London Trip - Day Seven

Today (Wednesday, June 26th) was our last day in London.  We had planned on going several places with our London Pass, but it expired the day before. Whoops!  Apparently the Shakespeare Globe Theater is really interesting. We just ended up seeing the outside.

To be honest, I wasn't really sad we didn't get to tour the Globe Theater.  Matt was though. I wanted to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace and if we toured the Globe we would miss this event.  It all worked out because Matt and I had a good time seeing this take place.

The crowds outside the palace.  We stayed across the street and saw the event from afar. There was no way we would have ever gotten close to the gates at this particular moment.

First, the marching band went by and they were followed by guards on horses.  From there, they go into the gates of the Palace and who knows exactly what they do.

I had seen advertisements around the city for In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion that was in The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace.  I asked Matt if we could go to the exhibition and he said he was willing. I knew it probably wouldn't be something he would enjoy that much.  The exhibition displayed paintings and even has some authentic clothing illustrating the costumes that the Royals wore during the 16th and 17th centuries.  During this time fashion was very important to court life and was an important way to show wealth.  I was disappointed it was mainly portraits, but I learned that clothing that old really had no way of surviving and I had had no idea.  I was under the impression that it would have survived as everything else has, but it makes perfect sense!

If you haven't figured it out already I'm rather intrigued with the Tudor dynasty.  The bust below is that of a young Henry who later became King Henry the VIII.  The portrait beneath is one of most recognizable portraits of the King.  I was giddy that I got to see the real deal. I had seen them in books, but now I saw them in real life.  How cool is that?

Queen Mary I - daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

Queen Elizabeth I - daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.  She is considered one of the greatest monarchs in British history and her reign was called "The Golden Age."  

After viewing the exhibition, we went back to our hotel and had Afternoon Tea.  It was so good!

The remainder of the afternoon we just took a walk around London.  We stumbled across The Goring Hotel where Kate Middleton stayed her last night as a commoner before marrying Prince William.

Matt and I had a wonderful time while we were in London. The weather was great and it seeing all the historical places was fascinating. I would definitely go back some day, but take the girls with us.  This was the best birthday present ever!

London Trip - Day Six

This morning we woke up bright and early to be able to see at the sites on our itinerary.  Our first stop was the Tower of London. I was really looking forward to coming here because this is the site where many common and famous prisoners were tortured or beheaded (yes, I know that sounds morbid) and it is the home of the Crown Jewels.

The Tower of London was founded in 1066 as part of the Norman conquest of England.  Over the centuries, it has grown to the size it is today.  In 1078, William the Conqueror began having the White Tower created.

In the middle of this picture you can see a gray line (so to speak) that is flush with the grass. This is the remainder of an original wall that the Romans built when they conquered this area thousands of years ago.

 Throughout the centuries the palace has served as a Royal residence, an armory, a treasury, home of the Royal Mint, a prison and home to the Crown Jewels.  The castle was mainly used as a prison during the 16th and 17th centuries for those who had fallen into disgrace with the King.  One interesting thing I learned was only eight people were actually executed within the Tower walls. Most people were executed on Tower Hill which is north of the castle.  When traitors were brought to the Tower they came through this gate called Traitor's Gate.  The waterway on the other side of the gate is the River Thames.

This building is called the Waterloo Barracks and it holds the Crown Jewels.  There are 23,578 gems in the priceless Crown Jewels!

These buildings were built during the Tudor era and look quite odd among the rest of the stone structures that make of the Tower of London.  In front of the housing is an area called the Tower Green.  This is where it is believed most of the beheadings took place.  However, research has proven that the most famous beheading, that of Anne Boleyn, took place in front of Waterloo Barracks.

This is the Chapel Royal of St. Peter and Vincula.  Unfortunately, we were not able to go into the chapel.  The two wives of King Henry VIII's who were beheaded are buried here - Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Other people buried here are Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher; both who refused to state that King Henry VIII was head of the Church of England.

