Out and about early again to try to fit everything in that we want to see on our whirlwind tour of London. First stop at the Royal Mews. I'm not convinced that one family needs so many coaches but they are beautiful to look at. Especially the Australian one! But why was it necessary for us to give the Queen something to celebrate our bicentenary? Shouldn't she have given us a present? Maybe she did, I wouldn't know really. And according to the guide the Australian coach was financed by donations and sponsorship not the Australian Government (which means not the taxpayers of Australia).
We then walked to the front of Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard. But even though it's not holiday season in England, not even a weekend AND it was raining there were PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. I do wish all the tourists would stay out of my way! Just as well Lindee and I are smarter than your average tourist and we hightailed it down the street to where the guards march from to get to the Palace. Nowhere near as many people in that area. Technically speaking I didn't see the guards actually changing but I did see the replacement guards march from their barracks and up the road a bit. Very nice raincapes they were wearing too. Raincapes might not be a real word but that's what they were - you couldn't call them raincoats.
Being down the road a bit and not staying around for the Changing of the Guard which we couldn't see from where we were anyway meant we could get well away from Buckingham Palace before the crowd moved on. We walked to Westminster Abbey which was magnificent. They give you a map as you enter otherwise you could easily get lost in there. It would probably take a whole day to walk around if you read the inscriptions on all the tombs and memorial plaques in there so we only stopped to read them when something 'caught our eye' - like the plaque for Howard Florey. I did notice that a lot of the dead men didn't seem to have mothers with the inscriptions reading along the lines of: "William Morgan, son of Charles Morgan of Winchester, birth and death dates, blah blah blah." Their poor old Mums hardly ever got a mention. Absolutely amazing to see the tomb of Mary Queen of Scots. The first Queen Elizabeth made sure she had a tomb befitting her royal status after she'd ordered that her head be chopped off! I also loved Poets Corner and I did read all the inscriptions in that part.
After Westminster Abbey we headed off to find Thames House where MI5 are located (according to their website anyway, probably a load of bollocks). But Lindee wanted a photo of herself outside the building so disbelief was suspended for the occasion. By that time we were feeling very hungry. I assured Lindee that as we were in an area with Government offices about the place it meant there were lots of public servants around. And where there are public servants there are pubs! Sure enough we soon came across The Marquis of Granby. Fabulous old pub where they still ring the Division Bell to call MPs back to Parliament House. I had the Pork Belly with a delicious Ginger Beer Glaze and a much needed Pink Gin. (I must say they do make fabulous cups of tea and gin cocktails - my top two favourite drinks - in England.)
Then back on the underground to find M&M's World (again something on Lindee's wish list, she might have turned 50 on this holiday but she's just a big kid at heart). M&M's World is four stories of pretty much what you'd expect - very bright colours, lots of merchandise and M&M chocolates to buy and noisy children. I think we were both happy to get out of there. One more stop for the day at Camellia's Tea World where I had a pot of Dancing Rose & Violet tea.
We decided to call in at our local for dinner before we went back to our motel. We shared the Mediterranean Dip Platter and the Nachos (quite different in a good way from the nachos you get in Australia) and I had a few G&Ts while Lindee had a couple of pints.
