Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat ...

Wednesday, 7th September

I've been up to London to visit the Queen!

Today to went to visit the Queen, only she had to be in Balmoral but did leave instructions that we were to be shown around the Palace and have morning tea on the terrace, bless her heart. We arrived nice and early so as to avoid the thousands of tourists later in the day and after passing through airport type security screening, we entered the Palace via the Ambassador's Entrance, then into the Great Hall and up the Grand Staircase. Our mouths fell open at this stage and stayed that way until we were back out in the garden. It is not hard to imagine sweeping down the magnificant staircase, dressed in ballgown and tiara! We passed through the many staterooms with their gorgeous chandeliers, ceilings and cornices - not to mention the decore and furnishings - including the throne room, setting of the recent wedding photos. Each room seemed to be better than the previous. The first of the special exhibitions was a display of Faberge objects - one hears of Faberge's skill but to see his work was just fabulous. Not just some Easter eggs, but many flowers, boxes, photo frames and animals were amongst the items on show.

The second of the special exhibitions was THE wedding dress, THE wedding cake (complete with sword cut), the wedding shoes (with quite high heels), the diamond earrings and a replica (plastic flowers) of the bouquet. We were able to get quite close to the wedding dress, which was displayed behind a fine tulle screen.

Morning tea and refreshments were served on the terrace overlooking the garden, much to Cat's delight. He selected a vanilla slice (although it did have a very fancy French name) and Leslie settled for a scone with fresh strawberries and clotted cream, both served with freshly brewed coffee. The exit route was through the gift shop (naturally!) before walking along one of the garden paths which wound through the grounds and past the lake. A very pleasant way to spend the morning, even if we weren't allowed take photos inside the palace.

We also visited the Queen's Gallery which had a special exhibition of the work of Dutch painters, as well as the normal gallery exhibits. A magnificent Rembrandt painting was a definite highlight. Unfortunately, the gallery did seem very crowded as it is quite small (compared to the Palace rooms) and people tended to stop in front of paintings to look and read (which one does tend to do in an art gallery). It didn't take Cat long to make friends with a staff member who had a travelling frog.

This afternoon we went for a walk through the Belgravia district which its rather grand houses, many of which are now embassies. We strolled up Sloane Street for a bit of window shopping - all the shops in this street have security guards (wired for sound, too) on the doors! We did come across a children's wear shop with a lovely white fur coat on display - Emma would have loved it. We ended up in Harrods with all the tourists who weren't at Buckingham Palace - what a madhouse!

The weather today has been mainly fine, except for a shower this afternoon, and not too cold. It is most definitely windcheater weather.