Our next stop was Tower Bridge.  Many people, including myself, believe that this is THE London Bridge.  It is not.  Tower Bridge was commissioned by Queen Victoria and took eight years to build.  It was completed in 1894.

Our last stop for the day was St. Paul's Cathedral.  It got its name because of its dedication to the Apostle Paul when the original church was founded on this site in the year 604.  The current building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the late 1600's. We were able to climb up the rotunda and see some breathtaking views of the city.

This cathedral has held many important services over the centuries. The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spenser was held here because it has more seating than Westminster Abbey.  The church has also held the funerals of Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.  Most recently, it held the thanksgiving service for the Diamone Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

After seeing St. Paul's we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go see the play One Man, Two Guvnors.  It was quite humorous. On the way to the play, we walked through Trafalgar Square and saw the National Gallery.

London Trip - Day Five

We started our day (Monday, June 24th) touring Kensington Palace.  This palace is most widely known as being the Royal residence of the late Princess Diana and now the future home of the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge - William and Kate.

I didn't and still don't think the palace looks very palace-y.  It just looks like a huge mansion.  The palace has been home to various members of the Royal family since the late 1600s. The palace is made up of two parts; the state apartments which we visited and the apartments that are home to various members of the Royal family.

We were able to learn many interesting facts while going on several tours.  First we visited the state apartments that belonged to both Queen Mary II and Queen Anne who was the last member of the Stueart dynasty.  The saddest thing was learning that Queen Anne had seventeen children and she passed away without any surviving heirs, thus making her the last monarch of the House of Stuart.

Another our we took was called "Victoria Revealed."  It provided detailed information about both the public and private life of Britian's longest reigning monarch.  The dress pictured below is the actual black dress Queen Victoria wore during her first Privy Council meeting on June 20, 1837.  The black ink has faded and know looks light brown.

Here is the actual wedding dress that Queen Victoria wore when she married Prince Albert.  A bit of trivia - she was the first member of the Royal family to wear a white wedding dress.

After grabbing some lunch at Marks and Spencer, we took the tube to tour Westminster Abbey.  The church is absolutely beautiful inside and out.  One of the most fascinating things to me is this Abbey has more than a thousand years of history.  It has been the coronation church since 1066 when King Harold and William the Conqueror were crowded.  The construction of the Abbey that stands today began in 1245 by King Henry III.

Unfortunately no photography is allowed inside.  I know this sounds really corny, but while I was walking through the nave to the alter I kept thinking "wow, I think I would have passed out if I was Kate Middleton walking down this LONG aisle with tons of people staring at me!"

The north entrance of Westminster Abbey.

Directly behind Westminster Abbey is the Palace of Westminster or as it is more commonly known Houses of Parliament.  Neither Matt or I could get over the intricate detail of the architecture.

We all recognize this as Big Ben, but it is actually called the Elizabeth Tower.  The hands on the clock are fourteen feet long.

London Trip - Days Three and Four

The only item on our agenda today (Saturday, June 22nd) was to visit Hampton Court Palace. It was originally built for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a favorite of  King Henry VIII, around 1514.  In 1529, Wolsey fell from favor when he was unable to convince the Pope to grant Henry an annulment from Catherine of Aragon.  When this occurred the King took the palace back and enlarged it.  I was very excited to come and see and walk through the actual places where such historical figures lived and breathed: Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymore, and many more.  (I watched "The Tudors," to learn more about Henry and also read biographies of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn - both books were quite interesting).

Walking through Fish Court on the way to the view the various kitchens and wine cellar. They  are the most extensive surviving 16th-century kitchens in Europe today.

We have a fascination with peacocks at our house so I made sure we got a picture of them.  

This is Clock Court and is the middle court within the palace grounds.  The fountain in the middle of the picture is actually a wine fountain.  When parties were held, wine flowed through openings so at any given moment one could fill a goblet of wine for themselves.  It looks small in the picture, but it is approximately ten feet tall.

This is Anne Boleyn's Gateway that leads up to the Great Hall.

