Jobs on in London

Another lovely London day where heavy rain was forecast and not a drop to be seen.

Today we met my dear friend, Tanya for a day of sight-seeing and touristy things.  We were meeting at Green Park where Jenny and I sat on the grass and waited whist we ate our M&S fruit salad and yoghurts.  We would have sat on these deck chairs, but the man wanted £1.60 per hour - hence them all being empty!

Buckingham Palace by: A.A. Milne

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace - 
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. 
Alice is marrying one of the guard. 
"A soldier's life is terribly hard," 
Says Alice. 
They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace - 
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. 
We saw a guard in a sentry-box. 
"One of the sergeants looks after their socks," 
Says Alice. 

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace - 
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. 
We looked for the King but he never came. 
"Well, God take care of him, all the same," 
Says Alice. 

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace - 
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. 
They've great big parties inside the grounds. 
"I wouldn't be King for a hundred pounds," 
Says Alice. 

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace - 
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. 
A face looked out, but it wasn't the King's. 
"He's much too busy a-signing things," 
Says Alice. 

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace - 
Christopher Robin went down with Alice. 
"Do you think the King knows all about me?" 
"Sure to, dear, but it's time for tea," 
Says Alice

 Our first job for today was to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  The crowd was ridiculous and it was very hard to get a spot to see through the gate.  They change the guard every day during the months of May, June and July and every second day the rest of the year.  There was a lot of pomp for what is essentially one group of guys finishing their shift and the new guys clocking on.  Imagine if everyone had to go through this palaver every time they finished work for the day.

However, it does draw the crowd, much to the joy and pleasure of the police who have to control the camera wielding lot.  Mounted constables pleading with people to, for the love of God, move back behind the barriers.  Bobbies on foot trying desperately to keep the gateways to the palace clear of twitty selfie posers who aren't fully aware of their surroundings - except what's behind them in the frame!

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed at the display, because, as I've said earlier in this post, it was some guys coming in and some others going out.  They were all dressed identically, so it was hard to tell who was who. This didn't stop the over zealous photographers from pushing their way to front, even if it meant invading the personal space of complete strangers.  

Poor Tans was too polite to ask this lady to back off and take her camera off her head.  

One is not a tripod!

Before the pomp and ceremony was over we headed away from one touristy destination and head on into the next one at Trafalgar Square.   We stopped off for a quarter time bevy at the Trafalgar Hotel, which sports a very lovely roof top bar with great views of the city.  Here we met up with our lovely friend, Kathryn who was on her lunch break and through the technological genius that is Facebook, she was able to pinpoint our whereabouts and orchestrate a meeting for drinks before she grabbed a sandwich and headed back to the office!

Job Number 2 on todays agenda was to ride the London Eye

There were a thousand school groups all around London today and when we saw them in the line for the London Eye, we grabbed out fast track tickets and ran for the front of the line.  The one thing we didn't want is to be stuck inside one of these pods for half an hour with a bunch of kids!  

We've never moved so fast.

Tans, having been on the Eye a million times chose to sit this one out and work on her own jobs in the park.  A keen 'eye' was kept on her from above though.

 One of the things I love about London is the way they use the open spaces and that they're not tempted to build on every inch of space in the city.  This park area has been transformed since the last time I was here and it was fantastic.

 London's highest building - The Chard

The brown building in this pic is where I used to live when I first moved to London back in 2005. 

The Famous Thames 

After a scrumdiddilyumptious lunch at Waggamamas, we were ready for Job Number 3 - the Wedding Dress Exhibition at the V&A Museum.  This was a display of wedding dress styles from the last 150 years. There were some gorgeous dresses there and also some that perhaps needed to be rethunk?

After a cup of tea in the V&A courtyard....

It was time for Job Number 4.... Drinks et Fromage at Le Beaujolais, our favourite little French wine bar just off Leicester Square before Job Number 5.... West End show - Jeeves and Wooster.  

I have to say, the reviews for this show were very kind.  I thought the acting was brilliant and there was a plethora of words for them to remember, but there was something missing from the script...... laughs!

It was full of predictable, slapstick, oops, I forgot my wig type of stuff that just didn't make me LOL, which is such a shame because I love Robert Webb and Mark Heap and think they are hugely hilarious.  Oh well.

Job Number 6 - bed.