Where to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace?

In honor of Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, here's a post on Buckingham Palace and the guards.

In this post:  when the Queen waved to me, American high school marching band origins, and why President Obama might move to London

Watching the changing of the guard is likely to be on most people's to-do list while visiting London.  While a visit to Buckingham Palace and the surrounding parks is lovely, keep in mind that you don't see much during the changing of the guard per se.  I recommend a visit to Windsor Castle, watching the changing of the guard there, where there is ample viewing space and more pomp and circumstance.

Buckingham Palace itself is only open to visitors from late July to late September or early October each year, while the Queen is away on holiday.

Year-round you can visit The Royal Mews, where you can learn about how the Queen gets around, both by horse-drawn carriage and motor car. It is also one of the "finest working stables still in existence", and you can see the magnificent horses and the carriages used for royal and State occasions, for an entrance fee.

So you decide to venture over to see what you can at Buckingham and the Changing of the Guard.  The actual ceremony itself takes place at 11:30 each day from May - July and alternate days the rest of the year.

I'd recommend arriving about 10:30 and choosing to start at either the Household Cavalry or the Guard's Museum.  At the Cavalry, you can watch the mounted regiment change at about 11:00, where the horses come out with riders all dressed in their beautiful coats and shining accessories like real knights.  Then walk (quickly!) through St James Park to be near Buckingham to catch a glimpse of the changing of the guard at 11:30.

The Regiment Change at the Household Cavalry (ps this is where they will have the 2012 Beach Volleyball Competitions, making good use of all this sand the horses parade around in)

Alternatively, head to the Guard's Museum, on Bird Cage Walk just near the Palace, and watch the Marching Band warming up and preparing for the Changing of the Guard.  They usually strike up the band about 10:45.  Then, you are literally right across from the Palace in order to see the changing of the guard, albeit from the crowds. 

Marching Band at the Guard's Museum - makes me marvel at how the American high school marching band design is based upon this model which has been the Royal ceremony since the 1400's!

Those who want the best view must line up outside the large gates surrounding the palace forecourt about an hour prior to the ceremony, depending on the time of year (obviously in the summer you'll need at least an hour, in the winter months 15 minutes before the start might get you a good spot).

I was fascinated to learn that these guys are not just ceremonial tourist attractions.  They are very real soldiers, many of whom have experienced combat.  The responsibility of guarding dates back to the time of Henry VII (1485-1509).  These are some of the best soldiers in the British Army and have fought in virtually every major area of conflict with great distinction since the 17th Century. They also take an active role in protecting their Sovereign; at night they patrol the grounds of both Buckingham Palace and St. James's Palace.

Once while watching the changing of the guard with friends who were here to visit London, we actually SAW THE QUEEN, as she returned from her morning tea or service or something, she came through the gates near the Green Park side of the forecourt, a three-car procession - a car in front and one behind her beautiful car - and even though she was in her vehicle, and there were loads of people cheering and all, we do insist that she waved right at us!

After the changing of the guard is complete, if the weather is nice, take a stroll through St James park.  There's a nice, but small, children's playground on the southwest corner of the pond/lake.  Or walk through Green Park to the north.  Sorry, but you're not allowed in the Buckingham Palace gardens, which is the largest private garden in London, and it should be, since it's the Queen's backyard.  Guess who has the second largest private garden in all of London?  The Prime Minister?  No.  Prince Charles?  Sorry.  Kate and Will?  Jamie Oliver?  No, no, no.  It would be the United States Ambassador.  He has an amazing residence in Regent's Park, called Winfield House, and he told us so himself (I got to visit, lucky me) and even said Obama wondered if he took the right position after seeing this marvelous London "palatial" residence on his visit to London last year!

Now, when you're hungry after all this royal viewing, I recommend heading to the Wagamama between Palace Street and Bressenden Place.

After a great meal there, you might even have enough energy to continue your visit of the best of London's sightseeing by making the short .5 mile walk down Victoria Street to Westminster Abbey, then on to see the Parliament, Jewel Tower and Big Ben and cross the Thames to finish the day at the London Eye!  Whew!

Congratulations Queen Elizabeth II, you've got a wonderful country and a very lovely city here in London, indeed!

