I also have to admit that I was slightly underwhelmed by Buckingham Palace. Everywhere else we'd been to, where we were seeing a famous sight for the first time I tended to gasp or at least say "I can't believe I'm here!"...but the palace was a bit tired & dirty looking & the horses were so far from the gate that I lost interest pretty quickly. Near the palace was the other thing that the guards on horses were protecting....I don't know, some museum or something!! What I liked about this was that you could get right up next to the horses & even try to get the guard to smile or something.....well I would have but an American guy tried & the guard gave him such a ferocious & disdainful look that I got scared & chickened out!! While we were there, the boss man turned up for the daily inspection. What a load of pomp & bollocks....I loved it. The boss did lots of shouting, the guards looked suitably scared & I was hooked. I want to be a Queen's Guard & wear the fru-fru hat & the shiny boots that come up to your bum. What a shame I'm a woman.....I don't think all that tradition would welcome me with open arms. Maybe I could just have one of their horses......
The highlight in London for us (yes me too!) was our visit to Lord's - the home of cricket...if the MCG is busy! We walked from Baker Street, where Sherlock Holmes lived but we were quite surprised how residential the area around the ground is. We joined the official tour & received our special, green, Lord's visitor stickers...which I think Andrew still peels off the day before's t-shirt to proudly wear the next day! The tour was great...it started right next to the teeny, tiny urn itself. The portly Lord's tour guide delivered a rather animated story about how the urn came about & then spent 20 mintues explaining to a strong Aussie contingent why, exactly, it needs to stay in England.....forever! Hmmpph! The tour continued into the long room & then into the away team's dressing room......we got to sit where Haydos & Langer sat!! Boonie's seat was closest to the door...some say (well the poncy guide said) it was because he needed to be the closest to the toilets but I don't know...Finally it was out into the grand stand to get a proper look at the ground. What a ridiculous slope it has too...over 2 meters from one side to the other..& it's so much smaller than i expected. Still, it does have an aura & the grass was magnificent....I think Andrew got mower envy when one of the groundskeepers rode over on his beast & drove up & down in front of him!
We poked around in the media centre & looked over the fence at the national ladies team practising in the nets. Then....into the Official Lord's Souvineer Shop....or heaven if you ask Andrew. He rushed from one rack to the next pulling out t-shirts & posters, saying look, there's Clarkie....& finally after much consideration (about an hour) he settled on a t-shirt.....which he still hasn't worn....I think he's afraid it will get dirty!!
So we said goodbye to Lord's & I dragged Andrew off down the street to the other highlight from London...Abbey Road. Yes, I am one of those sad people who took great delight in walking across & having my photo taken wearing the cheesiest grin. Then I snuck up the stairs of the studio (cos I bet I'm the first to have done that) & had my photo taken under the Abbey Road Studios sign. John Mayer played there people! Oh yeah & The Beatles.
Oh my god....I almost forgot to tell you about my other favourite thing.....Harrods! Love at first sight. First stop....Animal Kingdom. Yes the very place where Christian the Lion came from....I still think Andrew doesn't believe me about that. So it was a whole floor dedicated to ridiculously over priced outfits & bedding for the pampered pooches & pussies of London. For example.....a Roberto Cavalli, patent leather dog jacket.....525 pounds...who the hell buys these things?? Oh, & if you don't have the dog to match the outfit, you can pick one up from the Harrods pet shop....only 2,200 pounds for a little ratty, yapper....bizarre! However, when I spotted the four poster cat bed, complete with canopy & covered in pink fluff & sparkles I did think to myself "I wonder how much it would cost to ship home???". I guess the love we have for our pets is universal.
Next stop Paris - flying with Air France. It is important that I get that in because at check in we got a lovely surprise. The lady said "I'm sorry, you need to check in at the counter down the end. You will be flying on a specially chartered flight today!". So we went down to were she pointed & waited with the rest of the bewildered passengers. Next thing these flight attendents arrived, in special uniforms dragging a giant screen behind them. It read "Welcome on board our Air France A380"....how exciting, an A380. Turns out it's a bit of a big deal. In fact, as we were waiting to board in the gate lounge, all these people came over to take photos of it through the window. I must admit it was an impressive sight & we even received a special, commemorative certificate from the Captain as we disembarked. A pretty cool way to end our UK leg!
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