(T) Today was our last morning with Marg & Doug, again such a shame we're in different countries. Not long after waking, Sarah was skyping with her folks when the sounds of little Alfie came through, keen to find out if we were still there. A morning filled with fun and games followed, a great way to finish out our time.
After a scrumptious lunch it was then on the road to London for an after-hours guided tour of Buckingham Palace. Arriving in Wembley at 4pm we had to check-in to the hotel and get to the palace all within an hour. By chance a cab driver was at the hotel so we jumped in only to be confronted by grid lock a few hundred yards in. We pleaded and he swung the cab around and weaved through traffic ( sometimes the wrong side of the road ) and got us to the closest train station. In a flash sarah was out of the cab and charging into the station, i threw some cash at the driver and bolted after her. Onto the train we endured an anxious ride watching the clock as the stations counted down to our destination. The odds were against us as time slipped away, this was to be our amazing race! At the station we hit the ground running, it was like a scene from a movie busting our way through the crowds throwing our "sorry" and "excuse me" all over the place as we knew they didn't take late comers, the 5 o'clock peak hr was working against us. We raced towards the gates waving our tickets in the air like madmen and there just as they were preparing to give up on us and close them ( we were only 5 minutes late! ). So, out of breath and sweaty we went through security and joined the tour in our runners and hiking boots to find everyone else rather dressed up. Alas, we made it!
(S) Once we got into the palace, it took us a few minutes to gather our thoughts and appreciate the fact that we were inside the home of the Queen. It wasn't until we went outside in the courtyard that it really hit me, we could see through the gates to the other side where we could see the Victoria Memorial, not to mention other tourists taking their photos looking through at us. We then proceeded through the state rooms which consisted of drawing rooms, music rooms, ballrooms and the Queens gallery. Now, let us not forget the other reason for wanting a tour of the palace... the dress! During our outside of hours tour we were able to get within a couple of meters of it to admire how beautiful it truly is. The lace was stunning, so delicate and fine. Unfortunately we were unable to take any pictures from inside the palace (for obvious reasons).
(S & T) After our tour ( we left through the front gates in front of all the other tourists, we felt special ), we admired the palace from the outside and took many photos. We then proceeded up the mall into the centre of town. We had a bit of a wander, got dinner in another traditional English pub before heading back (calmly this time).