We woke up bright and early this morning, ready for our appointment with the royals (err, or rather our scheduled showing of one of their main hangouts)...
On the way to the palace, we made a quick stop at Piccadilly Circus for pics...
and then made our way on to THE Buckingham Palace!
Going in!
{that's THE balcony (that the royal family famously makes appearances on) to the left of my face}
My understanding is that they open up the State Rooms each summer when the Queen goes away to Scotland, usually toward the end of July and in both August and September. I don't know how many tickets are sold or how easy or hard it is to get them, but I booked ours online a few months out just to be certain we could snag a tour!
No photos were allowed inside, but it was amazing! If you ever find yourself in London within this timeframe, BOOK THIS TOUR - whether you love the royals or could care less, it is a great tour of a beautiful residence.
My favorite rooms were the Throne Room (where Kate & William's official wedding portrait was taken), the White Drawing Room (where there is a hidden passageway to the Queen's apartments!), and the Bow Room (because well, it's the BOW Room), where the tour concludes.
From here, guests exit out onto the back terrace of the palace overlooking the lawn where the Queen holds her garden parties, and most importantly, pictures can again be taken...
Though we weren't official guests at one of her garden parties, we DID enjoy a little snack from her garden café while sitting on her back terrace...
so that counts...right???
I'm sure that we'll get an invitation to the next one...
After a (long) visit to the gift shop and a (longer) HOT walk through the garden, we circled back around to The Royal Mews...
home to most of the Queen's horses, carriages, and cars...
Our tour concluded with this little nothing...
that Queen Elizabeth rode in on her Coronation Day...
It is HUGE...
Phew, what a morning!
By this time, it was (well past) time for lunch!
We stopped at the café at Marks & Spencer...
which was delicious!
While we were there, we loaded up on Percy Pig gummies…
our new favorite treat thanks to Hubby's cousin, B, and her introduction of them to us!
After a brief rest at the hotel, we set out again for Westminster Abbey...
After church, we headed over to The Apollo Victoria Theatre...
to see WICKED...
The kids have been listening to the soundtrack for years (since I first saw the show), so I was thrilled to give them the chance to see the songs they know so well performed in real life!
I was also thrilled to hear that Hubby upgraded us to some special lounge deal, which normally I wouldn't at all need or expect, but here's the kicker...
This lounge... It's tiny (there were 12 of us total in there - half of those 12 were from my family), but it's like the only air-conditioned room in the whole theatre... That was the selling point, at least!
So, I quickly learned that yes, yes, this is something we did in fact need (after the HOT morning and afternoon we'd already endured), and I'm thankful that Hubby indulged us!
We got to hang out in the "cool" lounge both before the show and during the intermission, which turned out to be a heavenly treat and a welcome break from fanning ourselves through the show...
It was a fabulous day & night (albeit sweaty)!
From here, guests exit out onto the back terrace of the palace overlooking the lawn where the Queen holds her garden parties, and most importantly, pictures can again be taken...
Though we weren't official guests at one of her garden parties, we DID enjoy a little snack from her garden café while sitting on her back terrace...
so that counts...right???
After a (long) visit to the gift shop and a (longer) HOT walk through the garden, we circled back around to The Royal Mews...
home to most of the Queen's horses, carriages, and cars...
Recognize this one???
Our tour concluded with this little nothing...
that Queen Elizabeth rode in on her Coronation Day...
It is HUGE...
Phew, what a morning!
By this time, it was (well past) time for lunch!
We stopped at the café at Marks & Spencer...
which was delicious!
While we were there, we loaded up on Percy Pig gummies…
our new favorite treat thanks to Hubby's cousin, B, and her introduction of them to us!
After a brief rest at the hotel, we set out again for Westminster Abbey...
where we attended the Evening Prayer service...
We didn't do a full tour because of both time and price. I wanted to get the children inside and knew that actually attending a service would be extra special in the grand scheme of things, plus it's free to do that, as well...
Again, no photos were allowed inside, but just sitting in the very space where so much has taken place was just awesome. We were seated up toward the front, close to where Kate and William said their vows (and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, too!)…
You know, it's not only just the venue for a few important royal weddings.
Did you know that Westminster Abbey has been known as Britain's coronation church since 1066? All but two monarchs have been crowned here - from William the Conqueror through to the current Queen Elizabeth II, and before we left, we saw THE Coronation Chair...
I may or may not be guilty of making my children watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth before we left home...
After church, we headed over to The Apollo Victoria Theatre...
to see WICKED...
The kids have been listening to the soundtrack for years (since I first saw the show), so I was thrilled to give them the chance to see the songs they know so well performed in real life!
I was also thrilled to hear that Hubby upgraded us to some special lounge deal, which normally I wouldn't at all need or expect, but here's the kicker...
This lounge... It's tiny (there were 12 of us total in there - half of those 12 were from my family), but it's like the only air-conditioned room in the whole theatre... That was the selling point, at least!
So, I quickly learned that yes, yes, this is something we did in fact need (after the HOT morning and afternoon we'd already endured), and I'm thankful that Hubby indulged us!
We got to hang out in the "cool" lounge both before the show and during the intermission, which turned out to be a heavenly treat and a welcome break from fanning ourselves through the show...
Headed to Wimbledon tomorrow!
More {EUROPE} 2018 Fun
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