A&E (not the TV station, but the London ER)

Yes, we've got kids (and rambunctious ones at that), so we knew it would inevitably happen.
The visit to the local ER.
 Here, that would be Accidents and Emergency, or A&E.
On April 28th, I was taking Ally from one friend's house to another friend's house.  Unfortunately I was running late and so she wanted to rush, and borrowed a scooter from the first friend. 

I could tell right away that this was a bad idea.  First of all, it was very wet - it's been raining for weeks - so the sidewalks are almost slippery.  Secondly, the scooter was definitely too small for her to use.  She had several little tumbles with it in the first block, and at one point I said, that's it, let's take this thing back, this is not safe for you to use!  Why didn't I persist a bit more ~ probably because I was feeling guilty for running late.

Well as we are going along, I'm on my bike, and I suddenly hear screaming, look next to me, see NO Ally, look behind me, and see a crowd lifting her off the street.  

I thought she had been hit by a car!  There was blood everywhere on her face and ladies were digging in their purses to get kleenex to put on her wound.

I ran back and in a panic I yelled "What happened?"  And she said she just fell, off her scooter, that the scooter sort of slipped from under her (on one of those areas that are "bumpy" that are on the sidewalk as you reach an intersection), and unfortunately her head came down onto a post!!  She was not in pain, and was insisting on heading straight to her friend's house! We were near a street market, and the crowd that gathered around us all agreed that we needed to get to the A&E that was just blocks away.  It is a small cut but it was deep.  

 

It wasn't so terrible, just quite deep...

 

 

I have been dreading this day.

I hear that the NHS A&Es are not fun places.  This was a local NHS hospital, St Mary's, near Edgeware Road and Marylebone.  Even walking the 6 blocks or so to get there, people on the street just sort of pointed us in the right direction; they knew our destination.

When we got there we had to queue, there were about 7 people in front of us.  The waiting room was a place of misery, people did not look good.  Once we reached the receptionist, she took Ally's name and our address (we have done the paperwork at our local clinic to be properly registered with the NHS, so we're in the system) and then we were directed to the Children's Area, which was much better.  They saw us come in and immediately motioned for Ally to come back, seeing some sort of head injury!  

The nurse was lovely and kind, she used some cold glue (no stitches - she said they really don't do them anymore at all) and put those butterfly bandages to keep it closed.  

After that we saw a doctor for a couple of minutes and then we were sent on our way.  

Not ONE paper to sign, no co-pay, wow, it's so weird!!  I guess this is why our council tax is so high!  

 

Feeling better

 

 Although she could not swim for five days, the cut seems to be healing well and we are hoping there will not be much of a scar.

Another adventure here in London.... a visit to the A&E.  Let's hope we won't be back soon.

What I love (and don't love) about LONDON

I love:

• the parks - what GREAT green spaces London boasts!
• the history - mind boggling...makes me feel like a dunce
• public transportation - usually lovely, usually reliable 
• walking almost everywhere - to school, to the gym, to the store, to the library, to the market, to restaurants, to parks....
• the international flavor ~ fantastic restaurants and a sense that we are in the middle of the world - a flight away from Asia or the Americas
• living in a country with a real Queen, fairy-tale stories of "commoner-turned-Princess", and lots of castles
• the BBC
• fantastic FREE museums

I don't like:

• so many people smoking!  Yuck!
• a certain British arrogance that I can't put a name on
• crowds...sometimes there are just too many people in one spot
• pollution!  Yuck!
• the attitude of "children should be seen and not heard", most commonly reflected in all the "no ball games, skating, scootering" signs in all courtyards or grassy areas
• the costs - yikes - sooo expensive
• lack of customer service 
• worrying about being mugged or having our home broken in to
• British plumbing, I can't even explain it...I don't like their toilets, the hard water, the leaks, the water tanks in the attic, noisy pumps, etc.

I miss most:  (and can't seem to replace)

• my liquid coffee creamer (the Trader Joe's variety of Coffeemate vanilla)
• my health club - Lifetime Fitness
• Target, how I miss thee

I can't live without (and could NEVER replace):

• family ~ sucks to miss out on birthdays and get togethers and all of those special family moments or just being together
• my dear friends
• Minnesota summers

LET!

