Changing of Guards at the Buckingham Palace

This ceremony takes place everyday from April-July and on alternate days during the rest of the year, it is almost a 700-year-old tradition, but still attracts a large crowd every time it happens. Today was no different. Hundreds of tourists thronged the fences of the Buckingham palace and were fighting for a good position from which they can see the Changing of Guard. 

The Guard that looks after Buckingham Palace is called The Queen's Guard and changing the Guard or Guard Mounting involves a new guard exchanging duty with the old guard. All the guards taking part in this colourful spectacle are dressed in traditional red tunics and bearskin hats, and the entire ceremony is set to music.

The change of guards is not just a ceremonial event though. The Queen’s guard consists of some of the best soldiers in the British Army who have fought in almost every major clash. The strength of the guard is determined by the Queen’s presence – if she is at home, the guard is larger.

The crowd opposite the palace, trying to catch a
glimpse of the ceremony

The ceremony begins at 11:30 and takes about 45 minutes. One of the policewomen who were regulating the crowd told us that people start lining right from the wee hours of the morning to get a good view of the ceremony. But we were super late and reached the palace only around 11:15 and to our great disappointment, all we could see was only human heads, the guards were at a blurry distance. After looking for a good spot in vain for about ten minutes, we tried squeezing through the crowd, and me being small had its advantage, I was able to peek through one of the fences and a guard marched pretty close to me. How cool is that! But for want of a better position, we thought we would at least go up the steps opposite the palace, but as we were moving with the crowd, we were stopped by the regulating policemen and by pure blind luck, we were stuck RIGHT OUTSIDE one of the gates with a good view. The kind but firm policewoman said, “Some of you have been waiting here since morning and some of you just got lucky, but I would rather that everybody got a good view so do not come beyond this post”. Well, I wasn't complaining. I was the lucky one. They also kindly allowed all the kids in the crowd to come forward and sit which was pretty sweet. We were all waiting for the guards to come through the gate and we could hear a mixture of languages being spoken by tourists from across the world around us.

My initial view through the bars

Then the music started and the guards followed the band playing the ceremonial music. They all marched in unison and a hundred cameras from the crowd followed them as they marched. We couldn't believe it was happening right in front of us! It was like we had drunk a bottle of Felix Felicis(Harry Potter reference). 

After the ceremony, we sat down in the 53-acre St. James’ Park to have our packed chapathis. We were just idling around watching the birds and the crowds disperse after the ceremony. Got a glimpse of the old guards walking back at a distance. Now we are off to Victoria terminus to catch our bus to Stonehenge. See ya!

 

River Thames Cruise

The best way to appreciate the majestic beauty of London is from the waters. The river cruises in London offer wonderful views of the iconic landmarks that we identify with London.

Our River Thames cruise came free with our Original Bus Tour tickets. The cruise is conducted through the popular City Cruises. If you are looking to book a separate tour for yourself, you can do so through their website www.citycruises.com. Cruises depart every 30 minutes from Westminster Pier, London Eye Pier, Tower Pier and Greenwich Pier throughout the year. They also have combination tickets with some of the popular attractions of London.

The Tower Bridge

 

The Tower Bridge opened up to let a boat in

By chance, we took the cruise in the best time of the day. Our 24-hour bus ticket was expiring around noon. So we decided to start our day with a lovely river cruise on a cold morning. All the pictures that we took during the cruise have a slight grey tone to them, because of the steady mist that enveloped the air. Our cruise was from Tower Pier – Westminster pier, and we got on an almost-empty cruise boat.

London Eye as seen from the cruise

As the name suggests, the tower pier is pretty close to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. You get GREAT views of the Tower Bridge from the cruise and you will pass through the famous London Bridge on the way. We even saw the tower bridge opening to let a boat go through. This route passes through The Shard, the tallest building in London and as you approach the Westminster pier, you get great views of the Palace of Westminster (Big Ben!), London Eye and other prominent landmarks.

