Thursday, 5 October 2011 - Visited the Household Cavalry Museum and Guards Chapel with displays of military history and standards, saw ceremonial scenes at the Royal Military Chapel, walked through London's subway stations capturing iconic red telephone booths and station light, photographed Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster in the afternoon, and finished the day with dinner after more classic London sights.
Coldstream Guards of the Queen's Guard getting ready for the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
I headed over to the Guards Museum off the Mall near Buckingham Palace. First was a visit to the Guards Chapel or
The Royal Military Chapel,which is the religious home of the Household Division at the Wellington Barracks. Built
in 1838, the chapel was bombed during the Blitz in 1940/1941.
The flags lined both sides of the chapel. These are the standards from the Household Cavalry and colors of the
Foot Guards, the earliest dates from 1770.
On Sunday 18 June 1944 the chapel was hit again, this time
by a V1 during the morning service. The explosion of the V1 collapsed the concrete roof onto the congregation,
with 121 killed and 141 injured persons (military and civilians).
In the Guards Museum gift store there were hundreds of toy soldiers for sale. For the Boar War there was a little
diorama set up. This is a picture of the battle from the Zulu side. Might be The Battle of Rorke's Drift.
Soldiers were also part of the Guards Museum display. Here is one with a battle standard.
An energetic band member during a ceremony prior to marching to Buckingham Palace.
The subway was hard to photograph - for security reasons and low lighting. Here is a station with some natural
light.
Not as individual in decoration - like the New York stations - the London stations were very clean and easy to
move around in. "Stand to the Right" was a constant mantra as busy Londeners moved quickly on the left - up and
down. We easily used ten trains each day.
The little red telephone booths are everywhere and very photogenic.
I walked down to the Palace of Westminster and once again Big Ben was posing.
