Day 3 was my last day in London and a very full day. There's lots of pictures, but as promised today revolves around 2 Queens, a Princess, a President, and finally, a King. Here we go...
My trip coincided with Trump's visit to London. Luckily, it didn't really impact my plans too much. I just had to make sure to do all my shopping on Wednesday, because it was all on Friday's protest route. I was also very excited to see the Baby Trump blimp, and would have probably gone out of my way to do so, but luckily, I didn't have to! They flew it in Parliament Square from 9:30-11:30 and that's right across from Westminster Abbey, where I planned to start my day.
When I got there, they had inflated Baby Trump, but it wasn't time to fly him yet...
The people who were going to hold the balloon...
Parliament building...
This is a photo of above the entry door to Westminster Abbey. I have visited WA several times, but they just opened a new section for the first time in June. You have to buy a ticket to it as an add on to your WA ticket, and they will be selling these timed tickets online beginning in August, but for July, you just had to just get there and get in line. Luckily, I was able to score the first viewing time of the day, and had the galleries to myself for a bit.
No pictures are allowed in WA and that includes the new Galleries, but just trust me. It was amazing. (HERE is an article that shows more if you are interested) If you are going to London, it's worth it for sure. Here is a new fountain they just installed...
Here's a little info from WA's website about the Galleries...
A few really neat things about the Galleries:
(1) The bird's eye view of the Abbey below was amazing,
(2) People actually had tickets to be up here during the coronations. There were painted numbers on the wall that corresponded with their ticket numbers, and
(3) There were many things on display, but there were lots of funeral effigies for queens, kings, and the like. These effigies were made to lay on top of the coffins while paraded through streets to their funerals. They would be dressed in real clothing, etc. They were super creepy and cool at the same time. Some were from the 1500's.
The Queen visited to celebrate the opening back in June. I talked for a while with one of the docents and got the whole Queen scoop from him. He told me that she took the elevator while Prince Charles took the stairs. He got to run the elevator for the Queen and ride up with her. She was only scheduled to have a 15 minute visit, but was enjoying it so much, she stayed for 40 minutes. Here's a picture of the Queen from WA's website....
Once I left the Abbey, Baby Trump was in the air...
This pic of Baby Trump and the Abbey. That about sums up my morning to that point...
There were lots of characters out...
I took the underground from Westminster to Victoria and then walked to the Royal Mews. This is Tyrone. Tyrone was one of the horses that pulled Harry & Meghan through Windsor after the wedding (a fact I just know, they weren't giving Tyrone any special accolades).
There are lots of carriages on display at the Mews, but these are some of the ones with the most interesting history.
This is the Landau H&M rode in (without the top of course)...
This was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee coach. It has all sorts of modern twists to make it more comfortable and practical, but still looks old...
This is the Glass Coach, which is known for carrying many brides to their weddings. It carried Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother to her wedding in 1923, and 24 years later, it carried Queen Elizabeth II to her wedding. It also carried Princess Diana to her wedding.
One of the cars in the Royal fleet...
Stables, that aren't really used as stables anymore...
This is the Gold State Coach. It's very heavy and has to be pulled by a team...
It's primarily used for Coronations, but was last used in November 2002 for the Golden Jubilee celebrations...
After touring the Mews, I walked to Belgravia where I admired the flowers...
and paid a visit to Peggy Porschen
Here's some of the offerings...
I got a slice of the English Strawberry & Champagne layer cake. The queue was quite long to eat there, so I got it to-go and went across the street to one of the fabulous Belgravia stoops where I sat and ate my cake. Some people eyeballed me as they walked by. Whatever. I had things to see, places to be, and I needed a slice of cake...
I walked back to Victoria and took the underground to Nottinghill Gate. After a quick stop at a pharmacy for some blister plasters for my foot, I walked up Kensington Church Street to my first destination, The Kensington Wine Rooms. Now, if you know me, you know I'm not there for the wine, I was there to see this cheeky plaque they have put in place to commemorate George Papadopoulos (one of Trump's campaign's foreign policy advisory panel members, who has plead guilty to lying to the FBI) getting chatty with a Australian diplomat about Russia having info on Hillary Clinton, which is what kicked off the whole Russia probe.
Then I wanted to check out the most photographed pub in London, The Churchill Arms...
All the flowers really do make it quite fabulous...
On down the street, I stopped at one of my favorite spots, Patisserie Valerie, for lunch. Usually I'm super tempted by the amazing cake, but since I had dessert an hour or so earlier, I stuck with a sandwich...
My map led me in a different route to Kensington Palace than I had taken before. It led me up the drive that goes beside the private side of KP and their private entrance to the palace. I may have seen Kate taking Lupo out for a potty break. But no pics and no standing around was allowed, so I couldn't verify what my eyes thought they were seeing...
This is looking back to the apartment where the royals actually live...
I was a few minutes early for my 2:00 tour, so went to see the Sunken Garden, which is always one of my favorite parts of KP. Last year the garden was planted in white for Princess Diana on the 20th Anniversary of her death. This plaque explains how this year was inspired by Diana as well...
Queen Victoria...
I made a pretty quick run through the Queen Victoria portion of KP (I had been there before). I liked her pink cape...
One of Prince Albert's suits...
Now this exhibit, was one of the reasons I had felt compelled to visit London again.
The Fife Jewels on display at KP!
This is Princess Louise's Diamond Necklace Tiara. It was a wedding gift to Queen Victoria's granddaughter. It is constructed so that it can be worn as a tiara or a necklace. It's on loan from the Fife estate.
Here's the case with all the jewels...
This is the Fife Diamond Tiara. Princess Louise was doing all right for herself! In addition to the above tiara her grandmother gave her, her husband, the Duke of Fife gave her this little bauble on her wedding day. I want to be Princess Louise! This was just acquired in 2017 and put on display. It was accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by the government from the Fife estate...
Queen Victoria's Emerald Necklace, Earrings and Brooch.
Prince Albert designed this set of jewels for Victoria. This is also on loan from the Fife estate...
Downstairs in KP is another exhibit that prompted my visit...
Diana's Fashion Story is on display through January...
I tried to narrow down my pics here (I promise I did).
This pink dress was a dress she famously wore for a formal portrait with the Prince of Wales.
She wore this dress as she left for her honeymoon (but with a long sleeve version of this jacket)...
Tweed outfit from her honeymoon...
The black velvet dress she wore to the White House when she famously danced with John Travolta...
She wore this dress to Saudi Arabia. The birds were so sparkly and beautiful...
The outfit she wore while crusading against land-mines. Most of the outfits are owned and are on loan from designers. This one indicated it was on loan from William and Harry.
I labeled this room "Diana's Greatest Hits"...
Outside the restrooms, you will see the most glorious Diana wallpaper...
After KP, I went back to the hotel and cleaned up and headed back out for some dinner and theatre. Since the Trump rally had brought out over 50,000 protesters, and my theatre was in the march zone, I decided to get to the theatre and find something to eat close by. I ended up grabbing a burger at 5 Guys because it was right next door and fast enough.
The King and I is on a short 3 month run in London. It is a reprisal by Kelli O'Hara and Ken Wantanabe from their Tony Award winning peformances.
And that's a wrap on Day 3 in London!
Stay tuned for Day 4 where I take the Eurostar to Amsterdam.
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