The shard - you cannot see the top because of the mist

If you are using the cruise as a means of transport to London’s sightseeing spots, Westminster pier is THE stop. This stop lets you explore the Houses of Parliament, Tate Britain, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Churchill Museum, Westminster Abbey, Cabinet War Rooms, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben.

The cruise also sells coffee and snacks, to satiate your hunger pangs. You can also have an English tea while cruising, propose to your sweetheart…the options are limitless to say the truth. I would suggest that you explore different options based on what you hope to experience from the cruise.

Big Ben and the House of Parliament as seen from the cruise, the mist is slowly starting to clear now

Expenses:

Ticket from Tower Pier to Westminster pier - £8.78 for one way, if you buy the ticket online

(ours came free)

The Original Bus Tour – Buckingham Palace, Tower of London and London Eye

We are back in London! Andddd… we were off pretty early in the morning. Thanks once again to Cheena’s generous cousin, we had two vouchers for The Original Bus Tour of London. As far as we could see, London has two main operators who run these open-top sightseeing buses – The Original Tour and The Big Bus. Both of them are pretty frequent and the city is full of these buses (this is probably a “the grass is greener on the other side” reaction, but I thought I saw more of the Big Buses than the Original ones). You have 24/48/72 hour hop-on hop-off bus tickets and these tickets also come with free river cruises, walking tours etc.

Trafalgar Square - you can see The National Gallery in the bg

Our first stop was the Charing Cross station. We got off the station, stopped by at Trafalgar Square and swore at the statue of the British guy(Sir Henry Havelock) who crushed the Sepoy Mutiny and stared at Master Yoda and a few other fools sitting mid-air in the square. We didn't lurk for too long and went straight to The Original London Visitor Centre, a few yards away from the square. We exchanged the vouchers for the 24-hour tickets and took the T1 route bus at its first stop.

The live guides in these open top buses are amazing. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said they are the highlight of the tour – they are funny, intuitive and informative. They give you little details which probably won’t be available in any of the guide books that you will read, hidden spots that you are most likely to miss unless you knew it was there, snippets of history that only a Londoner would know.

TWININGS! Yes, the makers of the tea that you love! They are in this building from 1706 and it might interest my advertising compatriates to know that this logo was created in 18787 and is the oldest continuous logo still in use

Bad picture, but see that golden seal on the wall? That means that this shop supplies to Royalty!

 I would recommend that you do one entire round in the bus before you hop-off at a stop. But we had an agenda, and we got off at the Buckingham Palace. We were lucky enough that we visited in September – the State Rooms of the palace are open only in the months of August and September when the Queen is in her other residence. The State Rooms are the public rooms of the palace, where the monarchs receive their guests. On entry, we bought the tickets, audio guides and a souvenir book. No pictures allowed.

View of the palace from the Buckingham Palace Gardens

The audio guide was brilliant and had precise and concise information on each of the attractions of every State Room. We couldn't stop gaping at the grandeur of the rooms and couldn't help thinking half of the grandeur probably came from the wealth of India. The tour of the State Rooms ended in the gardens of the palace. The sprawling garden occupies 42 acres and is home to a lot of birds. Apparently, the Queen holds her garden parties here. We sat down in one of the benches and clicked a few pictures. We spotted some birds while we were walking towards the exit. There is also an ice-cream parlour close to the exit. The Garden Shop has homeware, china, clothing and jewellery, children’s toys, books and postcards, all inspired by the Royal Collection, so the prices are also as royal. Of course, all the income from your purchase goes straight towards the care of the Royal Collection. Ahem ahem. There was no Change of Guard today at the palace, so we are planning to come back for it another day.

All the yummy food!

Our next stop was a restaurant near Piccadilly Circus. Generous Cousin had booked us a table for traditional English afternoon tea. It was delectable. Finger-sized sandwiches, followed by scones with butter, jam and/or cream, an assortment of cakes and, of course, tea. Our menu also came with a glass of champagne. I hope our burps of gratitude reached the cousin :)

A free Thames River Cruise came with our ticket, so we decided to take that next. We hopped onto a bus again and enjoyed the guide’s commentary – every guide had something new to say about every place that we passed by. We missed the last cruise by a WHISKER. The ferry was supposed to leave at 6 pm and we despite running breathless from the bus stop, we reached the pier at 6:01 pm. AARRRGGHH. We cursed our luck, cursed the punctuality of the British and the fact that that was the last cruise. We sat down to catch our breath and then decided that since we were there, we might as well take some pictures outside the Tower of London :P 2014 is the centenary of the end of the First World War. To commemorate that, the Tower’s famous moat was completely filled with ceramic poppies. The project, titled Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, will be on display till 11 November this year, after which they would be sold. Each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war.

