A Weekend in London | Buses, Boats & Buckingham Palace State Rooms
Last weekend, my boyfriend and I took a trip to London as we had booked onto a Vintage Route Master Tour of London. Tom (my boyf) bought me the experience for Christmas, and we had only just got around to booking it. I was so excited! The only thing was, we had to be up at 5am that Saturday morning to catch the bus at 7:45am, but it was so worth the effort, let me tell you!
Warning though, these pictures were all taken on an iPhone, as I didn't feel comfortable taking my Canon around London! So prepare for some less high quality photos.
The tour involved a ride on a Vintage Route Master. This one was open top due to the weather and we managed to get a seat together on the top deck every single time. The bus would stop every so often so we could get out and explore a few London landmarks, including a walk around St Paul's Cathedral. and a pit stop at James' Park. Our tour guide, who was dressed in an Union Jack waistcoat, pocket square and top hat, even walked us to the spots which would be best to stand to see the Changing of the Guard, which occurs on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
I've been to London many times before, but this tour enabled me to see it in a way that I wasn't able to before, and what better way to do it than on an old red London bus?!
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| Believe it or not, this is Downing Street! |
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| This is us at St James' Park |
We drove over Tower Bridge (yes, not London Bridge as that's in the USA), in order to get to the River Thames. Waiting for us was a Thames River Cruise, this was the next thing on our itinerary! We all piled on and spent about 40 minutes going up the Thames, bobbing past the OXO building, HMS Belfast, the Globe Theatre and of course, the London Eye. Soon after, we turned around just before Tower Bridge, then went back down the Thames to dock at our starting location. All the way down, we had a talk, telling us all about the buildings we could see and the bridges we were going under. It was a very informative tour and the boat itself was comfortable and not too bumpy (as I get motion sickness, which is especially bad on boats).
Another warning, some of these photos are a little blurry as they've been taken through glass!
After the cruise, it was time to drop us off at Buckingham Palace. We decided to sit downstairs on the bus this time, purely for ease but then it was nice to experience it sitting on a lower deck. When we reached Buckingham Palace, it was a bittersweet moment getting off, as I knew I wouldn't be riding on that bus again, but I was also excited to get inside Buckingham Palace.
When we got off the bus, we were basically fast tracked to the front of the queue. You go through an airport-style security procedure, where you put your bags into a tray for scanning and you walk through a detector. After that, you go around the corner and you get given a pair of headphones and a device which gives you information about artefacts, ornaments, paintings and the rooms in general.
When we went, the exhibit was all about Queen Victoria and the time she spent there. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures (which was to be expected) which was a shame, but it was a fantastic display. We walked down a winding corridor, which eventually led us outside to the main courtyard. From where we were stood, you could see through the alcove and out the other side to the tourists behinds the front gates. In this courtyard was a carriage, this was bought by Queen Victoria in the 1800s and is still used by the Queen today. In fact, the Elizabeth II went to her wedding in it!
As we went inside, the first thing you see is the grand staircase, the walls adorned with magnificent paintings in impressive frames. You walk up the stairs and into the throne room, where Kate and William had their famous wedding photo. On a platform, slightly to the left of the two thrones at the back, was a larger one, with an excessive amount of cushioning and it was appropriately worn on the arm rests. According to the audio, and the signs around the chair, this was the throne of Queen Victoria. It was amazing to look at, knowing that she once sat there. This room was also where people would be knighted, although it isn't done in that room any more.
We then went through into the art galleries and were greeted by a considerable amount of beautiful paintings, many of which had been chosen and reframed by Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. The audio gave us some background information on many of the paintings in there, including a few that had been around before Victoria and Albert's time.
We made our way into another room, it was filled with clothing and objects behind glass, a lot of them pretty humble and unassuming for the Royal Family. This included a gown that Victoria used to wear, some of her children's clothes and a mould of one of her children's left arm and leg (a tad weird, yes). There was also a cradle there that had been picked out by Victoria and Albert, it was unexpectedly big, wooden and looked incredibly comfortable to say the least.
After that, we went into the ballroom where there was almost a hologram style display of people in period costume dancing in a way which would have been typical for Queen Victoria's time. According to a diary entry of hers, her husband, Albert, loved the balls they used put on, and he would often stay up till 3-4 O'Clock in the morning enjoying them.
As the tour came to an end, we went through the music room, complete with grand piano and a book that Victoria was reading to her husband when he died. By the time we reached the end, we walked out into the Buckingham Palace gardens, and had a coffee each, a wrap and a cake. If you're going to go, prepare for it to be expensive! We also had a look around the gift shop where I bought a magnet and an official souvenir book :)
We walked past the lake and a little ice cream parlour, then you walk out through the back gate (pretty much) and onto the street! A bit of an anti-climax and a harsh kick back to reality again, but I still really enjoyed it!
Walking around Buckingham Palace is thirsty work, so we decided to have a drink in Hard Rock Cafe! Despite there being three in London in total, this one was the original. I had a cocktail and Tom had a pint of Corona. I ended up buying the glass my cocktail came in, to match the one I had bought in Nashville last October.
While we were sat at the bar, we saw a bunch of Brexit and Boris Johnson protesters walking down the road, followed by a hoard of policemen running after them with batons in hand. Luckily, we were ready to leave London at that point, so it didn't cause us any disruption!
We took a leisurely walk back to the underground station, walking through parts of London that I haven't set foot on before, which included walking past this impressive memorial
By that point, our trip to London was over and it was time to go back to the hotel, freshen up then go out for some dinner. We went to Silvermere, a restaurant in Weybridge, Surrey which was great! I had a halloumi burger, whereas Tom had a more traditional beef burger.
I'll be doing a separate, in depth post on this soon, so keep your eyes peeled if you're interested :)
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I hope you enjoyed this post! Have you ever been to the Buckingham Palace state rooms? Let me know in the comments below :) I will see you soon with another post!
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