A Royal Adventure

A year in the planning and executed to perfection: 'A Royal Day Out' at Buckingham Palace lived up to every expectation. The morning began with a homage to HM The Queen by watching 'The Queen: A Monarch For All Seasons' and then it was off for our adventure on the 08:00 National Express to Victoria:

After a few moments of quiet time after our journey, it was a quick walk along Buckingham Palace Road to the palace itself. We were met with scores of on-lookers and the sounds of a brass band. With a dash across the road and through St. James's Park, we were in perfect view of The Queen's Guard and the military band marching through the streets en route to Buckingham Palace. This was followed by a photo opportunity with a Queen's Guard outside The Guards Chapel.

Through the streets of Westminster we excitedly walked, arriving outside Westminster Abbey. The opportunity of more selfies continued to present itself at virtually every corner, which we fully exploited!

From Westminster we traveled up Whitehall, viewed the Cenotaph and the memorial to the women of world war II, stopped at Downing Street, past Horse Guards Parade and then paused for lunch at Trafalgar Square. The current sculpture on the Fourth Plinth is a bright blue cockerel symbolising regeneration and strength. Titled Hahn/Cock, the 4.72m tall sculpture was created by German artist Katharina Fritsch.

After lunch, we put our best foot forward walking under Admiralty Arch and down The Mall, before arriving The Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace. The current exhibition at the Queen's Gallery was The First Georgians, Art & Monarchy 1714 - 1760. A fascinating insight into this era of our nations history. It was then onto The Royal Mews with displays of the royal state coaches and cars, stables and horses.

Following our tour of Buckingham Palace, where no photos were permitted to be taken inside, it was straight to the garden cafe for a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel and 2 cakes; we couldn't resist the temptation of Her Majesty's finest treats for her public.