To get a feel of the coronation energy we decide, courageously, to exit at Big Ben and explore the downtown area. Just exiting the subway is difficult due to the throngs of people but we make it outside and get an idea what is happening. Many pedestrian routes are blocked and everyone is directed on specific paths which increases the volume of people on these required routes. Still we have a nice view of Big Ben and then we start exploring.
First we cross to the Thames for a nice view of the London Eye and the Westminster Bridge. Seeing the masses of people on it we are surprised it doesn’t collapse but we decide to avoid it today.
We know cross over towards Big Ben and then start making our way towards Westminster Abbey. We are not sure where we will be permitted to go and where we won’t be able to but why not explore as much as we can.
We pass the House of Commons and then we see Westminster Abbey in the distance. There is a flow of people going in that direction so we decide to do the same.
Unfortunately the Abbey itself is closed but we can take some photos from a distance before the flow is pushing us towards St James’s park.
We see a few motorcades in this area and the streets seem to be close but pedestrians are still herded and blocked to enter the roadway. And as we enter St James Park we notice a sign directing us to the screen site. Which raises some questions – can we pass by, is it free entry, did it happen already or is it in the future? Who knows but we are commited so on we go.
While we enjoy watching the Egyptian Goose along the way we are soon scared by the fact that the police seems to stop anyone proceeding onward into the park. But we continue on…and…they are actually offering various souvenirs from the coronation. Armbands, pins and the like. We take a few, why not?
We continue into the park, there are a few more policemen and -women offering other souvenirs along the way which makes for a more relaxed walk as it seems we are allowed and expected to be here.
The lake in the park is actually quite fruitful for interesting species. They are semi-domesticated and likely do not leave the lake as the food is abundant but still they appear to be wild and count as wild birds for us :).
And then we arrive at the Screen Site. There still seems to be a festivity pending as there are lots of people here waiting for the transmission to start. Quite interesting but not interesting enough for us to wait also so we continue on towards the subway.
More interesting there is an area where there are parrots in the trees. Not sure if they are catch and release or if they live here all the time but still it is quite interesting. Then we pass the main road in front of Buckingham Palace and people here seem to be waiting something so maybe the festivity is supposed to be here? Who knows really?
We continue on the prescribed pathway and soon we arrive, quite tired, at the subway station and it is time to return to our room to rest after our last full day in London.
In the morning we have to exchange terminals using the subway system. It is a bit weird and it is not clear at all how to get the free ticket but finally we find someone to ask and then on we go. The trains are as dirty if not more than the day before…so weird but we make it to Terminal 5 with time to spare.
As there is still time we decide to use the same lounge we used before. This time we have to enter a waitlist but finally they let us enter. To our surprise there are many places inside so not sure what all the wait was about. We get some food which is worse than a few days ago and wait out our plane. There are no surprises with our plane departure and soon we are on our way to Phoenix.
Arriving in Phoenix, which just suffered some rare floods, we have time to reflect on the beautiful and full trip we had. We visited two countries that couldn’t be more different and saw castles, ruins, birds and old towns. We ate good food and we met all our relatives – overall it was a great trip, now it is time to start planning the next one!!!
