Our tour of London began at the Washington Mayfair Hotel – our home base during our stay. We visited Covent Garden where we enjoyed a traditional roast dinner for our first group meal. The meal was delicious and the company delightful. Our first official tour day began with a walk toward St. James Palace. We stopped on the street to view Spencer House, the place Chopin lived in London and Her Majesty’s Vintner shop. We saw a plaque regarding the representation of the “Republic of Texas” as a separate country.

We walked through Green Park toward Buckingham Palace and witnessed several teams of horses training for their duties as well as the changing of the guard processional from St. James Palace to Buckingham Palace with band escort. We also witnessed some of the mounted guard riding up “The Mile.” Buckingham Palace is truly grand. Our guide Tom was sure to encourage us to celebrate the birth of the new Royal Princess with a tin of cookies.

We finished our first day with a visit to the Churchill War Rooms where Churchill directed the war effort during WWII. The War Rooms were created far underground to protect government officials during the Blitz.