This morning I took a Virgin East Coast train to London arriving into Kings Cross at 1.00 pm, from where I hopped on the Piccadilly Line for the short journey to Piccadilly Circus as I’d arranged to meet my older son in the Virgin Lounge. I was first to arrive which gave me a few minutes to take a look at a black and white photo exhibition/ fundraising event of street children in Kolkata that was taking place.
After meeting up and sipping coffees we strolled along Piccadilly, passing the Royal Academy and glancing in the elaborate Piccadilly and Burlington arcades which are filled with small designer shops featuring low mullioned windows. Moving on, we turned left onto St James’s Street then onto Pall Mall so that we could view the guards outside St. James’s Palace which is located just off The Mall on Marlborough Road. Here you will find two guardsmen and you can watch them marching between their sentry boxes. It’s an ideal location to take photographs as very few people seem to know about guards being here even though it’s just around the corner from Buckingham Palace. It’s nice to visit both palaces but here you can enjoy the courtyard to yourselves and take snapshots without anyone in the way. If you look at the guardsman’s bearskin hat you will notice a coloured feather on the side – this identifies the regiment, I believe these are Irish Guards.
Continuing along The Mall, we wondered why cars were being allowed to park there that afternoon, so being curious we asked a policeman who told us that the Queen was hosting an afternoon garden party and invited guests were permitted to park along the road. Walking towards the palace, a few minutes later, police stopped the traffic and we saw Prince Charles and Camilla being driven through the palace gates. It happened so quickly that unfortunately I didn’t have time to take a photo of them! Many guests were arriving for the garden party, some men wearing morning suits and top hats whilst ladies tottered on high heels sporting hats of every style.
I did take a few photos outside Buckingham Palace and of the Victoria Memorial with its gilded ‘Winged Victory’ standing on top of the central pylon and glistening in the hazy sunshine.
Our afternoon stroll then took us through the adjacent St. James’s Park – one of my favourite Royal parks, where we spotted some pelicans and herons by the water which was a good opportunity to practise using the zoom feature of my new camera. Standing on the park’s Blue Bridge there are some spectacular views across St. James’s lake to Buckingham Palace and of the London Eye looking the other way.
Leaving the park, we strolled along Birdcage Walk, so called because James 1 set up an aviary in St James’s Park in the 17th century. On our way to Westminster underground station we passed the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) with its iconic Elizabeth Tower clock, widely known as Big Ben after its main bell. This has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. (See feature image above).
It was then time to check in to our hotel over in Docklands so we travelled there by Jubilee Line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). After a short rest we headed out to Canary Wharf for dinner and a little walk around before returning to our hotel for the night.
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Looks like a good visit with your son and eventful too, Marion. St. James was kind of our initiation to London, when we were there in 1977 on our honeymoon. Our first tourist scam ripoff (photo with a monkey), first experience with hot English mustard on a hot dog and the first place I learned not to rub up against the bridge handrails, in a park with so many birds. Nonetheless, it is still a favourite place to visit, each time we come. Allan
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Spending your honeymoon in London must have been delightful Allan. I’m very fond of St. Jame’s Park but am not a fan of strong English mustard. I prefer whole grain or German which are much milder!
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Our most recent visit to London was on a 3-day stop there on our way from the U.S. (Wisconsin) to Rome in 2014. I had lived in Britain and Wales for a short while in the late 90’s so i had visited London previously. But my wife was seeing it for the first time.
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I’m glad you enjoyed a stopover in London and were able to show your wife around on your way to Rome. Perhaps you will have an opportunity to stay longer sometime in the future.
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It’s always fun reading about people’s experiences visiting London. Living here does have a dulling effect where you don’t see the beauty of the city any more…
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Thank you for looking through my blog and reading some of my posts. I think we all see places differently when we are visitors to those who live and work there. It’s pleasing to read your comments.
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a nice walk!:)
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Thank you for your kind words.
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Great blog ! I also blog about travels and I wrote something about London. Check it out if you like 😊
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Thank you for your encouraging comments,I’ll also take a look at your posts.
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I’ve never actually visited St James Park but I’ve definitely got to add it to my to-visit list. It does sound beautiful.
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It really is beautiful, London has so many places to explore and most of them are easily accessible.
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It’s just finding the time to visit them all. The list seems endless.
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seems you had a great day!!!
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Reblogged this on Trekking Tour Guide Nepal and commented:
seems you had a great day.
