Post by Sandy M on Apr 27, 2011 11:08:55 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
Arrived here safely - finally - our plane was late out of Des Moines and I was worried I would miss my connection in Chicago but made it in time - and then there was a delay with the London flight - something with the radio was messed up and they had to fix it before we could leave. The pilot did make up some time on the way so we were only an hour late. Got my luggage and then went to the Piccadilly Line on the Underground which took me directly to King's Cross station and our hotel is just across the street - very convenient! It's a beautiful sunny day here today and I'm certainly hoping that it will last until after the wedding.
My room wasn't ready so I headed out for the day - went to see the Royal Mews which is where all modes of the transportation for the royal family is housed. There was a guided tour leaving shortly after I arrived so decided to follow along with them. Went to see some of the horses, then toured several of the carriages as well as the fleet of Rolls Royces. The grand finale was the gold Jubilee carriage!! OMG!!!!! It was amazing and well worth the price of admission! First of all, it is HUGE! They had it set up in it's own special room and had fake horses and horsemen hitched up as though it was ready to go for an outing!! It is covered with 24K gold leaf and is just absolutely beautiful - so glad I got to see it!
I was talking to one of the ladies who was also on the tour of the Royal Mews and she asked if I would like to go with her to have a coffee at the nearby Goring Hotel which is where the future Princess and her family are staying before the wedding. Sounded like great fun to me so away we went. June and I got to the Goring and there were several paparazzi were already stationed! I asked one of the photographers if the Middleton family was checking in today and he said he didn't know but they were there just in case! Also asked him if he was going to camp out overnight and he said that he wasn't but he was sure some of them would!
Went inside the hotel and June and I decided that we were both hungry so we sat down and ordered lunch. I told her that I had planned on going down to Westminister Abbey to see what was going on and invited her to go with me. She thought that was a good idea so we got on the Underground. As we got closer to the Abbey, we could see that there was already a crowd of people and directly across the street, there were tents lined up against the barricades all along the street in front of the entrance to the Abbey - June and I wandered around for awhile and then she said that she had to get on the train and go home - she lives in Surrey? England about 20 miles from London. A very nice lady and we had an enjoyable afternoon together.
I was intrigued by all those people camped out along the street so decided to get across the street so I could get some better pictures - what a riot! Lots of the "tent dwellers" had costumes on and some had their tents draped with British flags as well as flags with William and Kate on them - there were also several reporters and photographers interviewing people so I imagine it will be on the news tonight. I imagine if I would go back there right now, there would be even more tents set up. After seeing what I did today, I know there is NO WAY that I will even try to get near Westminister Abbey on Friday - the crowd today was bad enough for me - just don't like wading through all those people.
By the time I got through looking at all the tents, I was beginning to feel a little weary - I didn't sleep at all on the plane on the way here so I am just about running out of steam. I think I'll go take a shower and go to bed. I hope this makes sense as I'm so tired I can hardly wiggle.
Denise arrives tomorrow around 11:30am and then she and I are going to go to Borough Market and then meet Mez at the Tate Modern Museum - hopefully Megan will be able to get off work and meet us there as well. It should be another fun day !
Arrived here safely - finally - our plane was late out of Des Moines and I was worried I would miss my connection in Chicago but made it in time - and then there was a delay with the London flight - something with the radio was messed up and they had to fix it before we could leave. The pilot did make up some time on the way so we were only an hour late. Got my luggage and then went to the Piccadilly Line on the Underground which took me directly to King's Cross station and our hotel is just across the street - very convenient! It's a beautiful sunny day here today and I'm certainly hoping that it will last until after the wedding.
My room wasn't ready so I headed out for the day - went to see the Royal Mews which is where all modes of the transportation for the royal family is housed. There was a guided tour leaving shortly after I arrived so decided to follow along with them. Went to see some of the horses, then toured several of the carriages as well as the fleet of Rolls Royces. The grand finale was the gold Jubilee carriage!! OMG!!!!! It was amazing and well worth the price of admission! First of all, it is HUGE! They had it set up in it's own special room and had fake horses and horsemen hitched up as though it was ready to go for an outing!! It is covered with 24K gold leaf and is just absolutely beautiful - so glad I got to see it!
I was talking to one of the ladies who was also on the tour of the Royal Mews and she asked if I would like to go with her to have a coffee at the nearby Goring Hotel which is where the future Princess and her family are staying before the wedding. Sounded like great fun to me so away we went. June and I got to the Goring and there were several paparazzi were already stationed! I asked one of the photographers if the Middleton family was checking in today and he said he didn't know but they were there just in case! Also asked him if he was going to camp out overnight and he said that he wasn't but he was sure some of them would!
Went inside the hotel and June and I decided that we were both hungry so we sat down and ordered lunch. I told her that I had planned on going down to Westminister Abbey to see what was going on and invited her to go with me. She thought that was a good idea so we got on the Underground. As we got closer to the Abbey, we could see that there was already a crowd of people and directly across the street, there were tents lined up against the barricades all along the street in front of the entrance to the Abbey - June and I wandered around for awhile and then she said that she had to get on the train and go home - she lives in Surrey? England about 20 miles from London. A very nice lady and we had an enjoyable afternoon together.
I was intrigued by all those people camped out along the street so decided to get across the street so I could get some better pictures - what a riot! Lots of the "tent dwellers" had costumes on and some had their tents draped with British flags as well as flags with William and Kate on them - there were also several reporters and photographers interviewing people so I imagine it will be on the news tonight. I imagine if I would go back there right now, there would be even more tents set up. After seeing what I did today, I know there is NO WAY that I will even try to get near Westminister Abbey on Friday - the crowd today was bad enough for me - just don't like wading through all those people.
By the time I got through looking at all the tents, I was beginning to feel a little weary - I didn't sleep at all on the plane on the way here so I am just about running out of steam. I think I'll go take a shower and go to bed. I hope this makes sense as I'm so tired I can hardly wiggle.
Denise arrives tomorrow around 11:30am and then she and I are going to go to Borough Market and then meet Mez at the Tate Modern Museum - hopefully Megan will be able to get off work and meet us there as well. It should be another fun day !
) and get a terrific perch for seeing everything that's going on! 
An exalt to you for thinking of us and letting us share your excitement. What a wonderful OPF GTG you ladies have planned!!! ;D
hahahha