Ruth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spooky_miss) wrote2010-09-29 11:14 am
spooky_miss) wrote2010-09-29 11:14 am
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Buckingham Palace
A few weeks ago I had a day out in London and visited Buckingham Palace. I had been there before, but as it was years and years ago, I can't remember it, so I decided to go to the whole lot - the Palace, the Royal Mews, and the Queens Gallery.
The Royal Mews was the first bit I went into, where they keep the Queen's horses and the carriages. Did you know one of them has heating and electric windows? haha! Each of the carriages was either built for a specific occasion or was a gift from a country, and the country ones had symbols of the country on them (e.g. thistles on the one from Scotland). There was also the huge gold state coach, which was amazing. They have to actually take down the wall and window of the room that its stored in to get it out. Next I went to the Queens Gallery, which at the moment has an exhibition of presents that Victoria and Albert gave each other. This was small, but interesting. I especially liked all the things with paintings of the children on them, and also there was a great sofa and chair made of antlers! One slightly freaky thing was marble casts of their children's arms and legs - apparently made while the children were asleep! One thing which did annoy me a little in these two places was the audio guide - I like to know as much information as possible about things, but I didn't really like hanging around in front of each thing waiting for the audio to finish. When I went into Buckingham Palace I got a paper copy of it though, so that was good, I could quickly read it and then could concentrate on what I'm looking at.
Buckingham Palace is really beautiful. And has lovely carpets! They've so luxurious! The "tour" round it follows a certain path, so it does get a bit congested at times when theres something especially interesting to look at - such as the thrones! But it is good. At the moment there is an exhibition about "The Queens Year", which has a little bit about the main activities which the Queen does throughout the year, such as Trooping of the Colour, ceremonies, garden parties, Rememberance Day etc. There were also some of the presents that she'd been given when visiting different places - from Aardman Animation there was a model of Gromit and Morph shaking hands! :) Then you went through to the ballroom, where people are knighted etc, and got to sit down - on one of the Queen's chairs! Woo! :) haha. All the furniture and fittings were just so beautiful - although I did like to see some signs of wear on some of the chairs and scuffs on the tables - it reminds you that it is a home where people have lived for 150+ years. I could just imagine Victoria and Albert's children sitting in the rooms, reading a book or playing with their toys.
After I'd been to Buckingham Palace I sat in Trafalgar Square for a little while, which was really nice, and great for people watching! And then went to the National Gallery, which had an exhibition on "Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries". It was a small gallery showing examples of paintings which have turned out to be fakes, or not by who it was thought they were by, or had been altered or changed in some way over time. It also had the techniques they used to discover these kind of things, it was really interesting! One thing which they seemed to use quite a lot is analysis of the paint used - certain pigments weren't used before or after certain dates, so they know that if it had that in them it could be dated to a certain time. Also when the paintings are x-rayed it shows details and things which might have been painted out. A very interesting exhibition!
I really enjoy days out like this, and I had a fun but tiring day! Just wish I knew other people who want to do this kind of thing really, I don't want to go on my own all the time!
The Royal Mews was the first bit I went into, where they keep the Queen's horses and the carriages. Did you know one of them has heating and electric windows? haha! Each of the carriages was either built for a specific occasion or was a gift from a country, and the country ones had symbols of the country on them (e.g. thistles on the one from Scotland). There was also the huge gold state coach, which was amazing. They have to actually take down the wall and window of the room that its stored in to get it out. Next I went to the Queens Gallery, which at the moment has an exhibition of presents that Victoria and Albert gave each other. This was small, but interesting. I especially liked all the things with paintings of the children on them, and also there was a great sofa and chair made of antlers! One slightly freaky thing was marble casts of their children's arms and legs - apparently made while the children were asleep! One thing which did annoy me a little in these two places was the audio guide - I like to know as much information as possible about things, but I didn't really like hanging around in front of each thing waiting for the audio to finish. When I went into Buckingham Palace I got a paper copy of it though, so that was good, I could quickly read it and then could concentrate on what I'm looking at.
Buckingham Palace is really beautiful. And has lovely carpets! They've so luxurious! The "tour" round it follows a certain path, so it does get a bit congested at times when theres something especially interesting to look at - such as the thrones! But it is good. At the moment there is an exhibition about "The Queens Year", which has a little bit about the main activities which the Queen does throughout the year, such as Trooping of the Colour, ceremonies, garden parties, Rememberance Day etc. There were also some of the presents that she'd been given when visiting different places - from Aardman Animation there was a model of Gromit and Morph shaking hands! :) Then you went through to the ballroom, where people are knighted etc, and got to sit down - on one of the Queen's chairs! Woo! :) haha. All the furniture and fittings were just so beautiful - although I did like to see some signs of wear on some of the chairs and scuffs on the tables - it reminds you that it is a home where people have lived for 150+ years. I could just imagine Victoria and Albert's children sitting in the rooms, reading a book or playing with their toys.
After I'd been to Buckingham Palace I sat in Trafalgar Square for a little while, which was really nice, and great for people watching! And then went to the National Gallery, which had an exhibition on "Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries". It was a small gallery showing examples of paintings which have turned out to be fakes, or not by who it was thought they were by, or had been altered or changed in some way over time. It also had the techniques they used to discover these kind of things, it was really interesting! One thing which they seemed to use quite a lot is analysis of the paint used - certain pigments weren't used before or after certain dates, so they know that if it had that in them it could be dated to a certain time. Also when the paintings are x-rayed it shows details and things which might have been painted out. A very interesting exhibition!
I really enjoy days out like this, and I had a fun but tiring day! Just wish I knew other people who want to do this kind of thing really, I don't want to go on my own all the time!