This is the Great Hall that King Henry VIII built. It was beautiful inside and any picture we took didn't do it justice.  The hall has an intricate hammer-beam roof and you can even see a wood carving of Henry and Anne's initials that were accidentally left after her beheading.  I thought that was pretty neat as it has been there for almost five hundred years.  The most marvelous items in the Hall were the tapestries that tell the story of Abraham.  Each tapestry had been beautifully restored after being subjected to sunlight and other elements for hundreds of years.  The restoration of one tapestry took TEN years!

Another portion of the palace we were able to visit was William III's apartments.  This is the grand staircase that takes you up to the King's Guard Chamber.  The steps were very shallow per the kings request. He was unable to walk up steep stairs due to his asthma.

Soon after William III and and Mary II's accession to the throne, in 1689, they commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild Hampton Court.  Both wanted the Tudor palace torn down and a new improved palace built. In 1694, work came to an abrupt stop when  Mary suddenly passed away.  Long story short the palace wasn't torn down, but the east and south facades of Hampton Court were completely transformed with elegant baroque exteriors.

Here you can see the dramatic change of architecture - Baroque on the left and Tudor on the right.  

After our tour, we came back to London and went to dinner at a Turkish restaurant called Sarastro.  It was listed as one of the best places to go in the particular area it is in.  I looked online and the menu looked pretty normal.  Matt and I ordered a set three course menu and the appetizers were really good and came out after a twenty minute wait.  Sadly this was "good" service. (One thing we learned about servers in London is just that - they serve you and that is that. They don't wait on you, they don't come and offer you something to drink, they walk up after about ten minutes of you sitting there and say "are you ready to order food?" and then bring it and never come back unless they are bringing you the bill that you asked for.  It was so annoying, but I was glad to know that you don't have to tip them...it isn't expected.)  Then the main course showed up and I thought I was going to barf just looking at my plate.  It was duck confit and it seriously looked like someone dumped a container of Fancy Feast on my plate.  I think the cat food would have probably tasted better...that's what I get for going out on a limb and trying something new!  Dessert was okay, but that restaurant was not the best by a long shot.

On Sunday (June 23rd), we went to the morning worship at Hillsong London.  It was a good service, but I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be.  Hillsong is so famous that I thought it would be much better.  The band and music was great. It was neat to be singing Hillsong songs, with Hillsong, at Hillsong.  The sermon wasn't that great and that is what surprised me. I was afraid to say anything to Matt because the only thing he HAD to do when we went to London was to go to this church. I finally told him I wasn't impressed and he agreed that the pastor was kind of "off" this particular Sunday.

After church we grabbed a bite to eat and headed up to the Kensington area.  Our first stop was Harrod's department store.  Let's just say that this place gives the NYC Macy's a huge run for its money.  We made it through the crazy tourist crowds up to the third floor and found the girls a souvenir.  Matt and I purchased them Peter Rabbit (with a Union Jack on the cover) and The City of London children's book.  

After our shopping expedition we headed over to see the Wellington Arch.  We arrived five minutes before closing so were unable to climb the stairs to the terraces to get views of the city. It was still nice to see.

After seeing the Arch, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.  I found this great deal, on Travelzoo.com, to an upscale restaurant inside this uber fancy hotel.  When we arrived they didn't have a table for us so they had us sit at the bar.  There was an American couple behind us and I was deciding if I should strike up a conversation with them.  They seemed like they could be my parents so I thought "why not," I was bored anyway.  I started speaking to the gentleman and he was telling us why he was there and then we met his wife.  They got up to leave and he introduced himself to me as Trent and to Matt as Trent Lott.  I turned around when I heard Matt say something along the line of "oh my goodness, may I have my picture taken with you?"  That's when I found out this man was a former US Senator and I knew he had to be a Republican when Matt wanted a picture taken.  And to think Matt told me not to talk to them and to leave them alone!

