It was about seven-thirty when I awoke the next morning. A cup of tea and half an hour later Mum and I were on our way down to breakfast. The breakfast room of the hotel was the basement level. It was tiny. I couldn’t he having a quick look into their kitchen on my way to the continental breakfast buffet. It was clean and all stainless steel but I questioned their washing and sanitising process with the breakfast dishes. I put it out of my mind (my work is dull enough as it is without doing it on holiday), and buttered my toast. After breakfast Mum and I wandered into town.
Our first stop was the Buckingham Palace ticket office. We purchased tickets for the 11 o’clock entry and then went for a wander around St James Park and watched the squirrels. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Buckingham Palace is the most impressive palace I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a few!). I couldn’t say there was one thing that didn’t amaze me, from the carpet to the ceiling it was stunning. That isn’t even taking into account any of the history or moments of the palace that I’ve watched on the telly. We ambled around listening to audio tour and taking our time, taking our time to soak it all up. We saw an exhibition of the Royal Faberge collection which consisted of some delicately carved and super expensive ornaments including quite a few of the trademark eggs. It was impressive. It took around two hours to go through the ‘guest wing’ and before we knew it we were standing on the steps overlooking the rear garden. After a few photos we headed down one of the winding paths, past the lake and out of the palace grounds.
After a quick lunch in a pub we once again wandered off through the narrow streets. We ended up in Westminster, by the cathedral to be exact, and went in for a look. It was impressive inside but the view from the tower was even better. From the top you could see most of London, the classic skyline all around with 360o views. From the top you could see the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, the dome of St Paul’s and even Buckingham Palace. It was windy at the top, but the sunshine shining down made it an even better view.
We couldn’t stay up there for too long as we had an appointment. Laura was paying for a treat for both Mum and me. Afternoon tea at Browns Hotel, one of the poshest establishments in London. The spread was impressive, three tiers of scones, sandwiches and cakes. And of course tea. We spend the rest of the afternoon sitting in the luxurious surroundings and eating all we could. After going through two set of tiers and two tea pots full of tea, it was time to head back to the real world. And we wandered out the land of top hats and into the one of baseball caps.
1 comment:
Buckingham Palace is certainly a 'must see'. It was truly amazing to see the skills of the craftsman that have made it into what we see today, inside and outside.
We were also able to view the wedding dress and accessories of Kate Middleton/Duchess of Cambridge which was very interesting.
To complete our day, we had high tea at Browns Hotel and had a wonderful time. I had eight cups of tea, along with numerous scones, clotted cream, sandwiches and cakes. A truly marvelous experience and a perfect end to the day. I was so full up that I could not eat anything else until breakfast the next day!
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