You can't live in London without going to see the Changing of the Guards at least once. So that's what I did today with a group of girls from the house. I must say, it wasn't quite what I expected (especially for all the hype there is about it) but it was definitely worth seeing if for no other reason than to say I saw it.
We were told to get there at 11:15, but even when we arrived as early as 11am the crowds were unbelievable. The nice thing was that very few people stood along the sides of the gates -- most wanted a head-on vew from the queen's monument in the center -- so my group staked out a spot in the corner and were able to get an adequate view and decent pictures sideways through the iron fence.
And so we waited. And waited. And waited. The guards were mildly entertaining to watch. A group of 3, one with a serious looking gun, were having a conversation on the sidelines, but they were too far away to hear. And the 2 main guards alternated marching back and forth in front of the palace.
For more than an hour of waiting, we got a total of around 8 minutes of action, edied down to 5 minutes, below.
It was definitely interesting to see! I'll try to post more soon.
2 comments:
Somehow lacks the regal somberness of Arlington's chaning of the guard. Was it as loud as it seemed on the video? It sounded like a soccer match!
Yes, it certainly wasn't as somber as the changing of the guards in Arlington, but it was still a pretty powerful image (though more symbolic than anything else).
Also, it wasn't really that loud. I think my camera picked up a lot of wind and background noise, but from where we were standing, it was actually pretty quiet.
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