Day 2 in London

The date was Saturday, August 26th, and before we ever left home I made reservations for two activities for this day:  A Classic Afternoon Tea on Brigit's double-decker bus and 90-minute sight-seeing tour of London, followed by a tour of Buckingham Palace.  Both were wonderful.

We had a delicious breakfast at our hotel, then took a taxi to Victoria Coach Station [the same station where we arrived in London the day before], and boarded Brigit's double-decker bus at 12:00 noon.

Orchid Breakfast Room, Park International Hotel

A refurbished 1960's London routemaster

Brigit's Bakery is located in Covent Garden

The tour route included Harrods [Knightsbridge], Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Nelson's Column [Trafalgar Square], Buckingham Palace, London's Parks [St. James's Park, Hyde Park and others], Royal Albert Hall, Marble Arch and more.

Our tea hostess gave instructions before the tour began.

The Afternoon Tea Menu included five freshly prepared savories, four homemade pastries [cakes, tarts], and a plain scone with clotted cream and jam.  Our tea selection was Earl Grey. I wish I could be more specific about the menu items, but I didn't write them down. 

Scone with jam and clotted cream.

Our tea was served in a sturdy melmac-type glass [at right in photo below] with a tight fitting pink lid which was ours to keep.  It fit securely in a cup holder on the tabletop so it wouldn't spill during the bus ride.

I bought the commemorative book as a keepsake.

After the bus tour we got a taxi to Buckingham Palace for our 3:00 p.m. self-guided audio tour of the palace.   London was bustling with tourists as you can see in the photos below.

The tour queue was a short distance from the front of the palace. Photos were allowed in this enclosed area where large photographs of the King and Queen Consort's Coronation were displayed, but no photography was permitted inside the palace.  You had to buy the tour book for pictures of the State Rooms.  As expected, there was a security check similar to airports before entering the palace.  The tour was a little over 2 hours long, depending on how quickly you moved from room to room.  It was A LOT to take in.

The first thing we saw was the Diamond Jubilee State Coach at the Palace's State Entrance.  It was used to take King Charles III and Queen Camilla to their Coronation at Westminster Abbey.  

From there we ascended the Grand Staircase into the State Rooms, which included the Throne Room, The Picture Gallery, the Green Drawing Room, the White Drawing Room and a few others. Of special significance was the Grand Ballroom where the magnificent outfits worn by King Charles III and Queen Camilla during their recent Coronation were displayed in enclosed cases.  The King's robe was worn by his grandfather, King George VI, at his coronation in 1937.  

The Bow Room was the last room of the tour which took us outside to the large 39-acre park/garden area.  Once outside we were able to take pictures.  The back of Buckingham Palace isn't photographed as much as the front because of limited public access, so I was happy to get these photos.

A pop-up cafe was set up on the walk-out deck.  I wished later we would have at least had tea and a scone there so we could have said we had tea at Buckingham Palace, but we didn't and missed our opportunity!  ;-)

~ Swimming Pool and Squash Court ~

The path below led to public restrooms and a pop-up Buckingham Palace gift shop.  I wasn't intending to purchase anything since I knew I didn't have much room in my suitcase, but it's always fun to look.

Inside I saw a beautiful teacup that was a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.  My hubby knew I always purchase a teacup as a souvenir of my travels so he bought it for me.  On one side of the teacup are the words: "May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

Also inside the gift shop was a limited-edition Radley teapot purse.  It was so unique and beautiful, but the price tag said £200 [more in US funds], so I told myself to leave it for someone else to enjoy.

With storm clouds looming we decided to exit the palace grounds and look for a taxi to take us back to our hotel.  We both had our umbrellas to protect against a light rainfall, but once inside our taxi the clouds gave way to a heavy downpour.  Back at our hotel room we declared day 2 was a very good day in London.

To be continued...