London Sightseeing & Theatre
We're off to see the King! Our first iconic landmark was at Buckingham Palace and we could hear the band strike and the marching beat of the drum. As we crossed the road to get our positions to watch this royal tradition since 1660 a police officer on horseback asked us to follow him as he had a very special place for us to watch this ceremony from. To our utter amazement we walked past all the crowds, feeling like VIP’s (yes, we all did the Royal wave) and had a front row position right in front of the huge gates. He let us stoke his horse named Coyote! It was then time to watch The Old Guard (the soldiers currently on duty) form up in front of the palace and be relieved by the New Guard. They are accompanied by a band, who to our delight played some of our most loved songs from James Bond, Chicago and even Mama Mia, which we couldn’t help but dance along to
With
a spring in our step, we walked through St James’ Park which looked magnificent
with all the autumnal colours. Jenni picked up a handful of leaves and threw
them up in the air with a big smile on her face.
We
were heading towards Horse Guards Parade which used to be a barracks and
stables for the Household Cavalry. Here we saw a mounted trooper of the Life
Guards on duty. After that we carried on our walk towards Trafalgar Square and
it wasn’t long before we spotted the
169-foot Nelson’s Column at its
centre, guarded by four lion statues which represent his heroism.
Excitedly we then headed to the Shaftesbury
Theatre for our evening performance of Mrs Doubtfire. With smiles on our faces, we were shown to our front row
seats in the Royal Circle by the incredibly friendly staff. With programmes
purchased we were ready for lights, camera, action! We watched as out-of-work actor
Daniel would do anything for his kids. After losing custody in a messy divorce,
he creates the alter ego of Scottish nanny Euphegenia Doubtfire in a desperate
attempt to stay in their lives. It was funny, heart-warming and wildly entertaining with impressions,
quick changes and amazing singing and dancing. One of our favourite moments had
to be when she puts her face in the fridge and comes out covered in cream and
also when she set herself on fire! Wow, what a performance and we certainly raised
the roof with all our clapping and cheering as the final curtain fell.
Our days were spent spotting all the iconic landmarks including HMS
Belfast, a historic warship built for the Royal Navy. In the distance we could see the famous Tower Bridge looking as spectacular as we had imagined. We stood and took it
all in for a moment looking at the City of London and the different shapes and
sizes of more famous buildings.
A beautiful day greeted us as we wandered through Hyde Park, stopping in the Rose Gardens, and
although there were no roses in bloom, the colours of the trees looked gorgeous
in the late morning sun. To our surprise, camouflaged in the trees were
parakeets. Ayshea had a few biscuits in her bag that we used them to tempt the
birds down to us. It was like a scene out of Mary Poppins and of course we
broke out in song – Feed the Birds, Tuppence a Bag! Before we knew we had
pigeons, parakeets and even squirrels all around us! We then spotted the St
George and the Dragon statue before walking to the Serpentine Lake.
We carried on to the Princess Diana memorial
fountain where we were all keen to pay our respects. It felt very calming and
peaceful as we wandered around the gardens, crossing the bridges, remembering a
very special lady.
A magical moment was as we approached the infamous Royal Albert Hall and The Albert Memorial honouring Prince Albert who died
at the age of 42. Walking around the
outside of The Hall was amazing. You really got a sense of how big the venue
is. It was also our lucky week as King Charles had just unveiled two new bronze
statues of Queen Elizabet ll and Prince Phillip. Next, we were met by Ellie (who works for
JollyDays too) and her colleague Ed who would be giving us our very own VIP
tour. There was so much information to take in and we listened in awe about the
history of this incredible building which is 150 years old. We learnt how there
is such a variety of performances put on throughout the years including dance,
sport, opera, poetry and science. In fact, the main auditorium has over 400
shows every year. We
got to stand in the Royal Entrance before looking in the Kings Box. It belongs
to the King so therefore isn’t known as the Royal Box and we learnt that when
the Royals visit, the box is decorated with the Royal Crest and fresh flowers.
They even change the chairs! It was then time to take our seats in the main
auditorium and once again we so lucky to be able to listen to a rehearsal from Music for Youth. The sound from the different instruments and their voices gave us goosebumps.
What a memorable moment. Our final stop on our tour was in the
Royal Retiring room where the King would invite people for refreshments during
the interval. Every single member of the Royal Family has been in this space, except Prince
Albert. We couldn’t believe that we were stood in this room, especially as the
King would have been in here only a few days ago! 
We walked towards
the infamous Covent Garden. Once again, we were super luckily as the
festivities had already started and in a gigantic bucket stood the very
impressive Christmas tree, twinkling away. Of course, this made for a great
photo opportunity. Covent Garden is also well known for its street
entertainment by people from all over the world.
We joined the crowds as we were wowed by a man from Czech Republic who performed a variety of juggling tricks using axe’s whilst riding a unicycle that was so tall! We don’t know how he managed to keep his balance!
The Natural History Museum was a must. From the minute we
entered we were transported through 4.6 million years of unique treasures. This
included Hope,
the huge blue whale skeleton in Hintze Hall, fossils and mammals, some of which
are now extinct. Our favourite had to be the gigantic T-Rex, who was already in
the festive spirit wearing a Christmas jumper and hat! We did all laugh. As we
explored the exhibitions, we couldn’t help but picture the scene from A Night
at the Museum when all the animals come to life once it had closed.
Another must was a ride on the London Eye that
we had seen so often from various places. After buying our tickets and headed into the glass pods. It barely felt
as though we were moving and after initially feeling a little apprehensive, we
soon had big smiles on our faces as we soared high in the sky, towering over
London at 135 meters. The views were spectacular and on really clear days you
can see for over 25 miles.
We took a trip to the renowned Borough Market which
is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London. There was a great
atmosphere with stall holders selling a variety of foods from fish, meat,
vegetables, honey and cheese! Jenni luckily got to try some goats cheese and
then pretend to bleat like one! We all laughed! Chris also treated himself to
some delicious looking fudge!
The Tower of
London looked beautiful in the afternoon sun. We all did our best salute and pretended to be Beefeaters protecting
the Crown Jewels.
We walked down one of the most
famous shopping streets in the world. Oxford Street was lit up with stars and
baubles which twinkled away in the night sky. Then we stopped outside the
infamous department store Selfridges and marvelled at their unique window
displays. As we started our walk home, we walked down Regent St, which looked
simply magical with Christmas angels suspended from the sky before our last
stop at Carnaby St to look at their festive displays.
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