Looking back at the past year, and considering our living arrangement, and talking to lots of families who have had a similar experience, I think the difficulty arriving here lies with the horror of trying to find housing in, like, one day, and being taken advantage of, because they know you have to pick something, and there are no options that you like, so you have to pick something that you don't like.  Yuck.  This second time around, looking for a rental place was an entirely different experience.  There was no pressure at all.  In fact, we weren't even going to move for sure.  We were just looking - for fun.  Our one-year lease either needed to be extended or ceased.  So, what was the risk in looking elsewhere?  We had the advantage of being there as things came onto the market.  And knowing the market.  And knowing exactly where life takes us.  And where lots of families live, and what prices are, and again...no pressure.

It was almost too easy!

We are settling nicely into our new rental place.  Ten days we've been here.  Happiness oozes from the kids and I am sometimes - cheesy as it may sound - nearly brought to tears feeling so grateful to have this place.  It's not like we were suffering at our first place.  By London standards it was very nice; just a bit small for us, but kids were not welcome (by two neighbors) to play in our courtyard, which stands empty and lonesome under the sign "No ball games, No scooters, No biking of any kind".  Yes, indeed one of the neighbors told me that the children can't play there.  I shrugged my shoulders at her, "it doesn't say they can't PLAY here".  "Well," she said, "that is what the parks are for".

Hallelujah, here at our new location, most of the residents are families, and kids voices actually float through the air like sweet music I haven't heard for a year.  It's wonderful.  It's fantastic.  It's free-ing!  Our outdoor space is probably similar in total square meters to what we had in the last place, but there, it was an "L" shape with steps, a patio, a broken jacuzzi tub, etc.  This place has a nice, plain, one-level, boring, square kind of a garden.  Which means it is perfect for jumping rope, lightly kicking a ball around, four-square, scootering in circles, lounging, ETC. 

The house is not updated; in fact, it is probably in need of some major remodeling.  We couldn't care less.  I like the traditional decorative moldings, dated built-ins, and the small kids rooms.  Others would see these as painful; I find them practical.  The plumbing, like most British homes, is questionable.  On the third day here, we had massive water running from the ceiling of the third level and dripping -flowing- down the staircase.  The water tank bulb (which monitors the water level) had become stuck and the over-flow drain pipe had broken.  Still can't grasp why the water system is in the attics of the homes here, but it's just the way it is.  Once it began to rain inside the house and drip down the stairwell, pooling in the entryway of the home, I panicked, but immediately called our manager, who promptly arrived within 15 minutes and fixed the problem within a few hours.   Unsettling, yes, but we are trusting that this was a rare occurrence.

Closets.  Can I talk about closets.  A major adjustment from US suburbia to London living is no storage space.  There is no basement.  There is no garage.  There is no entry closet.  This is where I put STUFF.  Now we actually have a garage (hooray) and we are spoilt for closet space - may I say there are still some empty spots.

Fridge.  Now let me rave about my fridge.  It is more than double what we had at the last place.  Can you see me smiling?

Safety.  Hmmm. We're in an area where there are more break-ins, so we have those cages on our windows and doors on the first floor.  It's kind of weird I must admit.  We did have a sense of security at the last place, despite having a bike stolen from the parking area.  Here, you don't leave your house unlocked, and you set your alarm.  Another trade-off.

We are no longer a few blocks away from the green open spaces of Primrose and Regents Parks.  But now we have useable garden and a street that includes a few basketball hoops and indoor space that is comfortable.  I am sooooo grateful.

TO LET

In the last post, I admitted we should have done a pre-visit and learned more about the housing situation here before moving to London.  However, even though we rushed over here, we landed in a wonderful temporary accommodation for the 1st five weeks.

We've been here a year, and now we're moving again.  This time into a place that we are excited about!  As with a lot of people who relocate, we had to settle for something because of the time crunch and only one day to view properties.  We were not well-informed and personally we don't feel our relocation consultant was very helpful.

Here are a few do's and don'ts regarding rental housing in London.

