Despite pouring rain dampening our spirits, Winnie and I decided to go exploring. The destination: Buckingham Palace via Victoria tube station.
It was surprisingly simple to enter and exit the Royal Circle area since the outer gates weren’t locked the inner gate had only two officers on duty. Of course, we decided it would be best for our reputations if we turned around and went home rather than be caught trespassing in the Queen’s stomping grounds.
I’m reminded of a story I read about a belligerent father who dressed up as Batman and climbed onto the roof of Buckingham Palace, prompting criticism of royal security.
Here’s a shot I took at the gates. You can barely make out a sign informing the public that there’s a daily guard changing ceremony at 11:30a every day.
Here’s the fountain at the center of the Royal Circle. We were soaked and hurried back to the Victoria tube station. It proved to be a boneheaded move because there were no shades or balconies to block the rain along the way. We could have simply walked across Green Park to a much closer station and avoided being further drenched.
Today (Christmas Eve) we decided to go back to Buckingham Palace. There were a lot more tourists in the morning, but it rained again. So another soggy start to the day. More photos beneath the fold.
Here’s the gate separating Buckingham from Green Park. There was no color correction done to this photo. This is what it actually looked like, at 10:00 in the morning.
When I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I remember raising a brow at how gray London looked at the beginning of the movie. Turns out it wasn’t an exaggeration.
Here you see the inner gates of Buckingham Palace. We weren’t the only ones soaked due to lack of umbrella. The difference is they were astute enough to see the ‘No Changing of the Guard’ sign and left before the rain worsened.
Here’s a shot from the fountain. Following this wet experience, we went to the office and borrowed an umbrella from reception. Of course, it stopped raining for the rest of the day and we ended up carrying it for nothing.
No wonder the guards don’t get perturbed. They stand far from the tourists.
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