Cheena with the poppies

After the photo session, we took the last bus of the day to London Eye (the last buses of the day leave at 6 pm from the first stop). We had bought the tickets earlier as a combination with Madame Tussauds and the guide told us it would be open until 8 pm, so we decided to get that done today. We saw a helicopter going overhead and the guide exclaimed that was probably Prince Harry who was going to party with his friends. It’s his birthday today. Happy Birthday, Prince Harry!

London Eye is overhyped. It is just a giant wheel with a capsule. But we got lucky as we got into the capsule just around sunset. We could see both the day view and the night view from the capsule. The capsule had a guide marking various landmarks that can be viewed from the London Eye. We couldn’t clearly see half of them, so we just stood in the capsule taking pictures of the Big Ben. London Eye also had a 4D show, but in comparison to the one in Madame Tussauds, this was pretty juvenile.

Big Ben and London Eye

We recharged our Oyster card at the station and took the tube back to Ickenham. London’s superior public transport system is so convenient. I am so envious. India has a long way to go, but we should take solace that we are at least on the right path, if Delhi Metro is anything to go by. A thanks to the British rule is also in order for the railway infrastructure.

Expenses:

• Buckingham Palace tickets to view the State Rooms, audio guides and souvenir book - £45
• Oyster card top-up - £10
• Original Bus Tour 24 hours - Around £25, you can get group discounts. Also look out for special deals on the website
• Afternoon Tea(that was our lunch. lol) - gifted :)

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum

We could have been in the Taj Mahal or Qutb Minar, and we still wouldn’t have seen so many excited Indians crowded together. I guess you could very well assume that the folks from the Indian sub-continent are the reason that Madame Tussauds is up and running.

Two minutes walk from Baker’s Street tube station that connects almost five lines, the Madame Tussauds wax museum is easy enough to identify. There are combination tickets available at the museum, which helps you get entry to different popular attractions at a combined discounted price. Madame Tussauds + London Eye and Madame Tussauds + London Eye + Aquarium are the popular combos. We purchased the Madame Tussauds + London Eye ticket and entered the museum with only less than an hour left for the closing time.

The museum has many levels containing wax figures in different themes – Party, Bollywood, Film, Sports, Royals, Culture, Music and World Leaders. There is also a horror chamber, behind the scenes at Madame Tussauds level, “Spirit of London” Ride and Marvel Studios with 4D experience.

After clicking away selfies with various A-listers, we moved on to Bollywood. Senior Bachchan and the Bachchan Bahu standing at a vantage point to Salman Khan had me in splits. We were clicking more selfies with random celebrities in the Films section, when we met with a guy who looked like one of the obviously filthy rich lads from somewhere in North India. He kept tagging along with us and was more than willing to click pictures of us, in exchange for us taking his photos, of course. It was a pretty good agreement and now we have photos with Johny Depp, Robin Williams, Brangelina, Audrey Hepburn, Shrek, Sachin Tendulkar, Roger Federer, Steven Spielberg and the like. It gets boring after a point, I admit. But I also understood why Indians crowd this museum – a selfie with Sachin Tendulkar, wax or not, makes a good profile picture on Facebook or Whatsapp.

Thalaivaaa!!

Photographers were stationed next to the British Royal Family and President Obama. You could collect the pictures at the end of the tour for a fee. They also obliged to take pictures of us in our own cameras, which I thought was very decent of them considering that almost always meant we weren’t going to buy the professional photos.