London Trip - Days One and Two

Background info: I have wanted to take a trip to London for as long as I can remember.  My mom went when I was little and has always talked about what a wonderful time she had.  Hearing her stories is the main reason I have wanted to go. Not to mention, they speak English, have wonderful accents, and have a Royal family.  Matt knew that London was my dream vacation spot and for several months he worked with our parents to plan a surprise trip for my 35th birthday.  On Easter, he surprised me by handing me a card he created with all the details. I just sat there staring at this card.  I couldn't put two and two together and then my brain finally sent a signal saying "LONDON!!!"  I started screaming and was so excited.  He told me early for several reasons: so I could help plan the trip and so I wouldn't bug him about where we were going. I knew he was taking me somewhere and I was convinced it was the beach. I was so happy it wasn't a tropical vacation. Just not a fan of them.

On Wednesday (June 19th) we took the red eye from DFW to London Heathrow and arrived around 10am the next morning.  Of course we didn't sleep well on the plane, but who cared we were in LONDON!  We finally made it to our hotel and couldn't check in so we set off to start seeing the sites.

Our first stop was touring the Banqueting House.  This building is the only surviving part of the great palace of Whitehall.  Whitehall was largely the creation of Henry VIII, but the Banqueting House was commissioned by Charles I in 1622.  The house was intended to hold fantastic theatrical performances, but it is now most famously remembered as the location site of Charles I execution in 1649.

The ceiling of the Banqueting House was painted by the famous Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens.  The paintings were breathtaking and it was amazing to see them just as Royals and courtiers have done for over 400 years.

Across the street from the Banqueting House was the Royal Horseguards.  This was the entrance to the original palace of Whitehall and two royal guards sit there every day, all day, protecting it.  It was really neat to see, but that job would be the pits.

Our next thing to do was walk down the Mall.  The picture below is one of my favorite pictures that Matt took.  I love all the Union Jack flags and then at the back of the picture you can see the Queen Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace.  I bet it would be really awesome to see this from the opposite direction while looking out a window of the palace.  Prince Charles lives about a football field away from the palace, but his residence is hidden behind a gate so no pictures of it.

Queen Victoria Memorial in front of the palace.

When I finally saw Buckingham Palace it really sunk in that I was in London.  I knew it would never happen, but I was so hoping we would spot the Queen or any of the Royals for that matter.  Of course, that was the hope of every other tourist there too.

Finally our room was ready and we went and took a much needed nap. We had dinner at our hotel and then were asleep again by 9 pm local time.  The six hour time change and the inability to sleep on the plane made us both extremely tired.

We woke up bright and early (Friday, June 21st) and took the tube to the Waterloo station to catch a train to towns of Windsor and Eton.  Our first stop was to get lunch and then we headed up the hill to Windsor Castle.  The original castle was building during the 11th century by William the Conqueror and has been used by the monarchy since King Henry I.  It is the oldest and longest-occupied palace castle in Europe.

The walk up to the castle was so beautiful.  One of the most interesting things was seeing the openings in the walls that were made specifically for the guards to shoot their bow and arrows from when enemies were approaching.  Out of all the castles and palaces we visited this one was my favorite.  I'm not exactly sure why because they don't allow you to see much of the inside.  I think my main reason for liking it so much is the fact it is a REAL castle and is so rich in history.

In the middle of this photo (that far back corner) is where Queen Elizabeth lives when she stays here.  The castle is her preferred weekend home.  This is also the area where her visitors stay as well. The grounds surrounding it play host to many events that take place here. 

I think the most interesting event that takes place here is the Order of the Garter. It was founded in 1348 and is the highest order of chivalry exiting in England. Only 24 people may be part of this membership at anytime.  For another person to be chosen another member must pass away.  The ceremony takes place here at St. George's Chapel.

Many people have been buried here including Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymore.

After touring the castle, we walked down the road to Eton College and took a guided tour there.

Then we walked back and took the train back into London. For dinner we went to this great place called Masters Super Fish.  I read about it in my London City Guide and it did not disappoint.  They served steamed shrimp with the heads still on them with the food - so weird. I ate them, but Matt refused.