When Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith invites you up to the big house you drop what you are doing and go. We received the invitation to be at Buckingham Palace at half past nine on Saturday September 1. We arrived early and were met at the gate by a servant who inspected our belongings so as to make us feel secure in these troubled times.
We were then given a leisurely tour of the Queens private art collection. Elizabeth had selected some of the most important pieces of art from the collection that represented Italian artist. The curators of the Her Majesty gallery whispered in our ears the whole time we were there and told us about the art and the artists. Unfortunately my poor memory for names extends beyond my students to Italian artists as well. I do recall several works by Michelangelo. The Queen has inherited most of these paintings from former Monarchs who had bought and in some case re-bought these paintings and drawings after they had been sold by previous Kings during times when they were a bit strapped for cash. Some were also gifts given by individuals and countries. The art included not only paintings but also drawings, statues, jewelry, and furniture. It was a very impressive collection. http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/microsites/theartofitaly/highlights.asp
After we finished looking at and learning about the art we strolled up to the Queen’s home and office. We were met again by servants who checked on the work of the previous inspectors and we were then ushered in to the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace. The State Rooms are those that are used for public events that the House of Windsor hosts numerous times each year. She holds several garden parties where several thousand of her close friends are invited to attend. (I fear that my invitation to those events have mysteriously been lost in the mail.)
The rooms are indescribably beautiful. It is good to be Queen. The palace has been decorated in mostly red, gold and white. The paint is red and white. The gold is gold. It is incredibly stunning some might say ostentatious but they would just be jealous. http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=30
After we were shown the state rooms we were invited to go out the back door and see the back yard. As you might expect a house that large is going to have a nice place out back to play Frisbee. They do indeed have a nice back yard. It is hard to believe that this green oasis is smack in the middle of the largest city in Europe.
After a brief lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant (we did not want to impose on the Queen to feed us) we visited the Royal Mews. I thought this was just another word for barn but it turns out that a Mews is “a row of houses or flats converted from stables in a small street or square” and that is just what it is. Penny and I were wondering who lives there. Undoubtedly it is occupied by servants who need to be available on short notice. In addition to the apartments it is here that they house the coaches. These are real coaches not the bus type coaches that we rode in on our journey to London.
The queen has nice stuff. Everything we saw was bright and shiny. For example in the palace there are huge crystal chandeliers in almost every room in the house. They are taken down and cleaned every year. The carriages are kept in top condition and are polished on a regular basis. They are so shiny that it is hard to get a picture without a reflection showing up of someone or something.
With all of the horse drawn coaches I kind of expected to see lots of horses. We did see lots of stalls but only two horses were in the house. They were both rather old (at least I think so. They were about 18 years old. Is that old for a horse?). I assume the other horses were off on vacation and that these two had to stay and represent the others. It must be a lot of pressure on these two.
At around 3:00 we bid the Queen’s staff good bye and asked them to give our regards to Her Majesty who evidently was stuck in Scotland on official business.
This is the point when the joy ride began. We walked to Victoria station and got on bus 52. Do you remember good ole 52? That was the bus we got on instead of bus 9 that took us to Victoria station. It seemed logical that we would be able to go back the opposite direction. It was all working like clockwork. We got back to where we got on and recognize the St. Mary Church. We thought we would stay on and it would take us to our hotel. The bus turned right and we (that would be the “me” we) thought it would just go around a few blocks and then come back to the hotel street. This is not exactly what happened. We turned right again. I still thought my logic was impeccable and the bus would soon correct its course and head back to Kensington High Street. More turns happened and none of them are in the direction of our hotel. Now after about 10 minutes we are committed. We had no clue where we were, no clue how to get back and were far too giggly to ask for help (we had to laugh because crying is too wet).
At around 3:00 we bid the Queen’s staff good bye and asked them to give our regards to Her Majesty who evidently was stuck in Scotland on official business.
This is the point when the joy ride began. We walked to Victoria station and got on bus 52. Do you remember good ole 52? That was the bus we got on instead of bus 9 that took us to Victoria station. It seemed logical that we would be able to go back the opposite direction. It was all working like clockwork. We got back to where we got on and recognize the St. Mary Church. We thought we would stay on and it would take us to our hotel. The bus turned right and we (that would be the “me” we) thought it would just go around a few blocks and then come back to the hotel street. This is not exactly what happened. We turned right again. I still thought my logic was impeccable and the bus would soon correct its course and head back to Kensington High Street. More turns happened and none of them are in the direction of our hotel. Now after about 10 minutes we are committed. We had no clue where we were, no clue how to get back and were far too giggly to ask for help (we had to laugh because crying is too wet).
So we just stayed on the bus and enjoyed the ride. People got on and people got off. Each change of passenger brought a new language and different styles of dress. It was fascinating as we passed from community to community on our impromptu tour of London. After about a 45 minute ride through the highways and byways of London we came to the end of the bus route and the driver said that the solution was to stay on and go back. We had envisioned the bus route as a loop or circle but bus routes are in fact lines (not straight ones but they are lines.) The bus goes down the line turns around and goes back the same way.
Consequently we had about a 45 minute ride back to the church which was still not all that close to our hotel. But we knew where we were. We got on the right street going in the right direction and we found that bus 9 goes down our street. But bus 52 goes across our street at St. Mary church, but not down the street.
