26 July 2015

Today we had tickets for Buck Palace so I had to do the organising! We had an early start as had to be at the Palace by 9.30am for tour starting time of 9.45am. Tube to Victoria station then walked along Buckingham Palace Road for about 10 minutes to the side gates of the Palace. There were hundreds of people heading the same way as it was the opening day for the Palace. It is open from today until end of September. From the number of people going through the income must be incredible! I think its great though as it is a wonderful building full of amazing paintings and artifacts, not to mention the furnishings and other embellishments - its truly amazing!

The tour makes its way up the Grand Staircase, through the Guard Chamber and into the Green Drawing Room. Silken walls and guilding are prominent and several magnificent paintings. The Throne Room is all red and gold and contains two thrones, one with ER on it and the other P. Through on into the Picture Gallery built to house George IV picture collection. The ceiling is curved glass which makes the room light and airy. Paintings by Ruben feature here. Van Dyk's paintings are prominent in the palace. He was contracted by Charles 1 for 9 years to paint members of the royal family. On through various other rooms and into the Ballroom where State banquets are held. Here the tables have been set as if for a banquet with flower arrangements, glassware, cutlery and crockery all placed meticulously around the tables. Huge candelabara were placed on the tables with an enormous one at the top table where the Queen would sit. Absolutely gorgeous! We passed through the Blue Drawing Room , the Music Room and the White Drawing room, descended the Minister's staircase out into the Palace garden. It was great - I loved it! Nan, thanks for making us make the time to do this.

Once we left the palace grounds - via the garden walk which we really enjoyed, we then headed back to Victoria station heading for Euston and on to Camben Town. By this time (11.45) there were hundreds of people out and about and it was a nightmare negotiating our way down the tube. We spent about an hour at the Cambden Markets before giving in and heading to the nearest pub for a beer. Very hot by then and wall to wall people.

Just home and peeling off our footwear and resting. Another full day!