DO:

• Know that "for rent" is known as "to let" in London - start those google searches!
• Get all the help that you can ~ contact agencies on your own, they can help you.  
• Accept that London's prices in the nicer areas are going to depress you. 
• Try to find a contact locally - not your relocation consultant! - who can give you some advice
• Visit and talk to parents at the school(s) you are considering
• Consider temporary housing (something for the first month, for example) in the area where you'd like to relocate
• Understand that most lettings are posted approximately 60 days before the date that they are available (because tenants usually need to give 60 days notice) ~ therefore it is best to do your looking 60 days prior to your desired move in date.
• Try ALL the on-off switches, appliances and utilities in the home before agreeing to sign a lease, and be sure you've seen ALL the areas of the property (garages, gardens, etc)
• Prepare to put one and a half month's rent (of your own money without the supporting company's help) down for a deposit

DON'T:

• Feel pressured to choose something after the first day of looking at houses (our relocation consultant put the pressure on!).
• Choose something without really understanding the street and immediate area surrounding the property...
• Hesitate to knock on doors and talk to neighbors in an area where you're interested!
• Forget to really measure to make sure your furniture will fit!
• Trust the rental agents, unfortunately ~  some are excellent, but some are not (ie we were told we were in a different borough of London than we actually are, and told we'd have the garage but we don't). 
• Assume that your children will be able to "play" outside of your home ~ ask the neighbors about the general feel of children in the neighborhood ~ there are still plenty of people who believe children should be seen and not heard and should only play in the parks.
• Feel like you must live right next to or very close to the school if busing is an option; most children in central London schools come from a very wide area
• Assume you'll get your deposit back ~ we've heard some who get 100% back and others almost nothing.  
• Compare your housing allowance with other ex-pats ~ our situation was fixed and non-negotiable, but others I know here were able to negotiate for more or refused to come over until the company agreed to more housing allowance.

Resources:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/
http://www.findaproperty.com/
http://www.arlingtonestates.co.uk/
http://www.behrandbutchoff.com/

Get a copy of this book:   Living and Working in London, 5th Edition: A Survival Handbook by Graeme Chesters, David Hampshire 

What would we do differently, if we did it all again?

OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY AS EXPATS!!
Time to look back...
 
~ it's time to admit we made mistakes, and feel the gratitude for all the things that went well.
~ dig out some drafts of blogs I began those first few months we were here but never completed because life was complicated at the time.

DOESN'T THIS LOOK LIKE FUN????

 So, what have we learned?  What would we do differently?

Our first mistake, not entirely our fault, was coming over perhaps too quickly.  My husband’s company needed him here immediately, and for two months, he commuted back and forth (gone for 10 days at a time), so that he could get started.  This was an tricky time for both of us.  He hated being away, the job was exhausting and overwhelming and yes indeed they really did need someone to do this work, very badly in fact.  But at the same time he was required to continue with roles he was assigned here in the US, which made for a great deal of stress and workload.  Meanwhile I was running the household solo, trying to prepare for an upcoming move, and this was not easy either.

It was because of that rough time that we said we just need to get over there.  We actually just wanted our family unit together. 

Because David had been gone so much, we decided to forgoe the “pre-visit” trip of looking into school and housing.  We had truly narrowed our focus to a small area in London, and there just isn’t that much available in the budget we were working with, so what was the point?  Dave was exhausted from all the back and forth, and the kids were already quite disrupted; to leave them for a stretch of days with sitters and grandparetns seemed an unhealthy choice.

In retrospect, we should have done it!!
And I guess although it would have been painful, I think the children should have completed the school year in MN.

We should have come about 6 weeks prior to our move to try to secure housing and visit schools.  I wish we had done it.  I guess I had the sense we could figure it out on the spot, and that Dave's schedule was such that it seemed really hard to squeeze it into the calendar. 

The other thing we should have done was to take the issue of school applications very seriously.  We put them together as best we could, quickly, thinking, our kids are good, decent, and get good marks, they’ll get in.  We felt assured they’d get in somewhere. 

Finally, when we did get here, I made the mistake of giving one school (which was our top choice) an email address I don’t use too often, so I actually missed some important communication from them.

And finding housing here...yikes, we knew finding housing in London for a family of five would be difficult, and we knew sacrifices would be made - less space, perhaps not in an ideal location, etc. 

Now for the good stuff.
Some things went remarkably well.  We were placed in temporary housing, in an apartment in Kensington.  We were literally across the street from Kensington Gardens.  Our kids fell in love with Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.  I'm so grateful that we were able to spend 5 weeks in this area of London.  Our apartment, although small, was modern, clean, and we had clean towels and a daily housekeeping.  We had good internet connections and it was not far for David to take the tube to his office.  Most of all, the location, location, location was wonderful for exploring London. 

our temporary housing...can't complain!

We loved this beautiful building, despite being a big cramped...in some ways it was like being on a vacation

Ally looking out of her bedroom window - literally Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park were across the street.