We did make it back to the hotel and the room was still hot. Penny called and they said the side of the hotel we are on is having ac trouble so we moved to a smaller but much cooler room.
We thought about going to eat Mexican at "The Texas Embassy” which Ted and Jill recommended. We asked one of the people working at the palace about it earlier in the day. I started by saying I need some help find a restaurant and he gave me a very polite smile which said “sure go on and ask, I have committed all 10,000 restaurants in London to memory, you goofy American doofus”. But when I asked about “The Texas Embassy” he said, “Hey, I know where that is!”
But by the time we got on the subway after our bus ride we decided to not try and find the Embassy. We knew that it was near Leicester Square (that is pronounce Lester). With the trains not all working and thus the busses all being full, we did not want to chance trying to find it, get seated, eat, take the tube back to Piccadilly and arrive before the 8:00 show. So we ate at a restaurant near the theatre and had a relaxed meal and time to watch people a bit on the Circus before going to the show.
The show we saw was “The 39 Steps”. It is a spoof based on the classic film by Alfred Hitchcock. The story is about a man who is falsely accused of murder after he learns of a spy ring that is trying to get secret information out of the country (England not America). He is chased by police across Scotland. There is in the movie from 1939 very famous scenes of chases on a speeding train and being pursued by biplanes. That sounds pretty dramatic and it was in the film. The play however is anything but dramatic. It is a hilarious production. There are about 150 people in the play and there are 4 actors. One of them plays the lead character the whole time and the female actress plays 3 parts. The other two actors play all the rest. It is fast and furious as they switch roles sometimes off stage but sometimes on stage as they put on and remove various hats and coats or as they move behind some piece of furniture or a free standing door and emerge on the other side as a different character.
There was a lot of pantomime that was very convincing. As the reenacted the chase on top of the moving train they had the audience believing that the wind was blowing by their posture and by flapping their clothes. I would like to describe it better but it is “pantomime”!
They also recreated the famous biplane crash on stage. I saw Miss Saigon in New York and in that production they landed a real helicopter on stage. Let’s just say that the biplane crash in this play was not so technically involved, but it was hilarious.
We laughed and laughed. It was so funny that for the most part I did not even think about the fact that the seat I was sitting in was the size of saltine cracker and that the leg room was just barely leg room. While sitting bolt upright my knees were touching the wall railing. We were in the front row of the balcony. We could see great!
When we left the theatre we discovered that bus 9 stops right in front of the theatre and we got on and it took us directly from the theatre to our hotel door. It never fails that as we figure out the transportation system that it is time to leave.
Ray
We did make it back to the hotel and the room was still hot. Penny called and they said the side of the hotel we are on is having ac trouble so we moved to a smaller but much cooler room.
We thought about going to eat Mexican at "The Texas Embassy” which Ted and Jill recommended. We asked one of the people working at the palace about it earlier in the day. I started by saying I need some help find a restaurant and he gave me a very polite smile which said “sure go on and ask, I have committed all 10,000 restaurants in London to memory, you goofy American doofus”. But when I asked about “The Texas Embassy” he said, “Hey, I know where that is!”
But by the time we got on the subway after our bus ride we decided to not try and find the Embassy. We knew that it was near Leicester Square (that is pronounce Lester). With the trains not all working and thus the busses all being full, we did not want to chance trying to find it, get seated, eat, take the tube back to Piccadilly and arrive before the 8:00 show. So we ate at a restaurant near the theatre and had a relaxed meal and time to watch people a bit on the Circus before going to the show.
The show we saw was “The 39 Steps”. It is a spoof based on the classic film by Alfred Hitchcock. The story is about a man who is falsely accused of murder after he learns of a spy ring that is trying to get secret information out of the country (England not America). He is chased by police across Scotland. There is in the movie from 1939 very famous scenes of chases on a speeding train and being pursued by biplanes. That sounds pretty dramatic and it was in the film. The play however is anything but dramatic. It is a hilarious production. There are about 150 people in the play and there are 4 actors. One of them plays the lead character the whole time and the female actress plays 3 parts. The other two actors play all the rest. It is fast and furious as they switch roles sometimes off stage but sometimes on stage as they put on and remove various hats and coats or as they move behind some piece of furniture or a free standing door and emerge on the other side as a different character.
There was a lot of pantomime that was very convincing. As the reenacted the chase on top of the moving train they had the audience believing that the wind was blowing by their posture and by flapping their clothes. I would like to describe it better but it is “pantomime”!
They also recreated the famous biplane crash on stage. I saw Miss Saigon in New York and in that production they landed a real helicopter on stage. Let’s just say that the biplane crash in this play was not so technically involved, but it was hilarious.
We laughed and laughed. It was so funny that for the most part I did not even think about the fact that the seat I was sitting in was the size of saltine cracker and that the leg room was just barely leg room. While sitting bolt upright my knees were touching the wall railing. We were in the front row of the balcony. We could see great!
When we left the theatre we discovered that bus 9 stops right in front of the theatre and we got on and it took us directly from the theatre to our hotel door. It never fails that as we figure out the transportation system that it is time to leave.
Ray
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