God Save the Queen

The third palace. What we were all waiting for. What was the third palace? Why, of course, it was Buckingham Palace. The place where they Queen herself lives and works. How exciting. We were really fortunate to be able to go into the palace this summer. Typically it is not open this time of year, but there was a special two week period where it has been opened. We left early to try and see the changing of the guards, but we did not make it in time and there were huge crowds. The new plan for that is to go on a weekday and go super early so we can have a prime spot. It will happen. After collecting our tickets for the "Royal Day Out" we made our way to The Queen's Gallery. Inside we saw an exhibit called "Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist." We looked around at several drawings that da Vinci completed depicting the human body. Apparently he was very interested in anatomy and would even dissect human bodies and draw what he saw. He was also interested in body processes, such as childbirth. It was all quite interesting.

One of da Vinci's drawings

We then made our ways to the Royal Mews. This is where the royal horses are kept, some stable/staff members reside, and where a few special items are held, or at least put on display. These special items were the royal carriages that the Queen and royal family use. They were beautiful and extravagant. They had pictures up of the Queen in the carriage we were all snapping pictures of. We even saw the coach that carried Princess Diana to St. Paul’s on her wedding day! Another great thing that we saw was the royal limousine. It was huge and elegant. I would love to ride in that! One of the best parts was seeing the Coronation carriage. It was massive and extravagant. There was a ton of detailing and gold everywhere. Amazing. The final stop at the Royal Mews was to meet two of the horses. They were very handsome horses.

The Royal limousine

The carriage that carried Diana on her wedding day.

The coronation carriage!

Then, we made our way to the palace. The actual palace where the Queen lives, and holds state dinners, and garden parties. At all of these places there was strict security and sadly no pictures were allowed in the Queen’s state rooms, which are the rooms that are open to the public. There are19 state rooms that we got to tour. Let me tell you. They were amazing. Everything from the ceilings to the walls, to the décor was extremely elegant and expensive. There were gold accents everywhere and each room had its own character. We could not touch a thing but the carpet. I’m pretty sure I did not blink once. It was spectacular. There really aren’t words to describe how wonderful everything looked. We saw the room with Elizabeth and Philip’s thrones, where they had taken their wedding photos. Kate and William also took their wedding photos there in those thrones. We saw where the Queen holds state dinners and the table she uses. We also saw the room in which several members of the royal family, including William were baptized. These rooms are in full use when they are not being used in the few summer weeks for tour. I cannot believe I was in the rooms that the royal family has walked through. We also got to see a temporary exhibit called “Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration.” Inside were several crowns among other wonderful pieces owned by royalty. We saw crowns worn by Queen Elizabeth that we see on the bank notes, and in her diamond jubilee photos. It was so cool. We also saw a crown worn by Queen Victoria after the death of her husband Albert. There were so many diamonds. Love it. A highlight was the Cullinan diamonds. It was a massive diamond, 3,105 carats, which was then cut and put in several pieces that are still used by the Queen today. As much as I loved this exhibit, it was extremely crowded and people were pushy. Towards the end, I had to get out of the queue (that people were already cutting in and out of) and get a view of the crowns from a bit farther back. I still saw them all and had a good view, but I could not stand there much longer. The whole experience took a good four hours, but I was so glad we went and got to experience that. We also got to walk around the gardens, where I can only imagine that Kate and William take strolls. The gardens are also where the Queen holds her garden parties.

The back of Buckingham Palace

After a full day of royalty, we were in need of some dinner. We decided to check out a place that our dear roommate Lauren has been raving about called Vapiano. It’s a pasta/pizza place where you got to the counter and tell them what pasta and you watch them make your pasta. I had the ravioli con carne in a tomato cream sauce and it was so good. Exactly what I needed after walking around all day. I highly recommend this place. We also had some roommate bonding time while watching the EURO 2012 final. I don't know if we were all just tired, or super giggly, but we had a good time tonight.

Week Four: Day Seven: BLC 18