On to Buckingham Palace and the Queen's Backyard

I've been to London to visit the Queen....although she wasn't there, she opened the the Palace for a visit....for £40.  I really wanted to do this, Mr BC almost bailed on me because of....walking.  In making plans, I forgot again that walking the mall in Joplin is different from walking the Mall at Buckingham Palace.  Taxi's from the start next time. 

Mr BC is somewhere on the steps of this statue.

Crowds Everywhere

I planted Mr BC at the Victoria Statue outside Buckingham Palace and went to find the ticket office. Then went back to get him when I found the ticket office around the side of the palace on Buckingham Palace Road.  The whole ticket taking was very well done as you might think.  It was a Friday and next to last day of the tours and crowded as expected. (Pictures of the inside of the palace are from the a web site.

Paul was able to go back stage a bit and take an elevator up and down.

You get the idea, the rooms actually seemed a little smaller with crowds and informational displays.  All very opulent, lots of Dutch painters, Chinese vases, silk, lavish ceilings and wallpaper. Between this and Windsor Castle, they were the reason, I didn't want to see Versailles on the French portion of the tour. I imagine the personal rooms being filled with tweed, tartan, chintz and corgis. 

One could take pictures outside, in the backyard. We had some coffee and sat on the porch, then made our way out. We could see Magpies and sea birds on the lawn and there was a small lake/pond, toilets (finally) and the ubiquitous gift shop with really nice (read, expensive) gifts. 

At the end of the walk out, I found where everyone got the ice cream they were eating, in front of the palace....I was craving something to eat by the time we got there. Good move, Liz and Phil!

We made our way to crowded Victoria underground...It was Friday night, remember and then to our hotel.  We had an excellent room service. We also noted the bus stop in front of the hotel and check bus service to the Tower of London for tomorrow.

Mind the Gap - Pt 1 of the Great Adventure

And the stairs!

We weren't met at the airport by Go Ahead, because we choose to have extra days before the tour, so we were aware that we had to make our own way to the hotel.  Boy, Howdy! I made plans and some were good and others not so good.  We arrived at about 11:15 am, after the overnight flight.  All was good, I had made plans......

After clearing the passport part of arrival, we had to decide whether to take the Heathrow Express to Paddington or the Piccadilly Line to Bakerloo, to Waterloo station.  Since the Oyster card did not cover the Heathrow Express (I thought it did), we opted for the Underground, while it worked and we got to our destination, We would have done better on the train and a taxi to our destination. 

Next time in London, I will take more taxis  Less wear and tear on our tired bodies. We opted for less expense and adventure.....! Not the best choice.  I only remember the escalators on the underground,,,,,not the flights of stairs between different lines (with 1 suitcase and our carry ons in tow and Mr BC knees.) 

It was a really a short walk to our hotel from Waterloo Station but after the flight etc,  we were glad to be able to check into the hotel to nap, order room service and then sleep again.  The room was lovely, the bed was great, and room service was reasonable. This hotel had the best room and breakfast, of the whole trip.  This part of the trip was all my planning and so far...on day 2, I was regretting some of my planning decisions, but not the trip.

H10  London Waterloo Hotel from their website.

Next time: A good night rest and on to Westminster.