so maybe they have a private event that day?  Is your trip in the next 3 weeks?  If so, then I don't think they will release any more times besides what is available (and you should book your time slot ASAP before it sells out!).  Another option is to go in the evening... I think the bar opens bookings around 6pm.  That is still free and does not require you to purchase any drinks if you don't want to, but there is a dress code and possibly an age restriction (I'm not sure if you are bringing kids, but you should probably double check the age restrictions if you are).

[deladane]

 

Sunday, June 30, 2019 ~ Changing of the Guards Walking Tour, MLB London Series Game, Sky Garden at night

 

One of the things we definitely wanted to see in London was the changing of the guards.  When I started to research the logistics, tons of websites and guide books recommended arriving at Buckingham Palace several hours in advance for the hopes at finding a good spot to stand, but you would only have a view of a small portion of the ceremony and it sounded exhausting and boring to stand around in one spot for all that time for very little reward.  I came across a tour through Fun London Tours where they guide you around London to be at the right spot at the right time to see the various parts of the changing of the guards ceremony.  Here is the tour description from their website:

 

“This is the London walking tour which will ensure you are in the best position possible to see the extraordinary Changing the Guard ceremony while avoiding the crowds at the gates of Buckingham Palace. Rather than standing still for hours, we see various stages of the ceremony, including the inspection, Old Guard, New Guard, Palaces, and even march alongside the Guards and Ceremonial Bands!

 

Our tour guides have the experience, knowledge and humour to make sure you leave with an enviable set of pictures, an insight into what is going on, an anecdote or two, and most importantly, a memory which will last forever.

 

We are endorsed by www.changing-guard.com and so have the backing of the most knowledgeable people out there.  Sadly, a great number of people go to see this world famous ceremony and leave disappointed. They stand at the gates of Buckingham Palace and wait uncomfortably for the action to happen, but are unaware that they have missed the majority of the pomp, ceremony, music and marching that takes place elsewhere. And that is why a Fun London Guide is invaluable in getting you around.

 

If you like a fast paced tour, with plenty of action, excitement and fun, come on this walk. In order to stay ahead of the crowds we do have to move quickly at times – at one point we will even be marching alongside the band! We will also encounter at least one flight of steps so unfortunately it is the only one of our tours which is not suitable for people with walking difficulties.

 

Please note we will not stand near the gates of Buckingham Palace on this tour. It is unfortunately impractical to take a group there and wait for two or more hours packed in like sardines in a can, but we can guarantee the tour will be a far more enjoyable and informative experience!”

 

As it worked out, we were planning to go to Buckingham Palace to watch the ceremony on Sunday (it was the only morning we had free after booking our other tours!), so that meant we could take this tour on the day that also included the Change of the Lifeguard ceremony.  The tour cost £20 per person, which was a little pricey considering we usually take free tours, but we decided it was worth it to avoid wasting our very limited time and to ensure we would actually see part of the ceremony. 

 

My original plan was that we would go out to lunch after the tour, then go to Westminster Abbey for the 3pm Evensong Service.  Much like St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey charges a hefty admission fee if you want to go inside and tour the church.  The one way around this is to attend a service, which is free and open to the public.  I liked the idea of going to the 3pm Evensong Service because the service is only about an hour long and features talented choirs singing the prayers.  It gets wonderful reviews on Trip Advisor and seemed like a unique way to see the inside of this iconic church. 

 

That was our game plan until our full-day walking tour on Friday when DH learned about the MLB London Series baseball game.  He is a huge Yankees fan and he really wanted to go to one of the two games and see them play in London.  The first game was last night when we already had tickets for Les Mis, so he knew that if he was going to the game, it would have to be on Sunday.  I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of going to a baseball game instead of Westminster Abbey because we do see most of the Yankees games when they play the Giants or A’s in California, but we won’t have another opportunity to go inside Westminster Abbey.  After a lot of back and forth, DH decided to look online and if he could find tickets, we would go to the baseball game.  On Saturday night after we left Les Mis, DH went on the England Stub Hub site and he found 2 tickets for Sunday game!  So it was official, we were going to the Yankees vs. Red Sox game in London.  It’s a good thing we both had extra Yankess tshirts packed for the New York leg of our trip so we’d have something to wear to the game! Haha

 

[deladane]

We woke up bright and early on Sunday morning, had our usual breakfast downstairs at the hotel, then took the Tube to the Piccadilly Circus station.  When we exited the station, we saw a sight rarely seen by tourists… a completely deserted Piccadilly Circus!  It was 8:30am on a Sunday and there were only a handful of people walking around, most of whom turned out to be other people on our tour!

