Saturday, March 23, 2013

Saturday Snapshot


 

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.

I went to London with my BFF in October 2009 and we met up with my niece who was living in Birmingham at the time. We had amazing weather for doing all the touristy things. 



We literally stumbled upon this. We were walking along and T spotted the crowds gathering, so we quickly went in and found a good viewing spot and waited for the pomp to begin.





Horse Guards was originally built to house the Sovereign's Life Guards. It is still the exclusive official Royal entrance to St.James's and Buckingham Palaces, which explains the presence of these mounted Guardsmen accoutered in thigh boots, red or blue tunics, plumed helms, shining cuirasses and drawn swords. The colourful ceremonial of mounted Guard Changing by the Queen's Life Guard takes place on the Parade Ground at Horse Guards daily at 11am, (10am Sundays).





 It is extended to include trumpeters when The Queen is in residence at Buckingham Palace.
The 18th century Horse Guards building facing both onto Whitehall and onto the Parade is a much admired part of Royal London's architectural heritage. Designed by William Kent, c. 1748, and completed in 1759 by his disciple John Vardy, it is an impressive Palladian backdrop to this and other colourful Royal ceremonies and events which take place annually here, such as Trooping the Colour ceremony marking the Sovereign's official birthday in June, Beating the Retreat and the Remembrance Sunday Royal March Past of veterans in November.






This is a pretty cool picture from the air! 


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Location: London, UK

9 comments:

  1. BronaMarch 23, 2013 at 6:35 PM

    There's always something to see in London!
    When I was living over there, I used to hang out in St James Park on sunny Sunday's. I loved the hustle and bustle, the church bells, the marching bands practicing nearby...and watching the Queen's guards ride by.
    Thanks for the memories.

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  2. Peppermint Ph.D.March 23, 2013 at 6:55 PM

    This is a trip that I MUST make!!

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  3. GaleMarch 23, 2013 at 7:06 PM

    Very, very cool!

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  4. Fun60March 23, 2013 at 7:29 PM

    Although I have seen the Changing of the Guard on many occasions I still get a thrill from watching. Great shots.

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  5. Joy Weese MollMarch 23, 2013 at 9:46 PM

    The Horse Guard Parade ground was the venue for Beach Volleyball during last summer's Olympics, which was pretty cool if a rather odd juxtaposition.

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  6. LouiseMarch 23, 2013 at 11:41 PM

    I haven't had the thrill of being in London- yet, but will be there later in the year- I love getting a sneak peak.

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  7. baju muslim murahMarch 24, 2013 at 8:00 AM

    This is a great posting I have read it is very interesting to read thank you

    ReplyDelete
  8. Christine HardingMarch 24, 2013 at 5:43 PM

    You are the second person who has posted photos of London and made me feel homesick

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  9. Christine HardingMarch 24, 2013 at 5:44 PM

    .. was supposed to say 'homesick for London and the south..' No Snapshot from me this week, because I only got back from Mum's yesterday, but I like to see what everyone is doing!

    ReplyDelete

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