Dad's office building on the Thames ~ Vinter's Place in "the City"

The kids in their glory - in Kensington Gardens - with our apartment building in the background.

Important addresses/contacts:
Overall Ex-pat management contact:  Brookfield Global Relocation Services Limited ~ Bailey Munro
Housing and Schools support contact:  Relocation Support Services Limited
Our temporary accommodation:  Apartment 10, 2-14 Prince of Wales Terrace, London, W8 5PE

Anticipation....

is killing me ~ just like the song goes....

We are moving - HOORAY.  I am over my head happy about the place that we got, it's going to make the next couple/few years here much more wonderful.

But we gotta wait...one month from tomorrow is move day! =)

We are lucky to be in St John's Wood...often referred to as "sedate", it's just perfect for families and happens to be where the school is located, and that is the big draw for international families and ex-pat families.  There are some great purpose-built blocks of flats that you can find at "reasonable?" prices, but to get into a house is tricky.  There are lots of mansions in this area (particularly inhabited by ambassadors and celebrities such as Sir Paul himself).  The prices are unlike anything I've seen anywhere, we are talking RIDICULOUS.  There are two new mansions in the area that are listed at 78 and 88 million pounds...over 100 million dollars ~ what, who can afford that?  I guess that is why most of the mansions are owned by countries or companies; most celebrities cannot even get into that range and in fact when you take a look at Paul McCartney's house it looks like absolutely nothing special. 

Our current little townhome has been a great starting point, we love being so near to Primrose Hill and Regent's Park.  The area is safe (I think partially due to the large number of ambassadors who have 24 hour guards or watchmen pacing in front of their homes) and I have become comfortable with allowing Jonah, and once in a while, Ally, walk short distances to friends' homes or to and from school.

But we're a bit cramped here. 

And if you remember, we weren't exactly happy with our move-in here, as there were several glitches - the biggest being that it was advertised with a garage and when we came to take the keys...sorry, no garage.  Oh and by the way you're actually in a different council than we said (double the council tax).  Oh and there's still furniture here that we aren't moving out.
What the...!?
Isn't this stuff illegal or something? 
Apparently not, our relocation agency couldn't seem to do anything about it, and the company had to pick up the tab for storage of our items that didn't fit into the house which we planned to store in the garage. 
Ugh, frustrations...

So when we got our lease renewal letter, asking whether or not we'd be renewing our lease for another year, it made us think, what else is out there?  Especially because we also know that we pay high compared to others in this complex of townhomes.  After some searching I identified a little area still in St Johns Wood but very close to Swiss Cottage where there are a number of townhomes that are reasonably priced and more spacious than where we are here.  Several were on the market, a couple needing serious updates.

When we saw one we really liked, we thought, why not offer and see what happens?

And that is how we got into this mess of moving!  We get to double our size. =) 
And for a mama who loves to have people at our house, and loves to have the kids have friends over, this is really going to be a fantastic upgrade.  It's certainly possible to have house guests now, but not without moving everyone around and having our kids sleep on our floor and such - trust me - it's not a big deal, and they don't mind at all - what kid doesn't like to crawl into their parents' room anyways.  But in our new place, it's so wonderful because there are these three very small bedrooms (one for each of the kiddos) and then a larger bedroom (which will be a playroom/guestroom). 

Did I mention I'll get double the refrigerator space as well??

Oh my good heavens I'm so excited and filled with anticipation about it!!

The bummers are moving away from wonderful neighbors I have met - of course we'll only be a 5-10 minute walk away, but we won't be right next door as we are now.  We'll give up some very nicely updated bathrooms to some outdated ones, and our proximity to the parks.  But we'll gain space (albeit choppy - no open floor plan, but we had to sacrifice some things) and proximity to transport, work, school and leisure centre/swim club.  It also seems like playing outside, in the street or whatever, is more accepted (there are A LOT of American families over there).  Here, it is not allowed.  =(

We've given up an April vacation in order to pay for the move (company doesn't help with local moves - it's our choice).  We'll be moving when the kids have 2 weeks off of school, which I think will be nice.  They haven't even seen the place yet!!  We hope to show them in the next couple weeks, but the current family just moved out a couple of days ago.  The kids are eager to have their own rooms =)

I am dying of anticipation for this move!!!