Another busy day was ahead of us as we headed into town via the tube for a visit to the Tower of London and the crown jewels. We followed the tour for a bit before branching off and doing our own self guided tour. As entertaining as the special tour guards are trying to take in the castle from a throng of 150 people is a tough task. We were able to see the crown jewels and some how avoided a long wait in the queue to see them. An impressive display with a value that would have many zeroes if ever sold.
After exploring more of the large site we left the palace and took a quick photo in front of Tower Bridge (often misnamed as the London Bridge). From here we caught the tube and met Anne for lunch at Gray's Inn. Entering the courtyard was a wonderful respite from the craziness of the streets of London. After lunch we wandered over to Neal's yard and then onto Covent Garden. Our walk continued past the Canadian embassy to Trafalgar square. After spending a few minutes in the square we continued onto Leicester Square and finally piccadilly circus. It was getting late in the afternoon and we had plans to meet with Sarah for dinner. As we headed toward the tube to get to Sarah's we stumbled across the four o'clock parade.
"The Four 'O' Clock Parade, also known as the Dismounting Ceremony and Punishment Parade takes place at 16:00 hours in the courtyard in front of the Horse Guards building.(Facing Whitehall).
The guards are inspected by an Officer and then the mounted guards take the horses back to the stables for the night.
Two dismounted sentries will then guard the entrance until 20:00 when the gates to Horse Guards are closed and then one sentry will remain on duty until 07:00 when the gates re-open.
The 4 'o' Clock Parade started in 1894 when Queen Victoria found the entire guard drinking and gambling while on duty.
As a punishment, she said they had to be inspected every day at 4pm by an officer for the next 100 years!
The 100 years finished in 1994. However, the reigning Queen wanted the parade to continue as a tradition."
We watched a bit of the parade and then hurried to get to Sarah's. We enjoyed a nice dinner of chili con carne, seeing her, her beautiful children and another visit with Syl who was in town for a couple nights. We joked that Sarah's husband Andrew doesn't actually exist as he has done a fine job of evading us. Eventually we head back to Anne and Dan's and had one final drink with Ben as he was over for a visit.
A busy but wonderful day.
After exploring more of the large site we left the palace and took a quick photo in front of Tower Bridge (often misnamed as the London Bridge). From here we caught the tube and met Anne for lunch at Gray's Inn. Entering the courtyard was a wonderful respite from the craziness of the streets of London. After lunch we wandered over to Neal's yard and then onto Covent Garden. Our walk continued past the Canadian embassy to Trafalgar square. After spending a few minutes in the square we continued onto Leicester Square and finally piccadilly circus. It was getting late in the afternoon and we had plans to meet with Sarah for dinner. As we headed toward the tube to get to Sarah's we stumbled across the four o'clock parade.
"The Four 'O' Clock Parade, also known as the Dismounting Ceremony and Punishment Parade takes place at 16:00 hours in the courtyard in front of the Horse Guards building.(Facing Whitehall).
The guards are inspected by an Officer and then the mounted guards take the horses back to the stables for the night.
Two dismounted sentries will then guard the entrance until 20:00 when the gates to Horse Guards are closed and then one sentry will remain on duty until 07:00 when the gates re-open.
The 4 'o' Clock Parade started in 1894 when Queen Victoria found the entire guard drinking and gambling while on duty.
As a punishment, she said they had to be inspected every day at 4pm by an officer for the next 100 years!
The 100 years finished in 1994. However, the reigning Queen wanted the parade to continue as a tradition."
We watched a bit of the parade and then hurried to get to Sarah's. We enjoyed a nice dinner of chili con carne, seeing her, her beautiful children and another visit with Syl who was in town for a couple nights. We joked that Sarah's husband Andrew doesn't actually exist as he has done a fine job of evading us. Eventually we head back to Anne and Dan's and had one final drink with Ben as he was over for a visit.
A busy but wonderful day.
 |
| Tori and Tower Bridge |
 |
| Neil's Yard |
 |
| four o'clock parade |
 |
| Trafalgar Square |
 |
| Inside Tower of London |
Comments
Post a Comment