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This morning Jason and I took the train from Liz and Dave's house into London, which was just a little over an hour train ride. When we arrived, we quickly went straight away to Buckingham Palace to see the change of the guard. Buckingham Palace is where the Queen currently lives and has lived since she was named queen in 1953.
For the change of the guard, we immediately squished ourselves in with hundreds of other people like little sardines to see the display. Luckily, we were able to sneak out to a better spot across the road to get a good view. The guards are dressed in red with black furry hats, some of them on horses, some playing music in a marching band style, and some of them with guns.
The whole thing took a little over 30 minutes and was fun to see. Right now, the queen is on holiday up on Scotland for 6 weeks until September. During this time, she allows people to tour the state rooms of Buckingham Palace. We were fortunate enough to be visiting now so we bought tickets to the state rooms and the Mews.
The Palace is easily one of the top highlights of my trip! It was incredible. We were able to see multiple drawing rooms,the music rooms, and the official garden where they host parties of 8,000 people. My favorite room was the grand ballroom where the queen hosts multiple dinners for people all around the world. There is a magnificent old organ and a U-shaped table for which the queen obviously sits at the head of. They said it takes on average 3 days to set up for a dinner, using tools to get the exact placement of the utensils, plates, and glasses. And you wouldn't believe the staff that goes into this! There is a man who just polishes the silver, a head of "glassware", a man who keeps all the clocks in running order etc. I can't imagine all of those people working to keep the palace in running order, but that is what it takes.
I also liked how they had a few of the Queen's things on display, including a diamond necklace that was over 20 karats and some of her brightly colored outfits and hats. They keep her in bright outfits so that she is easy to spot at the extravagant and large dinner parties.
After touring the palace, we had dinner at a local pub and bought tickets to the famous London Eye. This is like a giant Ferris wheel but it is enclosed with a giant glass bubble that you stand in for 30 minutes as it makes a full round. This was a great way to see the city as the sun was setting, including an excellent view of "Big Ben", the famous clock tower on the Thames River.
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