 

 

 

 

We were a little early so we sat on the steps of the fountain until 9am when a group of tour guides arrived.  Until then, we had noticed more and more people milling around the sidewalks, but we didn’t know if these people were all on our tour or if they just happened to be exploring Piccadilly Circus.  When the guides arrived, nearly 100 people all gathered together to check in for the tour!  Holy moly!  I thought we were only supposed to have a maximum of 25 people on the tour with us?!  It turned out that there were 4 guides and we would all be split up into smaller groups for the tour.  We were all going to be seeing the same things and we’d all be at the same places at the same time, but there would only be about 25 people listening to what each guide said.  That wasn’t exactly what I expected, so I was a bit skeptical at this point.  The lead guide called out each party individually and assigned them to one of the 4 guides.  We stood there waiting to hear our name, as we were watching the guides start introducing themselves to the people joining their group.  Finally, the lead guide called our name LAST out of all the people there!  My guess is she must have called us out in the reverse order of when we registered for the tour or something like that.  We were assigned to be with the guide named Jess, so we walked over to his group and kind of felt like we were intruding at that point because it had been about 15 minutes total since the first person’s name was called. 

 

One by one, each group left Piccadilly Circus to start the tour until we were the only group left.  Jess led us down Regent Street, and as soon as we passed Milo’s, I knew exactly where we were.  Sure enough, Jess stopped us near the Duke of York statue to tell us the same story and sing us the same song that we heard on our tour on Friday.  I guess that song is very popular with the tour guides in London because they don’t seem to mind a bit of humiliation as they sing it to us! 

 

As we walked across The Mall, we noticed it was closed to vehicular traffic.  Jess said they do that on certain Sundays so people can walk and ride their bikes.

 

 

We continued walking towards the Horse Guards Parade for the first ceremony of the tour.

 

 

[deladane]

You can see several groups of people around the ropes up ahead.  That was the other tour groups in our larger group since we were the last to arrive. 

 

 

Jess brought us over to an open section of the ropes and we lined up to wait for the horses to arrive.

 

 

A few minutes later, we saw the horses marching down the same path we had just walked, then they entered the middle of the ropes.  Jess explained that these were the new guards reporting for duty.

 

 

The horses marched around the perimeter and then lined up on the right side of the space.

 

 

 

And then they waited… and waited… and waited some more!

 

 

The old guards who had been on duty were supposed to come over this way, but for some reason, they were delayed.  Jess said this was EXTREMELY rare and he has never seen this happen before!  At some point, one of the guards went through the archway to see what was causing the hold up.

 

[deladane]

Finally, about 10 minutes late, the old guards marched out on their horses.

 

 

They lined up on the left side of the space, facing towards the new guards.

 

 

 

Once they were all lined up, Jess said we needed to move along to our next stop.  He said the guards would stay in this position and not move for about 20 minutes, so it’s not like we would be missing out on much by leaving early haha

 

 

Jess led us through a short cut through St. James’s Park.  Even though we had walked through this park already on our tour on Friday, we still appreciated seeing it again because the flowers looked lovely!

 

 

[Walt fan]

So glad you got to see a show in London!  I am learning so much through this blog/review.  A Changing of the Guard tour - I was so excited until I saw the 100 people show up.  Whew.  I guess 25 per group isn't so bad.  Eagerly waiting to see if this was the worth the cost.  

 

Our group of 5 seems to always get called last on tours.  Don't ask me why.  Our last name starts with F.  It is so strange, and yes, sometimes the guides have already started their spiel and everyone looks at you like why are you late.  I know the feeling.

 

So happy to be here and following along!

[deec]

We will be in Paris mid October for 5 days and London next June (length not determined yet) so I am copying and pasting !!!

[cairns local]

Thanks for the response about the Sky Garden.  I agree you should be doing a travel show or book.  You have a freaky knack of answering questions before they are even asked. Hehe.

[geoherb]

The Greek restaurant sounds great. It's a block from where I used to work on Pall Mall. I don't remember what was in the location back then. I usually took the Tube to Piccadilly Circus and walked the last couple of blocks. My favorite Greek restaurant back then is closed now. It was called Jimmy's.