Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park

We were in late start mode today, thinking about one of the nearby national museums.  I was looking at my current preferred guide book and the page fell open to something or another that reminded me that one of my stated objectives was checking out the royals.

Looking at Streetwise London, walking to Buckingham Palace seemed doable and then Hyde Park is just down at the other end of the Buckingham Palace Gardens from the Palace.  We got organized and headed out.

But on the way out we decided that there would be plenty of walking once we got there and maybe we should take a taxi.

I also figured out on the way out the door that although going to the Palace was what I really wanted to do, the timing of our start and the use of a taxi was going to deliver us to the Palace shortly after the changing of the guard ceremony began.

So we got to check that for many mandatory London photo opportunity off our list.  Here's the marching band leaving the area in front of the Palace where the actually guard changing ceremony occurs.

And here is the horse guards coming down from Saint James's Palace for some other part of the ceremony.

Those are just bonus photos, what I was here for was this shot of the Palace, particularly the famous Palace balcony where the royal family appears on notable occasions (for example, a royal wedding) to greet the public.

Frame right is the Victoria Memorial.  It is very impressive but one thing it is not is extremely old.  The monument was constructed beginning in 1911 and finished in 1924.

There is a park stretching away to the east from that vantage point of the Palace.  To the east is Saint James's Park and this is a view of Saint James's Park Lake.

Looking at a map there are all of these royal parks in London and every one has at least one lake.  Based on the shape of the lakes and surrounding geography, not a single one of the lakes looks natural.

That doesn't mean they aren't attractive because they are.

Here is another view of the very obviously Disney lake, Saint James's Park Lake.

We found the right street and followed along a very pleasant shady sidewalk with Buckingham Palace Gardens to our left and Green Park to our right.  This brought us out to Hyde Park Corner and the Wellington Arch.

The arch has other alternative names but is probably most often known as the Wellington.  The arch was completed in 1830 and from 1846 until the arch was moved and rebuilt in 1862 it was topped by a bronze statue of Wellington.  The statue was 28 feet tall and weighed 40 tons.  It was the largest equestrian statue every made.

The original design called for a quadriga, an ancient four horse chariot and this intention was finally realized in 1912.  The Wellington statue is now located in Aldersho, a town in Hampshire about 35 miles southwest of London.

We did wander through Hyde Park, eventually having a little sit down lunch near the western most edge.  Most of the wander was made alongside the Serpentine Lake.

Mandatory wildlife content.  Some of the swans are quite large.

On the way back to base we passed by this house near the South Kensington Underground Station.

There is no trick photography there, that's the actual width of the near end of the house.  It does widen out towards the other end but . . .