London: Part Two

Before I begin my summary of our second full day in London, I want to explain how crazy London was while we were there because of all the holidays.  So let me run through all the holidays that occurred:

Thursday: Queen's Birthday (celebrated with gun salutes and parades at multiple locations)

Friday: Good Friday (national holiday, processional and large ceremony at Westminster Abbey)

Saturday: St. George's Day (parade and concert at Trafalgar Square)

Sunday: Easter Sunday (big services at multiple famous churches in London)

Monday: Easter Monday (not sure what goes on this day, but still means every in England is off work)

Tuesday: Countdown to Royal Wedding (okay, not a holiday... well maybe to some)

We weren't even aware of some of these holidays until we got there.  So needless to say, even with my extensive research and meticulous planning there still were a lot hiccups in the daily itinerary.  A lot of times we would show up to a restaurant I had picked to find that it was closed the whole holiday weekend.  Or, we would show up to an attraction, like Westminster Abbey on Saturday morning, to find the line an hour long (or more) to get in.  Whoops.

The west entrance on Westminster Abbey on a very warm, but hazy day

Westminster Abbey West towers, completed in 1745

The press box across the street for the royal wedding

Can't see the whole door because Darren is avoiding having hundreds of tourists in our pictures

Looking at the West towers from the north entrance

After looking at the long line, we decided to move Westminster Abbey to another day and to take a tour of Parliament next.  This also had a (smaller) line to get tickets, but you can't really complain about having to wait outside when it's 78 and sunny in London. :)

The Jewel Tower (part of an old medieval castle) and the line for Parliament tickets

The Houses of Parliament are located in the Palace of Westminster, first built in the 11th century.  The palace was originally a royal residence, but after a fire occurred in 1512, it stopped being a residence and was rebuilt to become the seat of the two Houses of Parliament.  The palace has been destroyed by fires and was even bombed during World War II, but it has always been rebuilt.  Most of the building we see today is from it's major reconstruction in 1834 during the reign of Queen Victoria.

The clock tower with the Big Ben bell inside in the foreground and the London Eye in the background

Other side of the building, Darren really enjoyed the architecture

We went on a two-hour tour of the inside of the building with a fantastic British guide who kept calling us "Ladies and Gents" and said "Par-lee-ment".  Our guide told us about the history of the palace and how it functions today as the house of Parliament.  We really enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to anyone.  We couldn't take any pictures inside except for in the Westminster Hall.  This is the only surviving room from the original construction of the palace back in the 11th century.  Most of the roof that you can see below is the original 14th-century hammer beam roof.

Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster

Pictures of us after the tour to prove we were there

Just up the street from Parliament is 10 Downing Street, where the British Prime Ministers have lived since 1732.  You used to be able to walk down Downing Street, but twenty years ago they put up a gate, so now you can only peer down the street.

Downing Street

We then visited Trafalgar Square and ran into the St. George's Day festivities.  Our Parliament tour guide  explained to us that England's patron saint is George, just like Ireland's patron saint is Patrick.  So secularly, St. George's Day is like St. Patrick's day, meaning people just celebrate it by partying.  A concert and parade were going on in the square, so we just ducked into a pizza place to get some lunch.

Statue of Admiral Lord Nelson, who defeated Napoleon (but died) at the Battle of Trafalgar

We left Trafalgar Square and walked along the Mall (or as you might have heard the British pronounce it on Friday the "Mal", as in malpractice) towards Buckingham Palace.  This was the route the royal wedding procession took to get to Buckingham Palace.  On the left is St. James's Park and on the right are all government buildings, with Buckingham Palace at the end of the road.

St. James's Park

The best picture we could get of Clarence House, where Princes Charles's family lives

Buckingham Palace is where the Queen and her husband, Prince Phillip live.  Their children all also have apartments here for when they around, but the rooms are mostly used for state functions such as banquets, and ceremonies, and of course, for royal wedding receptions.  You can't go inside Buckingham Palace except for in July and August when the Queen goes Scotland.  In other months, the only thing really to do is to see the exterior.

The front of Buckingham Palace, six days later there were one million people out here

The balcony where the two famous kisses occurred, can you tell I watched the royal wedding?

The two-story press box across from the palace constructed for the royal wedding

After seeing Buckingham Palace we walked around to see yet, another palace.  This one is the St. James Palace, which was built by King Henry VIII and was mainly used as a residence by Queen Elizabeth I.  This isn't a very well-known attraction, but after reading about it in our guide book, I had wanted to see it.

Me in front of St. James Palace

We spent the rest of the late afternoon going to see Piccadilly Circus, which is like Times Square, and to the National Gallery.  When we got out, it was actually raining a bit.  This was the only time it rained our whole trip!  We didn't have jackets or umbrellas, but it was still really warm outside, so we just walked quickly to a restaurant I had picked and got a few sprinkles on us along the way.  Another great day in London!