The Spirit of London ride is a cart ride through London’s history. This was fun, like being in an amusement park. I really enjoyed it but we could hardly hear the voice explaining London’s history over the screams of everyone else. I noticed the staff helping a differently abled kid get into the cart earlier and thought that India has a LONG way to go in terms of facilities for the physically challenged.

My Iron Man :P

The highlight of the museum definitely has to be the Marvel 4D show. I remember watching a similar 4D show in one of Mumbai’s malls, but this one was vera level. Very well staged and very well done. I don't want to give it away so you have to go see it for yourself.

The exit to the museum was through the shops, where we decided not to buy anything. At the exit, there was a digital feedback form where you could request for your favourite celebrities to be added to the display and guess what Cheena wrote? Rajinikanth.

The museum is usually open from 9:30 to 17:30 on all days, but the timings might be extended a little on peak hours. The spirit of London ride is closed on some days, so you might want to check the dates online before making a visit.

Update: They have added Katniss Everdeen(Jennifer Lawrence) and Sherlock Holmes(Benedict Cumberbatch) as of Jan 2015.

Expenses:

• Entry tickets for Madame Tussauds and London Eye(combo) - £89.90 for two adults
• Picture Postcards - £0.45
•  Food - £6.00
• Oyster card - £0.00 (Cheena’s cousin and her husband’s cards which were already topped up for our use)

The Magical World of Harry Potter - Warner Bros. Studios, London

Let’s face it – I think The Harry Potter Series are the greatest books in the world.  I don’t care if JKR’s books are not literary classics. I mean, I would rather read The Times of India over The Hindu. Vocabulary be damned, all I want is news. So it was only natural that we started our honeymoon with a trip to the Harry Potter Studios in London.

The nondescript entrance

A 30-minute drive from Ickenham, where Cheena’s cousin lives, the studios are situated in Leavesden. We were going out of town, so there wasn't any traffic around and when the studios came into view, I am sure my jaw dropped. We were finally here! Wait till I tell Bhuvana and the other Potter-heads. The outside of the studios was actually not jaw-dropping brilliance though. It was like a hastily erected shed, save for a few posters. We got the tickets and when we went in, it was a different story altogether.

**spoiler alert for Potter-heads who want to visit**

**what-is-this-gibberish alert for the folks who haven’t read Harry Potter or watched the movies(why do you even exist?!)**

Cupboard under the stairs

The queue was leading to The Cupboard Under The Stairs. We got the audio book and we were already fidgeting with it and trying to click selfies with the cupboard in the background. Posters of the cast adorned the walls and Mad-Eye Moody was looming over one corner.

The entrance and the coffee shop

The queue slowly thinned down and we were finally in a dark room with a voice welcoming us and listing the laurels and records the movies made. I counted a few Japanese girls amongst the crowd. A staff with Hogwarts robes ushered us in and we were facing a giant theatre screen in front of us. Everyone was scrambling to get good seats and we could see more Hogwarts robed staff trying to help the visitors. Sooner than later, Daniel Radcliffe was on the screen welcoming everyone and telling us about the making of the films and then Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were doing the same thing. When Daniel Radcliffe pointed sideways and said, “Welcome to the world of Harry Potter”(or something of that sort), the screen moved up and we were facing the doors of The Great Hall. When the screen scrolled up, I had trickles of tears in my eyes, don't ask me why. Birthday babies got the opportunity to open the doors and thennn, we were inside the great hall itself. From that point onwards, it is all a blur.

I like to think that is Nearly Headless Nick on the right

The studios are really a treat for all fans of Harry Potter. You could click pictures sitting at the Gryffindor table, admire the dress that Hermione wore to the Yule Ball, try to see if the fireplaces at the ministry will let you use Floo Powder or cajole the Fat Lady to let you in without a password.


The studios cover almost all the Hogwarts and Ministry sets. You also have a section where you can ride on a broomstick and get a videodisc burnt with you magically flying over the walls of the Hogwarts castle. A very popular attraction for kids and adults alike, you can try it if you don't mind being 30 pounds short after 10 minutes of flying on a broom. You could also try practicing wand waving for a fee, provided you don't mind looking like a fool brandishing a wooden stick with curious visitors stopping by to watch you. Little booklets were also being distributed, and you could get seals of various places like the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts at the respective sets.

