Madelyn has been saying for a long time that she wanted to go to London to see where the Queen lives. So on what was possibly the coldest day ever, off we went. The plan was to get to London in time to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We've lived near London all our lives and never seen it💂shameful really.
Little Georgie was as good as gold and really enjoyed the train ride.
Madelyn was super excited too.
We went to Charing Cross and walked past Nelson and Trafalgar Square
Not many tourists around,too cold I think. When I was a little girl feeding the pigeons in the Square was a real tourist attraction. You could buy food for them and have your photo taken with a gazillion pigeons on your arm or, as was often the case, head🙆 That ,of course, was before it was decided that pigeons are the Devil in feathers. A total ban on feeding them and a few Harris Hawks flying around has put paid to all that malarkey. A good thing really. They made a hell of a mess.
The Mall from Admiralty Arch
The very old and the new.
A cold St James' Park
The start of the parade
Buckingham Palace
Little Georgie, just being gorgeous. He didn't have a clue what was going on but he was enjoying it anyway.💙
The guards getting ready to march from Chelsea Barracks
The changing of the guard is quite a long ceremony so after the band had marched past we moved on.
Next stop for us, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
What you can't really see is the queue of tourists waiting to have their photo taken in the iconic red phone boxes. The big building is the Treasury.
Who lives here? When I was little you could walk through Downing Street.No gates or security walls to contend with. In those days of course, it just wasn't even considered that politicians might be a security risk. Linger there too long now and you've got a policeman with a machine gun giving you the evil eye.
I've not been to Whitehall which is a shame because there's a lot to see, like this memorial dedicated to the women who had to take on the work that was traditionally done by men.
The Cenotaph.
Now, these soldiers must be chosen for their ability to remain impassive in the face of all adversity! Namely, the chattering classes.They just sit while every tourist in London poses with them. Some jabber away in their own language expecting an answer, which of course they don't get. The horses are, I think,chosen for their ability to scare the crap out of any hapless person who hangs around too long taking photos or stroking them.
Here he is just standing there.
Yep,you can stroke me, come closer, I won't move, I am brave and noble and bored and.......
then I will scare the small child and pretend to bite your hand off🐴
It was a lovely day just a shame it was so cold.
🐴...😁
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