After a short night, we were up early to join a Changing of the Guard tour. We met in Piccadilly Circus with the electronic billboards making it feel like a small Times Square.
From there we walked towards Trafalgar Square before heading down The Mall to St. James’s Palace on Marlborough Road where the old guard assembles and is led by the band. The music played by the band just prior to assembling is different each time and the song played on Monday was Hallelujah. Our tour guide provided so much historical information and ways to identify which unit was which.
The Old Guard marches to Buckingham Palace where they meet the New Guards coming from Wellington Barracks for an exchange of duty. Following the exchange, the New Guards will return to St. James’s Palace where they will be on duty for up to 48 hours, spending 2 hours on sentry duty and 4 hours off.
After the tour, we walked past St. James’s where I stopped for a quick portrait of two police officers who were in charge of keeping the street closed by the palace. Had lunch at a quaint restaurant.
After we took a short break, we venture on the Tube towards the Leica Store. The gallery featured an exhibit of Elliott Erwitt’s work, which was great to see. From there we walked to Bond Street with the high end stores, before calling it a night.
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