On this day I decided to cover the palaces of London, namely Buckingham & Kensington! I was going to walk all the way, which also meant that I would get to pass through Hyde park – sounded easy enough, looking at the map at least.

My first stop was Buckingham, which is of course, the residence of the queen. And the first thing I thought was, wow that’s a crowd. There was just a flood of people, despite the fact that I had chosen to come on a day where there would not be the changing of the guards. I can only imagine how insane that would be.

The gates were really pretty, but I was kind of shocked by how unassuming the actual palace looked. But if touring multiple castles in Europe has thought me one thing, it’s that exteriors can be deceiving. I’m sure the inside is filled with beautiful artwork, not that I can actually go check, but you know.

The fountain outside the palace was my favourite thing there, it was so damn cool. I just had to go take a few photos with Vic.

But yeah, other than that there was not much else to see, so in hindsight going during the changing of the guards would have probably been the smart thing to do. By the way, if you want to visit the state rooms (aka the inside) remember to book well in advance or you won’t be able to go, because I did not realise this but they were selling tickets literally 3 months in advance.

I saw a little sign directing me to the queen’s gallery, so I followed and decided, why not. The 10 pounds entrance fee was a bummer, but I had time to kill so I decided it was a sacrifice worth making. What’s up Liz, aren’t museums in the UK supposed to be free?

Anyway I was really glad I went though, as they were having an exhibition on the Russian monarchy, which unfortunately ended with the murder of the entire family. I, of course, only know this because of the crappy Golden Films version of Anastasia I watched as a child, but it was enough to keep me interested.

Speaking of which I remember almost nothing about that film except these fancy egg things, so it was really cool to see it irl.

Next I was walking to Hyde park! It was still a little too early to be spring, so the blooming flowers were a pleasant surprise.

What was also a surprise to me was the fact that Hyde park is literally a zoo. Between the hissing swans and the flock of pigeons blocking my every step I was ready to leave.

But once you get past the birds and walk over to where Kensington is, the park gets a lot calmer and is so peaceful. I absolutely loved just slowly strolling through this area.

Kensington was very similar to Buckingham, in that it has a pretty gate but looks otherwise unassuming. Unfortunately, I had arrived just under an hour before closing time, so I decided buying tickets was not very worth my time. Perhaps I will come again.

That’s about it for this day, bye for now!