The Knight Bus

The Buckbeak replica used in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was SO life-like that I kept staring at it for a solid ten minutes. The Burrow and The Potions dungeon room had self-stirring cauldrons and needles sewing by itself. Umbridge’s office was pukishly pink and it was right next to Dumbledore’s office. I tried saying Sherbet Lemon to the eagle, but looks like Dumbledore changed the password. The Magic is Might statue was towering over everything else and the snakes at the entrance to the chamber of secrets creeped me out a little bit.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

Andddd then, I was in the DIAGON ALLEY! I felt like Harry when he first saw the alley, but of course there was no Weasleys Wizard Wheezes back then. Ollivander’s, Madam Malkins, the Apothecary, Puking Pasties, Gringotts…yoooohoooo! After clicking tons of pictures and using the free wi-fi to peethify to friends back home, I reluctantly walked out after Cheena gave me his evil glare.

Once we were out, we were facing the Hogwarts Bridge, Godric’s Hollow, Privet Drive and The Knight bus, all lined up right next to each other. The Knight bus was apparently constructed by adding a double decker bus to an ordinary bus. We also clicked pictures sitting on the flying Ford Anglia and Sirius’ motorbike and we took a walk on the bridge sipping yummy Butterbeer. This area also had tables and a snack counter. It was a lovely day and we were pretty hungry as well, so we sat down to have a cheese sandwich (the only vegetarian option) facing the Potters’ house in Godric’s Hollow.

The Burrow

After this, we were looking at the different masks made for the goblins, the elves (Dobby looked sooo cute and paavam) and the other creatures. The tour ends with the shops where you want to scream “TAKE MY MONEY!!” and buy the whole place, but I obviously couldn't do that so I had to make do with a Gryffindor bookmark. Oh, we also bought an Elder wand for a friend (they had almost every character’s wand for sale). I wanted to buy a Hogwarts scarf or a jumper, but they were way beyond our budget so I just shot pictures of everything. They had a whole lot of sweets as well – Bertie Botts’ Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Sherbet Lemons and the like.  

Say hi to Buckbeak!

Then, it was time to go. You would think I would be content and happy that I finally came here and saw all this magnificence, but no…now I want to visit the Harry Potter Studios in the USA. Hee hee.

The whole tour takes about 3 hours. Add an hour more if you are with young Potter fans.

Expenses:

• Entrance Fee – £33 per person
• Audio Guide – £4.95 per person
• Souvenir guidebook -  £9.95
• Souvenir - £25 for an Elder Wand, £8.85 for a Gryffindor Bookmark and a Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios clapboard fridge magnet
•  Butter Beer (basic one without the fancy souvenir mugs) - £5.90 for two
• Sandwich and Chips - £3.70
• Drive to the studios and back - £0.00 (Thanks to Cheena’s cousin)

Update: The Hogwarts Express has now been added to the exhibits!! It starts on March 19th, 2015.

Hello London!

After a long and boring flight, we are finally in London! If my curse is powerful, the Sri Lankan
Airlines guy who gave us a window and aisle seat for Chennai-Colombo and seats right in the middle of the flight sandwiched between two people for Colombo-London is definitely going to hell.

Grumpy after the flight

Jennifer Lawrence in the background

The journey was pretty uneventful. I watched Rio 2 on board and the husband was switching between games and movies. He slept through most of the flight, but I wasn't so lucky. I was tossing and turning and trying to figure out the best time to go to the loo because I was scared to annoy the huge German woman sitting next to me. 

We were picked up by his cousin and her husband and after a short drive, we arrived at their place. Extremely grateful for the lovely Indian food she served us. Handed over the usual baggage of parupu podis and vadaams from the family.

We have currently hijacked their 16 year old son's room. The room is filled with books, musical instruments and strangely enough, teddy bears. It is a happy room and we are happily off to sleep! (Oh yeah...the husband is already asleep with the teddy bears as you can see)

Busy day ahead tomorrow!