I Went Back Home To England To See Queen Elizabeth II Lying In State. I Won’t Ever Forget It.

19FortyFive ^ | 9/19/2022 | Jack Buckby

[DeFault User]

I went to England in 1978 and again in 1998. I was most impressed by the public transportation, buses and underground could take you anywhere in London with simple maps/directions.

Rented a car both times and learned how to shift with my left hand and keep left/think left while driving, even on the roundabouts which are tricky but marvelous for moving traffic.

My employer had asked me to conduct some business while in London. My family went to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard on a Thursday while I was committed to an appointment with a Lloyd’s broker. In 1998 I again missed the guard ceremony because we went on a Monday only to find that is the day when they don’t do it. Must be cursed. ;o}

Nevertheless we soaked up a lot of sites like Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s. I would go again but age is slowing me down. :)

[Albion Wilde]

Sounds wonderful! My second time in London was for a week, and mostly walking. Was staying at a loaned apartment on the Thames near the restored Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and walked up around the City of London, Piccadilly, Soho, British Museum, St. Paul’s, the Tate Modern, etc. On my first trip years before I visited the Tate, the British and the Victoria & Albert Museums. Never saw the changing of the guards, either, but went to a Christmas Eve service in Westminster Abbey, never to be forgotten.

The people are so lovely, pleasant and witty. Was so impressed at the reported orderliness of the miles-long queue for the Queen—I only read of two disorderly incidents, neither lethal, over the five days of mourning, such as could not happen in this country any more. Too white.