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Merci for visiting 24/7 in France, author of “Solitary Desire-One Woman’s Journey to France”- video http://youtu.be/xG_YTa5sDac & wishing you bon dimanche!
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Thank you for visiting my blog too!
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Really enjoyed walking through London with you. I believe we were there the approximate ssme time. Thsnk you for sharing your experience.
Jane
“Bob and Jane’s Excellent Adventure”
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Thank you for your comments and for reading my posts. Glad you enjoyed London, too.
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Brought back a lot of memories. Have not been there for quite some time.
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Thank you for your comment. London has changed quite a bit but mostly for the better!
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Ah, I enjoyed strolling through London with you 🙂
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That’s so nice to hear, thank you for taking the time to read my post!
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There is always so much to see and do in London; great pics:)
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Thanks Rashminotes, I couldn’t agree more – one could never tire of London.
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I didn’t know Virgin has trains as well as planes. The mention of Virgin lounge gave me a chuckle though because it reminded me of an airport the plane made a stop at when we flew on Virgin in Australia once where the bathroom was called the Virgin Loo.
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Thanks for reading and for your comments on my post. Virgin has held the rail franchise for two companies in the UK for some time now. They are very good and quite efficient, perhaps you’ll get the chance to ride in one of their trains sometime.
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it would be fun to visit the UK.
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Thank you for taking me on a virtual London walk! Made me miss it a lot! And what chance to spot the royals, too! We Finns have a thing about royalty as we don’t have any of our own. Royal weddings from any country are great broadcasting hits over here, for example 🙂
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That’s interesting to read Sinikka, I knew Finns took an interest in Swedish royalty but I didn’t realise it extended to the UK as well!
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I love strolling around London like this – sounds perfect and you even got to see Charles and Camilla!!
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There always seems to be something new to see in London, doesn’t there, and yes it was good to catch a glimpse of the Royals even if we hadn’t been invited to attend their garden party!!
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London is an interesting city, my daughter and I spent 8 days there right after she graduated high school and we loved it. Thanks for bringing back a pleasant memory.
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Thanks for your positive comments, I do so hope you get an opportunity to visit London again before too long.
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Post like these make me miss London ❤
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Thanks for your lovely comment. Hope you get a chance to visit again soon.
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Great Post. I love living in London. It has so much to offer , a great blend of modern and historical architecture. I am glad you enjoyed your trip to London.
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I always enjoy a visit to London – as you say it’s such a diverse city with so much to see and do. Thanks for reading my post and commenting.
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What great luck to see the happenings around the Garden Party! I just love London as you know, and can never get enough of it. And I love the parks, so I will try to visit this one next time. xx
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It was fun to see the guests arriving at the palace, just a shame we didn’t get an invite!!
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Aww my home town – though I don’t miss the weather 😜
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It can be unpredictable but I still love it!
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I love London. Very like your post 🙂 Cheers http://makeupcoffeefun.net
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I’m so happy that you liked my London post. I think we all love London, there’s something for everyone in this city.
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You are right! It is amazing city.
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I used to work 5 minutes away from Piccaddilly Circus and sometimes was going to have my lunch in St James’s Park, it was lovely to sit down, enjoy the view and take some photos. Such a nice place, one can never get tired of it.
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Exactly Daniela! I visit fairly often and am never bored, there’s so much to see and do.
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It’s a lovely walk. I particularly like St James’s Park lake.
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It is indeed Shane. The lake is lovely to see and there are surprisingly so many different birds and other wildfowl around which is quite amazing for being in Central London. Thank you for commenting,
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London is one of my favourite places in the world. Lived there for about 6 months back in 2012 and left a piece of me over there when flying back home to Sweden again. Loved reading this! I want to go back so bad again now!
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I’m pleased my post brought back some happy memories for you, thank you for your positive comments.
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Lovely capture…love London:))
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Thanks for reading and commenting !
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Loved reading this post Marion; I felt as if I was there – was a lovely feeling as my last visit to London was in 2010.
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You must be due another visit soon then Sue! I’m pleased it brought back some happy memories.
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Thank you for an interesting guiding, so much to see.
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It’s a pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to read my posts, I do appreciate it.
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A familiar walk☺
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Such an interesting walk, isn’t it? Always something new happening, too!, Thanks for reading and commenting.
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I always love reading about London. It is a city so fast Iliad to me, but I like to read about it from someone else’s perspective. Great photos too. A shame you didn’t get to go to the Garden Party!
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Thank you for taking the time to respond to my London post. There’s always something new to see and do in the capital and I’m certain the Royal garden party was very grand !
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