A tale of two cities… and a few other places… COMPLETED - Page 29 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Quite a time at Buckingham Palace and that is quite an exhibit with some very unique gifts from various countries! Great details on this. I hope you were there for the changing of the guard so Jan could see this. I saw this once and quite amazed with the process and show.
No we weren't. There was just no way we could fit it into one day there. It is a spectacle, but hopefully she got to see lots else that made up for missing it....
Tuesday 19 September – part nine: into the royal garden…
Despite the fact that Buckingham Palace says it will take the average visitor two and a half hours to get around the palace, we were late arriving – we had a 2:00pm arrival time, and walked in about 2:20pm, and we were done by 3:30pm.
When we came out, I heard a couple of people asking if they could get on the 3:30pm Garden Highlights Tour, so I asked as well. At first quite a brusque woman told us that it was unlikely, as the tour was full. Ok…
Another woman kindly told us to stay here, and check, so we did, and we made it, along with about five other people. I was so relieved, as the 4:15pm tour I’d originally booked would’ve made things very tight for later on.
I was very more relieved when it transpired they had a buggy for those with mobility difficulties. I boarded it, and Jan came with me, and at first it was just the two of us, but as we went round, we acquired more people, shall we say? There was a bit of a disagreement about whether a woman’s small pull along suitcase (think carry on size) should be on the buggy, as one of the members of staff said it was people over cases, which I would agree with, but the buggy driver relented and let her put it on, which I thought was wrong. Oh well.
The tour was fascinating, and a lovely glimpse into the private parts of the garden, but because of that, we weren’t allowed to take any photos. However, here are a couple I took in the public area:
I will add in here what I can remember from the tour, but it’s not that comprehensive, as our tour talked so much and gave us so much information, and I wasn’t able to make notes until much later on. Anyway… one of our first stops was to admire two London Plane trees. I’d never heard of these before, but our guide told us they were all over the gardens. She described them as being like the “lungs of London”, as they held to suck out some of the carbon dioxide pollution in the city. These two trees were planted by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, which I thought was very neat.
Further along, we stopped to admire another London Plane tree that was planted by King George VI. A few years ago, it was running into all sorts of problems, and was looking very weak. The Queen asked for everything to be done to be save it, because it was a reminder of her father, so the gardeners used pesticides to keep it going, and my goodness, you should see it now. Let’s just say it definitely did the trick, as it’s in a fine state now.
Our guide also pointed out a bed of salmon coloured roses, and said they were called Elizabeth of Glamis. A lot of us, me included, immediately knew what that meant. It was another name for the Queen Mother and they’d been planted for her, directed by the Prince of Wales.
I managed to get a photo of them on zoom from the public area!
As we made our way to the King George VI, our guide showed us the herbaceous border that had something to see all year round, so that the Queen always has something of interest to admire, should she choose to walk the corgis down here, which was a nice touch. It was packed with unusual plants, including ginger and banana. Definitely not what I was expecting to see here!
When we got to the main section of rose beds, there was a team of gardeners out scarifying the lawn. We learnt that when they were established, the theory was that when you created a rose bed, you should only ever put roses of the same colour together. Ok, so we got that wrong in our front garden then…
We were also told that the garden has been carefully designed so that you only have one highlight in any one place and, wherever you are, you can’t see the other bits of the garden, so one highlight doesn’t detract from the other if that makes sense?
We got to the bottom end of the garden, and trust me, by this point I was very glad that they had a mobility vehicle, as this was a lot of walking. We saw a lake with two islands on it, and they only have bees on one island, while there are only birds on another island. The only people allowed out there are the royal bee keeper (for the bee island) and an ornithologist (for the bird island). Can you imagine being the only person allowed out on an island? Wow.
They also have an area of wildflowers that’s only cut twice a year to encourage wildlife, so it was nice to hear that they are trying to support wildlife in this way.
About this point, our guide asked if we could see the tennis courts, and we could just about glimpse it. The reason? In 2004, the Queen agreed to surround it with trees and hedges to hide it away. One of those is native to much warmer climates (don’t ask me for the name, I can’t remember! ) the head gardener pretty much said that won’t grow here. Well, now it’s one of the highest plants here, so I guess it likes it!
I was so glad we did this, as I learnt a lot from it, but thank goodness I didn’t have to walk it. I think that would’ve killed me.
Oooh, I didn't know they had garden tours! Very nice. It's a huge area for sure though. Glad you could sit and ride for it too!
The bit about not being able to see one highlighted area from another reminds me of Disney World. How Walt didn't want you to be able to see Fantasyland from Frontierland, or what have you.
