Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Rick Steves: This is the spectacle every visitor to London has to see at least once: stone-faced, red-coated (or in winter, gray-coated), bearskin-hatted guards changing posts with much fanfare, in an hour-long ceremony accompanied by a brass band.
The most famous part takes place right in front of Buckingham Palace at 11am. But there actually are several different guard-changing ceremonies and parades going on simultaneously, at different guard locations within a few hundred yards of the palace. All of these spectacles converge around Buckingham Palace in a perfect storm of red-coated (or grey) pageantry.
Rick suggests various strategies to get a more intimate view of the proceedings (aka find smaller crowds, while still seeing a lot). We began at St James Palace, proceeded across St James Park to Wellington Barracks, and then crossed behind the crowds in front of Buckingham Palace for the long view on the end of the ceremony.
The most famous part takes place right in front of Buckingham Palace at 11am. But there actually are several different guard-changing ceremonies and parades going on simultaneously, at different guard locations within a few hundred yards of the palace. All of these spectacles converge around Buckingham Palace in a perfect storm of red-coated (or grey) pageantry.
Rick suggests various strategies to get a more intimate view of the proceedings (aka find smaller crowds, while still seeing a lot). We began at St James Palace, proceeded across St James Park to Wellington Barracks, and then crossed behind the crowds in front of Buckingham Palace for the long view on the end of the ceremony.
 Crossing the Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace and arriving at St James Palace (to the right). |  |
 Indeed, a smaller crowd is found. |  "Crowd control" |
The show begins...
 |  Wellington Barracks - fresh troops going on the watch. |
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Onto the Churchill War Rooms - Rick Steves: This excellent sight offers a fascinating walk through the underground headquarters of the British government's WWII fight against the Nazis in the darkest days of the Battle of Britain. It has two parts: the war rooms themselves, and a top-notch museum dedicated to the man who steered the war from here, Winston Churchill. The 27-room, heavily fortified nerve center of the British war effort was used from 1939-1945. Churchill's quarters, the map room, and other rooms are just as they were in 1945.
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Interesting placard in the War Rooms - they took every effort.
A panorama of Parliament Square - with Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Supreme Court, and the Houses of Parliament in view.
Is this Big Ben? (Okay, Ben is actually the bell within, the tower is Elizabeth Tower, but most everyone calls the whole kit and caboodle "Big Ben") Or are the Brits prepping to launch a rocket from next to the House's of Parliament? Okay, Big Ben/Elizabeth Tower is just getting a life extending renovation.
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We walk 2 blocks north along Parliament Street to say hello to the Prime Minister at his residence, 10 Downing Street.
 Hmmf, security prevents us from just dropping in and sharing a cup of tea with Boris. |  |
A couple of noteworthy monuments:
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Going home, waiting for our train at a transfer point.
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