Buckingham Palace, Gardens and Covent Garden - photo heavy alert

On August 18th, I went to Buckingham Palace.

(how recounts start, naming place and date as an intro - I used to tell my Y1s.)

It was another BroomField Coach Trips organised day and weren't we so lucky with the weather!  It was sunny, dry, warm verging on hot - gorgeous.

We left at half eight, making great time until we hit London and then it was stop-start all the way through the touristy, central and government parts.

Sadly, we didn't go round the front of the palace so I have no balcony/guardsmen type photos.  Maybe another time.

We disembarked very close to where we had to go in and in we went.  There was very tights, airport like security, of course, but there were no issues and in no time at all we were in the hall starting our tour.

It wasn't guided but we had a gizmo and headphones and, joy of joys for a deffie, there were subtitles!  Excellent.

(When I say 'we', I mean me and a lady I was sitting cross aisle from in the coach who was also alone so we paired up)

Apologies, there was no photography allowed in the house and most of the gardens so here's a link to the RCT page that does have some photos of the rooms we explored.

https://www.rct.uk/visit/buckingham-palace/highlights-of-buckingham-palace

It was just how it looks in the photos apart from the barriers holding us off all the treasures - really magnificent, glowing with colour and light.  Totally splendid with little of the faded grandeur of other stately homes.  I absolutely loved it.

What was nice was that it wasn't over cluttered with grand stuff.  There was space to breathe, you didn't feel overwhelmed or smothered by 'stuff' and the audio/video guide struck the right note for me with more info than I could have worked out for myself.  And did I mention the subtitles?

It was crowded, of course, but you didn't feel rushed on, you took your own time over things. 

Two things that impacted and I have found photos online. . .

A gorgeous little bronze statue on a table in the corridor from one room to the next of the late Queen with a mare and foal.  I could have looked at it for hours, it had such a wonderful vibe to it.
This auction photo really does not do it justice at all.

The other was the official portrait of the King that was on display and it was superb!

Again, the photo isn't a fair representation.  In reality, his uniform does stand out more clearly and the face is fantastic.

I'm so glad I managed to see it.

And thank you, Google Images.

Anyway, through we went and out onto the lawn where the garden parties are held and where the soldiers stood to cheer the King after the Coronation.  There was just time for a bit of a sit down and a visit to the loo before the garden tour.

By the way - no loos before the tour of the Palace but the loos to the side of the lawn were top notch and pretty much just big enough so very little queueing despite being busy.  Hats off to whoever organised that!

The Garden tour was guided and I, personally, found it a bit disappointing.  It was interesting but not really gardeny enough, more Royal Family-ish, if that makes sense.  To be fair, at heart it is a family garden really.

Again, no photos allowed until the official bit had ended so these were taken just before leaving when we popped back to the loo and to the shop.  I got the fridge magnet I wanted to add to my collection to remember these trips by but the prices were very, very high so I wasn't tempted by anything else.

Here's the other photos.

We all piled back in the coach to head to Covent Garden.  To be honest, I would have been glad to miss this and head straight off home again as my back hurt and I was tired but Covent Garden was lovely and I'm glad we had a short time there.

There were all sorts of little crafty stalls and I was sorely tempted.  This one was delightful - all these flowers have been crocheted, really fine work, beautifully done.  The young lady in charge of the stall told us that she's part of a small group that makes the flowers and they work partly from patterns and partly 'as it goes'.

Here's a close up.  Can you see the beautiful stitching?

A stone set into the pavement that brought a lump to my throat.

There were street performers - these were amazingly good.

I filmed a short clip of them but I don't know how it's come out yet - I might add it in later if it is OK or post it separately, maybe.

And there were signs that made me laugh.

Covent Garden was lovely - a great vibe.  It was crowded though and we clutched our handbags close!

The coach had dropped us off very close to the Theatre Royal - Nor Drury Lane itself but the next road along and, nestled cosily beside the most imposing theatre entrance was a tiny little opening, looking very fresh and green with pots of flowers and trees and a small outdoor eating area, leading into a surprisingly large inside.  Jamie Oliver, it was called.
We wandered over and the staff were all so friendly, showed us around a bit, let us have a little nosey in (it wasn't going to be very busy at that time so we didn't feel guilty) and they were obvious very proud of the place.  It was great and, to be honest, we wished we had the time to stop and eat.  For London, in the heart of theatreland, the prices were good, the menu not imposing or pretentious and I have seen some very good reviews of it.  Maybe another time, eh?

See how pretty it all looks.  It stood out, not because of grandeur or poshness but for the fresh green naturalness.  Well done, Jamie.

Then it was all back on the coach, stop-start all the way out of London and home sweet home.  I was absolutely shattered but it was a lovely day and my back is recovering now!!!

Would I go again?  Maybe, sometimes.  There are other tours of the Palace available and yesterday didn't include the balcony, sadly.  But not this year!  :-)