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Tanya
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The garden tour sounds great. We enjoyed the walk we did from the palace to one of the exits, it covered a lot of the grounds, but clearly none of the private areas.
Oooh, I didn't know they had garden tours! Very nice.
I didn't know they did either, until I saw them advertised on the website...
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It's a huge area for sure though. Glad you could sit and ride for it too!
Oh my goodness, that made all the difference!
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The bit about not being able to see one highlighted area from another reminds me of Disney World. How Walt didn't want you to be able to see Fantasyland from Frontierland, or what have you.
That's so true. He didn't, but now it seems to happen all over the place at all the parks.
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Glad you were able to do the garden tour and looks like it was well worth it. Even better was the ride for the tour. Great photos of the gardens of what you were allowed to photograph. Interesting about the planting of roses by color. Sounds like floral segregation!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Glad you were able to do the garden tour and looks like it was well worth it. Even better was the ride for the tour. Great photos of the gardens of what you were allowed to photograph. Interesting about the planting of roses by color. Sounds like floral segregation!
Tuesday 19 September – part ten: “I got a black cab!”
Once we were in the public area of the garden, we could take photos, so I took the opportunity to do so as we walked back towards the palace, as we wanted to visit the shop before we headed out.
Now, during the tour, Mark had asked if they had swans here, given they’re Royal birds and all belong to the Queen. He was told as they can be vicious and they don’t want them attacking anyone. Lo and behold, look what we saw on the way back!
We made our way into the shop, and as last year, there is a huge selection in here, all very well laid out…
This is one of the best bits of marketing I’ve seen – I loved this image last year and I’m so glad they still had it this year And another great bit of marketing!
Jan bought a few bits, and I got the book I mentioned earlier, and then we made our way out…
We were looking for a black cab (taxi), so that Jan could experience going in one of those as well. At first, every one we saw wasn’t in service – you can tell by whether the light on top is lit up or not. Then Mark spotted one, and flagged him down. Honestly, it was the highlight of his day – he was like “I got a black cab!”
We headed over to Westminster Abbey, and got out there for a photo stop. The first stone in the construction of the abbey was laid back in 1050 by King Edward the Confessor. However, what you see today doesn’t date back that far. Like any churches that old, there’s been rebuilding along the way, with a new one started in 1245, and then a rebuilding of the nave in 1376. The West Towers were only added in 1734. Westminster Abbey is most famous as being the resting place for the vast majority of Britain’s monarchs.
Ok, a bit out of keeping, but this is the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre and this is where I had my second graduation – for my radio journalism postgraduate degree
We then walked alongside the Abbey….
This is St. Margaret’s church, where society weddings take place – I believe MPs and their families can get married here
… and made our way over to the Houses of Parliament, which is undergoing a multi-million renovation that’s due to take four years. This is why Big Ben is no longer chiming, and as it got to 5:30pm, I will confess to having tears in my eyes. I adore that sound. To me, that’s how I know I’m in London, and I really missed it.
The London Eye with Portcullis House, home to some of our MPs, in front of it From here, Big Ben looks normal…
… but not when you pan out… And the work is elsewhere on the Houses of Parliament too…
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I was so tempted to buy a stuffed corgi last year at the gift shop. They’re so cute!
It would be strange not to hear Big Ben. That’s a lot of scaffolding! At least you can still get some pictures of Ben that look ‘normal’.
Awww, corgis! Our family had one when I was a little kid. Not the pembroke though, the cardigan. So the black one with white and brown markings.
I suppose even Big Ben and parliament need sprucing up from time to time. A bummer it happened to be when Jan was there. The clock itself is still looking good though!
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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Great details on this. I hope you were there for the changing of the guard so Jan could see this. I saw this once and quite amazed with the process and show.
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I was so relieved, as the 4:15pm tour I’d originally booked would’ve made things very tight for later on. 
I boarded it, and Jan came with me, and at first it was just the two of us, but as we went round, we acquired more people, shall we say? 
There was a bit of a disagreement about whether a woman’s small pull along suitcase (think carry on size) should be on the buggy, as one of the members of staff said 
it was people over cases, which I would agree with, but the buggy driver relented and let her put it on, which I thought was wrong. Oh well. 
However, here are a couple I took in the public area: 
We saw a lake with two islands on it, and they only have bees on one island, while there are only birds on another island. The only people allowed out there are the royal bee keeper (for the bee island) and an ornithologist (for the bird island). Can you imagine being the only person allowed out on an island? Wow. 
Sounds like floral segregation! 
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