Backpacking through Europe in 1994
Day 5 • September 11, 1994
London
Thirty years ago today I spent an unplanned day in London when I had a layover I wasn’t expecting while traveling between Ireland and France.
I hadn’t done any research on London so I didn’t have anything I wanted to specifically see.
Instead, I just sort of wandered around with my camera and discovered things naturally.
My first self-portrait on the trip, in front of Buckingham Palace.
My Photographs from today in London
Day 5 / 9-11-94
London
Once again, the day isn't yet over, but all that's left is a bus ride, and I'm bored, so I’ll write now.
I arrived in London this morning at 9:00 after a ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, England, and then a bus down. It's weird, but the cheapest way from Dublin to Tours is through England, which seems to be the longest. Oh well, I'm glad, because I wasn't going to come here at all.
I stored my luggage, but not before some frustration. I needed local currency to pay the porters, but since it's Sunday, and the banks are closed I was forced to use the bus station’s exchange.
But the jerk wouldn't take my Irish £5 note because it had been ripped and taped back together. I only wanted a few pounds, enough for my luggage and a meal, so I really didn't want to change US $20 bill. I decided to use the ATM, but it rejected both my bank ATM card and credit card. So I went back to the dude and he ended up charging a £3.50 service charge, and my US $20 became £10 and change. Oh well, I needed to eat!
So with nine hours to kill I set out. The first place I stumbled on was Buckingham Palace. That fucker is huge! It definitely puts the Dome to shame.
I sat down to take it in when a bobbie (a policeman with a tall hat) tells me I have to get behind this barricade. So I'm standing there with all these other people wondering what is going on.
It turns out I had showed up just in time for the changing of the guard!
But my initial excitement soon soured. This changing of the guard ceremony is the most overrated thing in the whole world. I've never seen anything so ridiculous – 2,000 people watching two dudes come to work. They had a parade, and a bunch of marching back and forth, and then more songs. Can you imagine that in America? Can you imagine that for the marine guards at the White House? People would go crazy if they saw their tax dollars wasted like that.
And it's only for the queen - she doesn't even do anything! She just sits there. And even if some assassin did take her out, there wouldn't be any political turmoil because their heir is already determined for the next two generations.
Anyway, back to the guards. There were two kinds, and they wore black uniforms and red uniforms. The way they moved around, it was like a giant checkers game. I couldn't tell who was cooler. The red guys got machine guns, but they had to wear these two-foot-tall black furry hats. The black ones had normal uniforms, but they only had swords. And the actual two guards who guarded the entrance, they must have the worst job imaginable, because they don't even get to move, they just have to stand there all day.
A map of central London, courtesy of one of the double-decker bus companies.