One of the things that I enjoyed most on the trip was visiting the palaces and other places associated with the monarchy. Not only is all the history behind the monarchy very interesting (we may or may not have spent an hour on the internet one night researching the royal family tree), but we were also in London the week before Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee (which, as we learned, means that she has been reigning for sixty years. She is only the second monarch to hit that milestone, the first being her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria), so most of the sites were getting spiffed up for the celebration and/or featuring special displays.
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| Kensington Palace--the official royal residence of Will and Kate |
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| Inside Kensington (although we weren't allowed to tour the wings where the royalty currently reside. Lame, right?) |
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| A king's robe (with something like a ten-foot train) |
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| The royal helicopter made a stop at the palace while we were there! |
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| Kensington Palace Gardens self-portrait |
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| The gates outside the palace that became the primary mourning site after the death of Lady Diana (she had lived and raised Princes William and Harry here) |
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| Buckingham Palace |
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| A guard at Buckingham Palace (we did not manage to catch the changing of the guards, but from what we've heard it isn't really worth the hassle and crowds to be there for that) |
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| Buckingham Palace self-portrait (Darrell and I had the realization that our kids will likely be close in age to the kids of Will and Kate, so if we could just coordinate a meeting and subsequent wedding between a daughter of ours and their first born son we might actually get a chance to stay here someday!) |
The remaining photos are all from the Tower of London, which although it is more commonly known as a prison (and subsequently a site of torture/execution), it was actually built as a royal residence (initial construction began in 1066 and many of the original structures are still intact!). This was definitely the place that we would say is a must-visit for anyone traveling to London. We spent a solid three hours there, and I'm still not quite certain we saw everything! This is also where they keep the Crown Jewels, which were seriously awesome to see (but unfortunately, no photos allowed).
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| The Tower of London |
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| The first unofficial one-way street in London. Chances are, if you were rowed through this gate and onto tower grounds, you weren't going to be leaving alive. Additionally, if you look closely toward the bottom left/center of the previous photo you can see the same entry, but significantly more exposed. The tide affects the water level of the Thames quite a bit. |
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| The Yeomen Warders--officially responsible for looking after prisoners at the Tower of London and guarding the Crown Jewels; unofficially tour guides at the Tower. |
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| Tower of London self-portrait |
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| Apparently many of the kings who lived here kept rather unusual "pets". These animals were often gifts from visiting dignitaries (I have no idea how they managed to get the animals there), and included just about any animal you could imagine: elephants, polar bears, ostriches, monkeys, lions, etc. The menagerie is first referenced in 1251, was opened to the public by the eighteenth century, and the last of the animals were relocated to the London Zoo in 1835. Crazy stuff. |
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