Thursday, February 23, 2012

Living Large in London...part three of three


If you missed part one or part two of my London photos, please feel free to clink on the links and check them out.

 My fantastic Bonus-Mum scored us some tickets to Buckingham Palace.  It was the last couple of days before the Queen came back for the season.  This is the front gate.

The tour was exceptional, but you couldn't take photographs inside.  I was super excited because Kate's wedding dress was on display.  It was absolutely wonderful!  They had a video playing that showed how the dress was made and why certain things were done.  The lace was handmade.  It had four flowers on it: the thistle for Scotland, the daffodil for Wales, the shamrock for Ireland and the rose for England.  They also had a replica of her flowers on display and her jewelry and shoes.  The wedding was shown of a wall in a loop.  It was lovely to see it again and in such a special place.  When we went to the next room they had copies of the wedding cake and the special Digestive Biscuit cake that Prince William had requested.   They both looked fabulous.  


After the tour we went to the garden tea room and to my surprise guess what was on the menu?  Digestive Biscuit Cake.  Let me tell you....it was DIVINE!  


Of course, they had the traditional scones, strawberry jam and clotted cream on the menu.  


Then we had a lovely walk through the gardens...



I don't know what these strange looking things were, but they were under one group of trees.  I'm guessing they are some kind of fungus.


Then we went for a walk.  Check out the side of this building...


Pretty cool?


All around Hyde Park we saw artists selling their wares.  I remembered  a hippy (it was the 70's) gave me a strand of beads when I was little.  I know Mum took me to Hyde Park, so I'm wondering if this was where I got those beads.


I got the very best seat on a double decker bus...top floor front seat.


As you can see it was a busy day....we got caught in a double decker bus jam.




Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral.  It was HUGE!



Here is the entryway.  I took this photo before I saw the no photos sign.  UGH!


Then we walked across the Millennium Bridge.  There were people getting married on it and getting wedding photographs taken.  You can see St. Paul's in the background.


That's Tower Bridge in the background.



A replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater...


We walked....


and saw remnants of old London.


some lovely old churches....


and a church cat....I expect he was waiting for some lunch leftovers by all the people sitting in the churchyard eating.


Does anyone recognize this place?  


I'll give you a hint...


It was one of the places depicted in MY FAIR LADY.  You can click HERE to see if you were right.


Thank you for stopping in and checking out my photos.  I really do love traveling and taking pictures.  This trip was huge for me....I spent time as an adult in the city I was born in.  My Dad and Bonus-Mum truly made this a special trip for me.

If you could go anywhere in the world and money was not an option, where would you go?  

31 comments:

  1. Used to live in England. Love London, and these photos make me miss it more!

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  2. I adore looking at pictures of London. I'm going again in the fall. I can't wait.

    I'd love to go to Alaska.

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  3. Lovely pics, bestie. I have enjoyed looking at these photos of yours. You know we're going to Ireland. I would also love to go to Israel and Italy. St. Paul's cathedral is beautiful.

    Did you have to post the scone ones? I mean. We are trying to lose weight, you know. *hunger pains*

    Smooch. :-)

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  4. wow! cool pictures! you make me feel like im right there walking round london with you. im just real happy you got to go to so much places and you had a jolly good time.
    ...hugs from lenny

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  5. Hi Sharon - you've got some great photos - brilliant to see them here .. Anthropologie's site in Regent Street is pretty amazing isn't it - a living wall.

    Wonderful tour you had that day - all over the show .. across the wobbly bridge .. and round Southwark ..

    So pleased you had such a glorious time ... wonderful memories here - even for me .. as I don't get up to London that often now .. Lenny says it well - we can be right with you .. even down to eating the chocolate digestive Royal cake!

    Thank you so much for posting .. cheers Hilary

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  6. Your pictures are so awesome. Like amazing. Thanks for sharing them all. Sounds like a wonderful trip.

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  7. Love your bonus-mum!!!

    Awww you make London look so lovely! And it is lovely! Yay!!

    I think that fungi is a spent puffball!

    Covent Garden! LOL!

    Take care
    x

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  8. I've so enjoyed the holiday photos, as I'm more an "armchair" traveller. Really hate to fly.

    I'll take that cake, thanks. LOL. Yum.

    And if I could go anywhere, money and home commitments not an issue, I'd tour New Zealand.

