Tea with the queen

I had another arts society event today - it was a tour of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace followed by a guided tour of the gardens. Our tour started at 11 am which of course is when the guards change, so the pavement in front of Buckingham Palace was so crowded with tourists you could hardly walk past - as was the island with Victoria's Memorial, which I have added as an extra. The police do a good job of trying to control the crowds and also be courteous and assist confused tourists.

Although we had timed tickets for an 11am entry, it took 25 minutes to get through the airport type of security control which was annoying as they have thousands of people visiting every day you would think that they have a system in place by now to speed things up. 

Buckingham Palace was built in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham but it was enlarged during the 19th century, mainly by John Nash, when Queen Victoria and her family moved in there as the London residence of the monarch. For such a seemingly plain building from the outside it is gob smackingly sumptuous and ornate on the inside, with an incredible art collection, exquisite crystal chandeliers and finely detailed furniture. 

After the tour of the state rooms we had some time to kill before the tour of the garden so went to the cafe to have tea with the queen but unfortunately she is presently at Balmoral. The cafe had a very limited selection of eats and was rather pricey, now why was I not surprised? You have no other choice of getting something to eat as you cannot leave the palace and come back again.

The garden tour was interesting in that the gardens are extensive - although at this time of the year the borders are past their best. No photographs were allowed inside the palace or in the garden, which was annoying as the large trees in the garden were magnificent. There was a security man following us on our walk through the garden to keep a check on us! There was only one small section of the garden where we could take photos of the garden but in every spot the views were restricted by overhanging trees and plants so this was a very restricted view through the trees to get this shot. This is the back of Buckingham Palace showing the orangery, which today houses a swimming pool. The lawns are where the queen holds her garden parties in the summer.

It was an interesting day but since I got home I have been very busy, ironing, admin and generally being busy. Adam left to go back to Cambridge to meet the prof heading his laboratory and to get set up for when the term starts next week - he will be home again on Friday night again.