Palaces, Parks and Pretty Boys in Neat Red Suits

We headed up to Westminster and, disappointing as it may be, I had no random movie/book/legend/musical references that immediately popped into my head when we began wandering around the political hub of London (unless you count some random snippets of "Cats" lyrics that ran through my mind briefly). I guess that means I need more pop culture in my life. ;-)
We took a stroll down Pall Mall, and I didn't even want to look in any shops to see how expensive everything would be. Buckingham Palace was lovely, and the Queen is in residence, which I thought was pretty neat, even though we won't see her ever. We watched the changing of the guard and somehow it made me very happy to see those military men in their bright red coats and tall black caps marching past in the band playing the piccolo. :-P We strolled through St. James Park and saw a varied assortment of creatures with wings, as well as a few quirky and bold squirrels that didn't seem to be afraid of coming right up to a person as they sat on a bench.
We ended our day with a walk through Kensington Park up to Kensington Palace, where we took a tour of the State Rooms on display. The entire place had a very warm feeling of home to it, and I tied to imagine living there: Getting changed in the dressing room, sleeping in a canopy bed in a room the size of a small studio apartment, spending the afternoon sewing on a chaise lounge in the drawing room and the evenings dancing in one of the galleries... So maybe that's not quite how it all went down back then: We were told later that there are actually more comfortable rooms on the lower floors that the Royals would retreat to many times when there weren't people around to put on a regal front for.
Either way, I can scarcely remember living in a world without electronic television, instant communication (whether by phone or message) and the internet, let alone imagine one of debutantes, servants and elegant dresses. It's like something to get swept away in: Another world that I could have been in had I only been born earlier and in a different place to a different family.
Either way, I was content at the end of the day to rest near the pond in the park with a few friends and enjoy a light lunch before trekking back to my room and passing out from pure exhaustion. I can't remember the last time I went to bed at 5:30pm!
Of course, there was a little side quest to get my tickets to see Lord of the Rings the Musical on Saturday. O.o

JD