    There also are a lot of places in the UK I'd love to tour, on foot preferably, though I have no desire to be in any large city.

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  9. Anywhere? Australia/New Zeland. That would be so awesome...I've always been fascinated by the "down under". :)

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  10. That scone looks delicious and the moss covered building does look pretty cool!

    How nice you got to see the wedding dress. When I visited London, I didn't go inside Buckingham Palace. We did wait for the changing of the guard. They had the horses be pretty agressive pushing the crowds back. Scary!

    Love the photo of remnants of Old London.

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  11. That's Convent Garden, one of my favourite spots in London. :-D

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  12. I sure did enjoy seeing your photos, what a terrific place to have a terrific time!

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  13. Wow! They are amazing! I can't wait to visit someday. =D

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  14. Wonderful photos! I love London. My favorite season there is spring. When I was a fine art student in France, I came to London in the spring and shared a flat with a friend on Elsham Road. There was a beautiful magnolia tree blooming in the backyard. I don't have a photo but I can still picture it vividly.

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  15. Looks like you're having an amazing trip!

    If I could, I would go EVERYWHERE!

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  16. Wonderful pictures! :)

    I love that building covered in plants. I wonder how they got them all to grow . . .

    Anywhere in the world--does space count? Because I wouldn't mind being a space tourist.

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  17. Seriously? I'd go exactly where you went! :)

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  18. Australia for sure! : )
    Sharon, you won a copy of Jen's Valentine's delight over at my blog! : D We'll be sending it to you shortly!
    Can you send me a quick email to kiarasoares at gmail.com just so that I can be sure I don't have the wrong email address?

    Cheers!

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  19. Thanks for the tour, it was marvelous. I do remember som sites like the palace, but I do not remember ever visiting the cathedral. I guess two years of living in England was not enough for me to see different things.
    Oh, yeah, if I money was not a problem, I would have like to see Venice.

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  20. I used to always snag that top floor/front seat on the bus in Hong Kong. When we'd go up and down hills it was like riding a roller coaster.

    These days, I'm boring. There are a million places I'd want to go if money was no object, but I think I'd choose Hong Kong because I'm just homesick and we're too poor to go there right now. *le sigh*

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  21. Love these photos, Sharon :) What is a digestive biscuit cake?! I want 500.
    I love the greenery around that building. It makes me happy. Glad you had such a great trip.

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  22. We've never been to London and I'm writing all your points down for when we do go! Thanks for sharing these awesome photos. Makes me want to visit London now.

    Riya.

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  23. What great photos! It looks like you had a wonderful time. Seeing Kate's dress must have been fun. And I remember hearing about the digestive cake at the time of the wedding.

    It's tough to choose just one place, but Argentina is near the top of my list. I'm so fascinated by South America, and I keep hearing how wonderful Buenos Aires is!

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  24. Great photos, Sharon - thanks for sharing! Looks like it was a fantastic trip! I've always wanted to go to Greece - I just love their food and it looks so beautiful!

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  25. Hi Sharon,
    Aha, didn't you have a marvellous time in London town!
    And your photos have taken me down memory lane and other landmarks in the city that I was also born in.
    Excellent and I know this will provide you with pleasant and profound memories.
    Now then, would somebody take me to the island paradise of Bora Bora? No, oh well, I tried :)
    Take care Sharon and happy writing.
    In kindness, Gary

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  26. That cakes looks yummy but the name, not so much. I'd LOVE to get my hands on some of those scones and clotted cream...

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  27. Gorgeous photos of London, Sharon! So happy for you that you got to go visit your family!!!

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  28. Lovely, lovely photos! Thanks for sharing. My mouse got stuc at the scones....Yum!

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  29. Loved the photos and the memories. I went there in the mid eighties and loved it. Thanks for the show. I used to want to spend a week in the Exuma islands or the Maldives snorkeling and being lazy, but that was when I had a different, very stressful life. Now I'm happiest at home.

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  30. Loved all these pictures - even the ones you weren't supposed to take :) I was wrong about Covent Gardens :(

    And if I could go anywhere I think I'd choose England, too, but I want the whole summer to explore. You did say money was no object, right?

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  31. Japan. Lovely pix of London. Being an ex pat Limey I thoroughly enjoyed them. Never been inside Buck House. Would love to have done so.

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