Cucumber Sandwiches Anyone?

We just got back from an afternoon at Buckingham Palace.

It was sooooo cool! We got there around 3:00 just as the gates were opening and we had to wait in line for about 15 minutes because there were lots of other hatted and suited people there, just like us!

We got to walk through the main gates and walked right through the palace to get out to the gardens! We managed to snag a great spot right at the foot of the stairs, and so were only about 15 feet away from the Queen, Prince Philip, and Prince Charles and Camilla as they walked down the stairs.

It was really weird to see them all in person! Queenie looked great in a turquoise hat and dress, and Camilla looked good too in a fancy cream dress and hat with crazy feathers on it. It took the royals over an hour to walk through to the tea tent because they stopped to talk to so many people. Lots of the other guests were crowded around listening in to what they had to say. At one point we were standing almost next to Prince Philip and Camilla and Charles, but we didn't get much closer to Queenie, who had lots of people standing around her at all times.

We wandered around the gardens, which were so beautiful, and ate WAY too much food. I had an iced coffee (Rob had tea) and then cucumber and egg salad sandwiches, fruit cake, opera cake, chocolate cake, strawberry shortcake, and shorbread cookies. Yum!! They also had lots of people pouring jugs of water and lemonade because it was so bloody hot. Well over the projected 25 degrees and it was so hot in the sun. Poor Rob was dying in his suit! Felt sorry for the guards and the beefeaters in their very hot looking heavy uniforms.

There seemed to be people there from all over the world. We saw soldiers from Canada, Austraila, and the UK. People from Africa, India, and a man who looked like he was wearing a necklace made of chili peppers. There was even a cowboy there. For real - 10-gallon hat and string tie.

Just before six, Queenie and the rest of the entourage headed back in the Palace. We managed to have a good vantage point for this too, and watched her stop to talk to about six people who were there in wheelchairs. Everyone clapped, and off they went.

On our way out, we stopped off at ye olde royal toilets and they were the poshest portapottys ever. They were actual toilets, with what looked like teak wood flooring, but in portable-type buildings with fancy tent awnings over them. Mirrors, running water, and even a lady handing out paper towels. So that's how the other half lives!

Afterwards we had dinner in London and enjoyed walking around in the sun.

It was a great day. I feel really lucky that we got to have such a cool experience and wish we could go again next year. We did take a few sneaky pictures on Rob's cell phone, but haven't put them on the computer yet. In the meantime, here's a shot of us taken before we left home this afternoon.