Anne Abroad--The Sequel: A Royal Day Out

It was a royal day out for the Russ-Lentz clan. Unfortunately, I don't have very good pictures because I couldn't snap any inside pics today. And the outside courtyard (where you could get a great shot of the guard and the front of the castle) was filled with people who were celebrating the Olympic Torch being passed to London for 2012.

We decided to take advantage of the chance to see Buckingham Palace. You can only tour the inside of the Palace in August and the first part of September when the Queen is not in residence. She's at her summer home. Maddie and I both took the children's audio tour and Skip went for the adult version. The Palace has 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. There are 450 people who work there year round.

This year, they not only tour you through the grand staircase, the portrait gallery and many of the historically furnished rooms, but they also set up the royal dining room for a state dinner. It was really amazing. Maddie and I learned that if you are ever a dinner guest of the Queen, you never have to worry about doing the wrong thing. The stewards are not only there to serve, but to answer any questions, such as what fork to use or if it's okay to get up and go to the bathroom. We also learned that it takes two days to set everything up. Skip learned that they measure the distances between every utensil and tableware so that everything is perfectly aligned.

We've seen a lot of castles in our time in Europe, but what made this one so cool was not merely its amazing decor, but the fact that it's still a royal residence. It's not just being kept up for tourism. It's a working palace. Pretty rare.

We also got to tour a collection of the Royal Art that were drawings and paintings of plant and animals made during the Renaissance. None of us realized that back then, botanists and biologists and naturalists also had to be artists. They couldn't take photos of all the new species that were being discovered in the New World. Someone had to draw them in order for others to learn about and study them. There were even drawings by DaVinci. And for Maddie, there was a kid's map with items she was supposed to find and answer questions about.

Then to cap it all off, we did a quick tour of the Royal Mews, or stables. We saw the carriages that the Queen rides around in and even got to see some of the biggest horses I've ever laid eyes on.

Maddie was a trouper. We were all dragging on the way back home from the tube stop. But she rallied to have her buddy Megan come over and spend the night. Tomorrow is a bank holiday here and there is no school. Like I said in the last post, she lives a ridiculously great life!