#horse guards london

[ctyguidelondon]

Inside the Household Cavalry Museum is a big window into the stables. It’s a bit like peering into a football changing room at half-time. You can watch the soldiers hosing down the stalls, scraping out the grooves in the horse’s hooves, and scooping up big pitchforks of hay to fill up the feeders. They all act totally oblivious to the tourists taking photos of them, so I guess they must be used to it.

[sometimeslondon]

The Household Cavalry on Horse Guards Parade

Sometimes one just has to do the tourist thing!

[sumbluespruce]

I’ve been spotted

11/22 A trip I had planned in 2020, only to be dashed by Covid, twice. My goal was to visit counties and towns I could trace my ancestors. After, conquering driving on the wrong side of the road, train trips, bus rides, my mission was mostly accomplished. I need to return for the Highlands. But I made it to Dollar, Castle Campbell, London, Lancashire, Tralee, Dublin, Galway, County Mayo all DNA hits. Wonderful people and places. Next trip, Bavaria and Rhineland.

[consult-sherlockholmes]

Have you ever watched Knight Rider?

I have seen knights that ride, I am British after all.

[philoursmars]

L'année du Dragon arrive !

Une longue série de dragons arrive... Ici des dragons plus XIXe : un spécial Londres la City (Fleet Street) pour les 4 premières, Leadenhall Market, Horse Guard

[acs-streetsoflondon]

[thesleepychaoswitch]

In London

[rethinkagain]

Changing of the Guard

Into Avant Guard

[londonspacegirl]

Horse guards parade

[prattlinpeach]

London Day 3: Changing of the Guard! Here we come!

It’s a new day, day 3 and we have lots to do! First, I want to take you on a tour of the restaurant in the hotel, it’s fun! It’s a nice restaurant, wide, open, and inviting, if that makes sense. They have a few walls with animal heads, but just wait…the animal heads are all made of newsprint! Most likely paper mache on the outside, if you look closely,  you can see headlines and typeset in the…

[captainhancock006]

Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells III Live - Horse Guards Parade London 1998

[ctyguidelondon]

This is from the Dismounting Ceremony at Horse Guards. 125 years ago Queen Victoria caught the entire Guard drinking on duty so she punished them with a daily inspection to make sure they were behaving themselves. This was back in 1894 when every dress she had was black, every hat she had was black, and all of her moods were black as well -- nobody messed with her in those days. The 100-year punishment was supposed to have expired in 1994 but our current queen kindly decided that they'd have to carry on with it for all eternity. So let that be a lesson to you: no drinking on duty!

[sometimeslondon]

Horse Guard on Whitehall

It has to be done!

[wildbeautifuldamned]

Vintage Silky Square Scarf London England Theme London Bridge 34 ebay ryie_4382

[psycheapuleius]

Horse Guard 💂‍♂️

London England

[ladyanthropology]

July 22nd, 2022

Today was the day! Today Buckingham Palace opened back up to the public and I had managed to get one of the last tickets for the Royal Day Out (a combination ticket that allowed me to see all the exhibits).

Before I started my Royal Day Out, I witnessed The Changing of the Guard. This ceremony happens every morning and it is so cool to witness. The ceremony at the gates of Buckingham Palace didn't start officially until 11am, but the actual ceremony technically started at 10am at St. James' Barracks, where the new guard were being inspected and then they marched down. I wanted a good seat, so I got to the Queen Victoria Memorial at 8am (which means I was up at about 6:30 am) and just sat in my spot reading my book. Good thing I got there early - the place was packed! I had a really good seat, so I recommended getting there early in order to be able to watch it. I also recommend getting a spot on the top of the stairs, leaning over the stone railing, of the Queen Victoria Memorial. While you cannot really see the guards when they are behind the gates due to people - they really just stand there. You can hear the music perfectly well from the Memorial and you get to see them march in and out. Speaking of music, for some reason today's ceremony had a Battle of the Bands segment? There were the two guard's bands, and they went back and forth playing music and the music was popular songs! They started with Happy Birthday and even played Living on A Prayer. According to a woman behind me, she didn't see this that last time she came to this ceremony. I have no idea why they did this, but it made the ceremony even more fun!

First, I went to The Queen's Gallery, which was currently exhibiting the Queen's Japanese art and artifacts. There was a lot of history in there and it showcased a lot of artifacts that were the first diplomatic gift between Japan and the UK many times (the original first and the first one after WW2). All of it was very cool and pretty.

Second, I went to The Royal Mews. This is the stables. I saw many different coaches as well as the one used in the Queen's coronation and the one used in the Royal Weddings. I read a lot of fun facts and info about the place and learned that the apartments above the stables are for people working in the Palace (how strange does it have to be to look out your window while you're eating lunch and see a bunch of people looking around where you work and such, like I know they're probably used to it but still). I also saw a few horses!

Last but not least, I went to Buckingham Palace's State Rooms. They were gorgeous and you can just feel the history around you when you walk through them. You can tell a lot of care was put into these rooms in order to maintain them throughout history. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos while inside the Palace so I have no photos to show here but you can also look up the official photos released on Google.

After I finished my Royal Day Out, I headed home to finish up the last bit of my homework and to get ready for my final day - I'm seeing Come From Away tomorrow and I'm really excited.

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“It is going to take more than just a couple of good-hearted souls to raise this child. It will take a graveyard.”

I just really enjoy this quote as it's clearly a reference and play on the proverb "It takes a village to raise a child". You can also see this clearly in the book as all the different ghosts and creatures helped raise Bod.

“If I come back, it will be a place, but it won't be a home any longer.”

This quote was from the very emotional ending of The Graveyard Book, and it really highlights people's feelings when they leave home. When a child leave's for college or even when a soldier goes off to war, when they return to their home, it doesn't feel like it did before. Whenever you leave your home to go be your own person and to experience and live life, when you return you don't get the same feeling you had before - you are changed and no matter what, it reflects in your feelings to a place. Home is home, but it isn't once you left. You have found a new home somewhere else, even if you don't realize it sometimes.

“You're always you, and that don't change, and you're always changing, and there's nothing you can do about it.”

The previous quote segways well into the next one, as this quote shows why you can never really go home anymore but still can at the same time. You can go home - to that safe, comforting place and feel that because it's still a part of you but at the same time it feels different because you have changed. This quote doesn't need much explaining as to why I picked it - it simply reflects the reality of life that most people are either afraid of or try to ignore. Change is a part of the cycle as well as Death, there is no hiding, running, or stopping it. One must embrace that in order to truly live.