A Good Day

Yesterday I had the coolest site seeing day of my stay in England thus far. The day started really cool with a brisk run, then we went to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, followed by a visit to the crown jewels, and ended the day by visiting Greenwich.

At 06:00 sharp, thunder pealed across the skies of England. And since I was already awake for the past hour and a half, I thought that it was just too good a chance to let pass. So I put on my jogging kit, well, as little as is decently possible, since I was going to be running in the rain. But would you know it, the moment I stepped outside it stopped raining. Bugger. But seeing as I was there, I stepped onto my starting plate, pushed the “Start” button on my Polar twice, and of I went. It must be said that there is something about running on a brisk English morning, with the mist swirling across the park and other mere mortals huddled beneath umbrellas, afraid to get wet while they wait for the gates to Wimbledon to open. And as I run past them, with moisture glistening on my naked torso, I can not help but pose as I run past them (evil grin).

The next highlight of the day was witnessing the changing of the Royal Guard at Buckingham palace. Two words. Fuzzy hats! Each time the guards march or stomp, their hats ripple in this really cool way. At the start of the whole procedure, a platoon of guards take up station in front of the palace, while their officer marches to and fro. Then, suddenly, one hears music in the distance. As you turn around, you see another two platoons of guards marching towards you. The front one has various musical instruments, while the men in the rear one carry automatic assault rifles. I must admit, there is something that speaks to a man’s martial nature when he sees soldiers marching to the beat of drums. For a split moment, you whish to join their brotherhood of arms. Anyway, these two platoons march past, and take up station on the left side of the front gates to the palace. Then, another two platoons come marching past, same makeup as the first lot; only, they stand to attention on the right hand side of the gates. Finally, a platoon of horse guards arrive, mounted on these beautiful black stallions. After everyone has taken their places, the two platoons carrying musical instruments merge into a single unit in front of the gates, and start playing various pieces of music. Very, very, very cool. While they are playing, the officers, com officers and flag carriers of each of the companies march to and fro. It looks weird, but I guess there is some tradition behind it all. At about 11:50, the band stops playing, the platoons split apart again, and then go marching off to where they came from. All in all, it was an wonderful experience to watch.

The next stop was the Tower of London. Which, incidentally is not a single tower at all. It is this huge castle, consisting of many towers, each with its own name. Names like Bloody Tower, Traitors Gate, White Tower, Tower of Sir Thomas, and many more. Walking through each tower is quite an experience, especially the displays that were in the White Tower. These displays ranged over everything martial in a castle. There one can view knights in armour, horses in armour, swords, lances, guns, blunderbusses, mortars, culverins, various other forms of artillery, and one suit of Japanese armour. But face it, we did not come to the Tower of London for the damn armour. We came to see the crown jewels. And my oh my, where they stunning. There is this mechanical walkway that runs past the display cases; and Natalie and I got onto it three times so amazing was the experience. The crowns and sceptres are true works of art, and the globe thingy that is put in the monarchs hand at the start of the crowning ceremony is a sight to behold. And of course, we got to see the two biggest diamonds in the world. Star of Africa 1, which is mounted in a sceptre, and Star of Africa 2, which is mounted in King Edward ???’s crown. Star of Africa 1 is 500 carats, while Star of Africa 2 is 300 carats. Both were cut from a huge diamond (thousands of carats) called the Hope diamond, which was strip-mined right here in South Africa. And then there was the golden platters and cups. Gold, gold and more gold. There was one punch bowl as big as a bath, with a ladle that could hold at least 4 pints. And the golden plates were truly stunning, with the intricate designs etched into their surfaces.

After finishing our tour of the Tower, it was off to Greenwich and the GMT. It was so cool. I got to stand in one place at two times. And Natalie did a handstand on the timeline, of which I must remember to send the photo to her gymnastics team. And come on, we just had to do it. I’m standing on the east side (hop), I’m standing on the west side (hop), and I’m standing on the east side. The day ended with us going down to the harbour at Greenwich. There we found a pub called The Gipsy Moth (spelled like this) and enjoyed a strawberry beer while laughing about the day’s experiences.

And that is what made the day SO cool; I got to share it with a friend. In all of my previous excursions, it was only me and my camera. And believe me, I have taken a lot of photos. But at the end of the day, when I show those photos to friends and family, all they will see is places and things, they will know nothing of the experiences and emotions that were felt when I viewed said places. How do you explain to someone the feeling of being moved by the music of a marching band, or the thrill of pulling the wool over a ticket officer’s eyes as you hoodwink him into selling you tickets for cheaper, or the experience of eating lunch in the shadow of an actual big as life castle, or the joy of goofing around across the international timeline. There is no way to explain such things. But when you have someone to share those experiences with you, it does not matter. Because you know, somewhere out there, there is someone who shared the experience, and has just as much fun as you had.

And thus ends my post.