I Crossed the Ocean...

…for a heart of gold.  Well I did cross the ocean about a month ago and there was a lot of gold.

Friday Courtney and I went to Buckingham Palace. 

The Gardens at Buckingham Palace!

We started off the day by touring the Queen’s Gallery.  The temporary exhibit was the anatomical drawings done by Leonardo da Vinci.  Yeah, that one guy that painted a little diddy known as the Mona Lisa.  While the fact that these drawings were done by my man LDV, they weren’t really my thing.  Cue speedy exit.

We then went on to the piece de resistance, Buckingham Palace!  We were able to tour the staterooms, since my future grandmother, the Queen, is at her vacation home in Scotland.  The staterooms are similar to the ones at Windsor, are used for entertaining guests to the palace.  All of the rooms were fabulous and decorated in various colors and of course gold, but my very favorite was the Music Room.  It definitely wasn’t the biggest, but it was just so darn charming! 

According to my beloved audio guide, the Music Room is where the Queen and the Duke’s three oldest children, Charles, Anne, and Andrew were baptized, as well as, more excitingly, Wills! Typically though, the room is used for private concerts.  My very favorite feature was the ceiling which was domed and had the three symbols of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland repeated on the diagonals.  The English Rose, the Scottish Thistle, and the Irish Shamrock were not only adorable, but really well thought out! John Nash, what a little genius.  Not sure why Wales wasn’t represented.  But then again, I’m not really too clear on the whole United Kingdom vs. Great Britain thing either. 

The Music Room, the darker lines are my favorite part of the ceiling!

We also saw a special exhibit called, Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration.  I wasn’t expecting to be impressed, but I loved seeing some of the crowns and other jewels that royalty have worn!  My favorite jewels were the seven on display made from the Cullinan Diamond.  The Cullinan Diamond was discovered in South Africa in 1905 and is the largest diamond ever mined.  Over time, it was split into nine separate diamonds, with two becoming a part of the crown jewels.  This exhibit is the first time the remaining seven jewels have ever been housed together in public.

The back of Buckingham Palace!
The center, domed part is where the Music Room is located.

Our “Royal Day Out” tickets also included admission to the Royal Mews, where they keep the carriages and cars, but Courtney and I were exhausted, so we skipped that.  But not to worry, we had our tickets converted into one-year passes, so we will return!

We ended the day by going to Bodean’s BBQ.  I had discovered this place online when I was searching for somewhere to watch the Cardinals game in London.  And boy, am I glad I found it.  The pulled pork was delicious.  Even better, was our dessert of Apple Cobbler.  Easily the best thing I have had in London.  Bodean’s may just become our LaFiesta Tuesday replacement!

The only downside was that the Cardinals lost.  To the Cubs.  Oh well, you can’t win everything!