Lots and lots of photos today! The most royal day we've had yet on this trip….and a far cry from what my Sundays are usually like at home! I'm not complaining.
Yesterday, Haley, Rachel and I went to go buy tickets for a tour at Buckingham Palace (necessary), and we were scheduled to be there for an 11:00 am tour. So we had a nice amount of time in the morning to ourselves-so what did we do? Went to stalk Will & Kate's home, obviously.
Ahh, Kensington Gardens are a BEAUTIFUL place to go for a walk!! We saw so many dogs and people running/walking while we were there. There were a bunch of these stone plaques along the route we took:
A nice ode to Princess Diana! Got to love that. We mostly spent the morning just walking through the gardens, taking some scenic pictures (obviously), and hiding from the paparazzi-they haven't gotten a shot of us yet.
There were so many pretty fountains and little ponds all around, I just felt so happy and at home! When can I move in?!
One of my favorite photos of the day (Credit to Rachel) of the three of us sitting in the garden right by the palace. The colors were so vibrant, and just made the grey day that much nicer. We were feeling pretty regal at this point, and then we came to the promised land:
I think I could be happy here……Will and Kate need a nanny, right? I am great with kids…hire me and make my hair as luscious and pretty as yours please! We didn't go inside at all (for one thing, we weren't sure if we even could, and hadn't looked into a tour or anything in advance), so we just walked the grounds, and then went on our merry way to the REAL promised land.
HELLO BUCKINGHAM PALACE! By this time, I was basically just jumping up and down and couldn't wait to get inside. BUT WAIT! There just so happened to be a bike race going on right in front of the palace, so since we were early, we stopped and watched the race for a few minutes. What a nice bonus surprise!
By then, it was time to go inside and get ready for the tour. We shuffled along with all of the other hundreds of guests, got our audio guides (YAY! ALWAYS, always, always get the audio tour when it is available. It makes a world of a difference most times.) and started along the tour. Obviously we didn't get to go in EVERY room, but the tour definitely included some fab highlights. We were lucky enough to find a day to visit! We did the "general tour" which takes you through all of the State Rooms (where royals receive guests-the "public rooms") and the special exhibition: The Queen's Coronation in 1953! Eep!
We got to see coronation gowns, artifacts and photos from the planning and preparations of the coronation, photos and videos from the day of the coronation, portraits…I felt like I knew a lot more about monarchy after seeing the exhibit, so that was great. As with all great and beautiful things, we couldn't take any photos-but I honestly don't think I would have been able to capture what I had seen in a photo. You just have to see and experience the rooms and memories for yourself!
And as if our day weren't British enough? We went back to the hotel for a little bit and then decided to go down the street for tea. ONLY WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP SO FAR!!! I am basically the only one from our group who has been drinking tea for years and years (thanks grandma!) so I was giddy beyond belief.
This place (Patisserie Valerie) was right down the street from our hotel, and it is a chain tea place (there's one in Norwich, we checked already…) so it's not necessarily the "classiest" tea in existence, but for poor college students, it's ideal. So, so tasty and satisfying. The perfect afternoon pick-me-up!
Also, clotted cream is the best thing I've ever tasted. Holy. Why don't we have it in America??! On a nice warm scone…that's the ticket. I will be back super soon, for sure.
xx
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