On Wednesday we decided to get up early and go to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. I had read online that if you stand on the stairs of the monument across from the palace you can get a pretty good view and see over the crowd of people that stand by the gate. It turned out to be a pretty good spot and we could see almost all of the ceremony. The guards marched in and handed off the ceremonial key to the palace and then the band played and they marched back out. Although it was a little cold to be standing outside for so long, it was cool to see.
After watching the changing of the guard, we walked over to Westminster Abbey, which was nearby. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but the exterior of the building is just as pretty. It was really cool to do the audio tour and have certain things pointed out such as all the famous people who are buried or memorialized there along with royalty. I had no idea that so many people I know of like Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Shakespeare, and the Bronte sisters all have memorials or stones at Westminster Abbey!
After leaving Westminster Abbey, we walked by the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, which is very close by, although right now they are doing some restoration so the tower is almost completely covered in scaffolding. The next stop was Fortnum & Mason for afternoon tea. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I knew that having afternoon tea is an experience you have to have if you go to England.
Afternoon tea turned out to be one of my favorite things that we did all week. The place was pretty fancy and everything was decorated in turquoise, white, and gold, which I loved. We sat at a table and our waiter gave us two menus, one for the meal and one with all the teas. We each could choose which meal to have (all of us chose the classic afternoon tea), and then we chose a tea. Throughout the meal we could have as many different teas we wanted and they would refill the food as well if we ran out. They brought us a tiered plate with finger sandwiches, scones, and little pastries. I really enjoyed the scones and pastries and had several. For tea, I started with the Afternoon Blend because I wanted a classic and traditional one to start. They brought us each our own little tea kettle and poured the tea over a strainer into our tea cups to catch the tea leaves. The Afternoon Blend was pretty tasty! Next, I asked for the Peach Black Tea, which smelled delicious and tasted like hot bubble tea when I added some sugar. Lastly, I tried the Chamomile and Bee Pollen Tea, which was something different and turned out to be light and sweet. Even though I’m not a big tea drinker (except for bubble tea, of course) I really loved all the teas that I tried. We ended up sitting and talking for around 3 hours while enjoying our tea and snacks, and it was a really fun experience. After we were done, there were cakes that we could choose from to take a slice home. I chose the chocolate cake. Later that night we ate them and it was so rich and delicious. Overall, I’m so glad I got to try a traditional British afternoon tea and it was one of my favorite memories of the trip.
Hammond Adventures 