UK, Chapter 2: Changing of the Guard

Due to popular demand (read: two whole requests!), I have decided to write about the remainder of my trip to England. Since there was so much to see, it would be silly to stuff all of them into one blog post. Therefore, I have separated my trip into small parts, and will post each individually. 

This post will be about Buckingham Palace, and the Changing of the Guard.

Buckingham Palace is the 'official residence of the British monarch', according to Wikipedia. It was built more than 3 centuries ago, and structural additions have been made over the years, resulting in the imposing building we can see today.

I would love to tell you what's inside the Palace, as tourists are actually allowed inside. However, that is only when the Queen is not in. And unfortunately, she happened to be in residence when I visited, so I wasn't able to see what the inside of a palace looks like. Pity, eh? 

August is the month to go, to explore the place. But don't be too hopeful. You will only be allowed to see certain areas of the building. Probably the dullest parts. Like the dining room or kitchen...

And for all who'd like to know how to tell whether the Queen is in the Palace or not, just look for the flag above the Palace. If the flag is flying, it means she's in, and you can go have a chit-chat with her, provided you get past the Guards, of course..

The Palace is always guarded by the Queen's Guard. These are Foot Guards decked in full uniform, who have the dull job of standing in front of the Palace for hours on end. The Changing of the Guard is a ritual in which a new set of Guards arrives to relieve the old Guards who are on duty. This is a long process, done to the accompaniment of a band, and is now more of a tourist attraction than anything else.

The Changing of the Guard takes place at around 11.00am, but not daily. The seasons and weather conditions influence whether the Guard will change or not. Fortunately, my trip was in June, when the weather was fair, and I was able to observe nearly the whole ritual. I say 'nearly' because the place becomes far too crowded to see the entire thing. 

From what I saw, the Old Guard awaits the arrival of the New Guard in front of the Palace. The New Guard arrives, along with a Military Band, and the Palace keys are handed over from the Old Guard to the New (I did not see this, as the Band was blocking my view). The Band plays most of the time during this process, and then marches off with the Old Guard.

This may sound like a short process, but it isn't. There were two Bands facing each other, and each takes it in turn to play some music. There is a lot of marching about & issuing of orders in the background. All in all, spectators can expect a full 45 minutes of entertainment.

Once all this is done, two new Foot Guards are left as sentries, and they have the pleasure (or otherwise) of being stared at by hundreds of tourists.

UK, Chapter 1: Stonehenge and Kew Gardens

I have no idea what to blog about. Therefore, I am going to take a leaf out of my friend K Jay's book (find her blog at http://kayjayspeaks.blogspot.com) and write about my most memorable trip abroad. And no, just because I say 'most memorable' does not mean I have travelled a lot. It just sounds good, that's all.

It was a holiday to England. A very short holiday. 10 days short, in fact. And yes, I know you can't even explore Sri Lanka fully in 10 days, let alone England, but I was determined to try. I made a list of about 25 places that I absolutely had to visit. Fortunately, I have sensible friends who told me not to be daft, and to pick 10 places at most & go at a leisurely pace.

I still managed loads though. National Art Gallery, British Museum, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace (and the Changing of the Guard), the Tower of London, Madame Tussauds, the Royal Botanical Gardens (Kew Gardens), and a place I've always wanted to see... Stonehenge.

Most of these are standard tourist-y stuff, except for Stonehenge. I don't think most people who visit England on short holidays would ever dream of having it on their must-see list. I don't think most people would be interested in a pile of stones anyway.

But Stonehenge is 'probably the most important prehistoric monument in the whole of Britain' (according to its website). Made out of various types of stones, some up to 4 tonnes in weight, obtained from places that were as far away as 240 miles, it's purpose was most likely as a place of worship. How such heavy stones were carried over such long distances, and how they were placed in the manner seen below, is a mystery, and an engineering miracle. Similar in some ways to the building of the pyramids in Egypt.

Following Stonehenge, the next place I visited was Kew Gardens (there seems to be some grammatical error here, eh?). Kew Gardens are 121 hectares of gardens & glasshouses, housing the world's largest collection of living plants (wonder where the collection of dead plants is kept... ). An enormous variety of plants can be found here, not limited to just cold weather plants, but also those which are commonly found in the tropics.

The person who took me to the gardens is something of a gardening enthusiast, who is especially keen on growing tropical plants in UK. This of course meant that most of our time was spent in the hothouses. Unfortunately, when you come from a tropical island, banana trees hold no fascination for you. So there I was, staring at a weird, pink coloured banana, trying to ignore the heat of the glasshouse and the spray of water which was periodically emitted over the plants and the unsuspecting visitors.

   

Yes, these are, in fact, bananas :P

Discomfort aside, Kew Gardens are amazing. Obviously, you can't see the whole place in one day, or even a week. But rest assured, what you do see will impress you. Below are some more photos of Kew:

  

  

There was a lot more to my trip, but this is enough for one post, wouldn't you say?

Ciao then.