Buckingham Palace

Yesterday we went to Buckingham Palace.  Fortunately, I had been before in the fall and had toured the staterooms, so I did not feel the need to get an audio guide again.  I absolutely love the palace and its rich history. The staterooms are lavish and beautiful. The sheer amount of effort put into every decoration within the room from the ceiling and window trimming to the furniture and the paintings is absolutely astounding.  We walked to the palace from the study center. I am no stranger to this walk as I used to run it every day in the previous semester when I had more free time during the day. Walking with the group took about twenty minutes (plus a fifteen-minute breakfast run to Pret in the beginning).  Once at the palace, we had to navigate through hordes of tourists trying to watch the changing of the guard. Once through the masses, we waited at the side entrance for a long while until we were swept through airport-style security.
It was interesting learning about the history of the palace too.  While not exactly pre-history, the palace has had a lot of interesting phases.  It was commissioned for Queen Victoria in the nineteenth century. The front facade was not added until later.  Each room was gilded and lavish. It almost resembled the chambers of the Musee de Louvre a Paris, however, in Buckingham Palace none of the gorgeous paintings are marked with a plaque or title.  The thrones that I had seen int he Netflix Series ‘The Crown’ looked regal as ever in real life and the chandeliers, beaming. Even the second time through, I was in awe of the beauty and regalia of the palace and hope to achieve even just a fraction of the wealth shown in this building in my lifetime. 

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