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| Our Very Own Bobby |
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| The Queen's Welcoming Fence |
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The Queen's Garden
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| Leaving Buckingham Palace by the Back Door |
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| Bobbies at Buckingham Palace |
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| Canada Gates at Buckingham Palace |
Wow! What a day!! After lining up again - the tour of Buckingham Palace did not disappoint. Theheadset guided tour was really interesting - mixed feelings on the whole Royalty thing - such opulance and really for what, yet they do seem to have their place in the world and it just wouldn't be the same without them. We toured 12 state rooms and saw replicas of some of their Faberge collection and got to see Kate's Wedding Gown, shoes, earings, bouquet and wedding cake and some of the meaning behind the decorations, etc. Most of which revolved around traditional meanings of flowers, which I found quite interesting and thoughtful. We learned that the Queen finds a use for all the gifts given to her on her travels; 2 touched close to home - one was an inuit soapstone carving which is displayed in one of the staterooms and the other was a horse given to her by the RCMP which lived in her stables and for many years she rode at her birthday celebration. The tour finishes in their private garden where a small cafe had been set up and the boys quickly decided that it would only be right that we should have lunch in the garden of Buckingham Palace - and so we did :) From there we split up, Keeghan, Dave and Cael went to Westminster Abbey and Grannie, Poppa, Aidan and I came back to the hotel for some packing and R & R so we would be in good shape for the play. I haven't heard too much about the Abbey yet as we headed out to the play as soon as they got back - one thing that made an impression on Keeghan was a semi-precious stone tile floor in the upper alter which was over 600 years old. We hopped back on the tube and went to Picadilly Circus which was fun to see. Many people dressed up for the theatre and others just milling about in a bit of a Friday night party atmosphere. We had a great dinner at the Spaghetti House and headed to the play. Dave and I saw Phantom here 20 years ago and it was just as fabulous. It has been playing here for 25 years and still sells out most nights. Needless to say we all LOVED it. The audience around us got a kick out of Aidan who couldn't help but blurt out "I knew it was him" when the Phantom was revealed! Back to the tube and a quick journey home on the very hot Bakerloo line and when we arrive back at Paddington Station we were serenaded by a group of young men who managed to wobble up the escalator and through the exit, which was good for a laugh. Another great day - we will be sad to leave London in the morning.
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