What Did We Do In London? Part One The Rubens At The Palace

 

On my way to my first ILTM conference in Cannes, I decided to visit London. I was lucky that my friend, Julie, decided to join me.

Do you want flying to be fun again? My first stop was at The Private Suite at LAX. 
My bags were checked in for me, I went through security in their private area and I had my own suite to relax in. I ordered lunch, watched TV and even played outside.

There are drinks, sweets, and amenities galore. I highly recommend it if you want to feel like a V-VIP—a very very important person. There is a toy menu for kids of all ages so no matter your age you will be entertained. I loved traveling directly to the terminal by private car (2018 BMW 750). It is a truly luxurious experience.

The Private Suite was the perfect way to start my adventures in London!

VIDEOWill You Love the Private Suite at LAX?

What did we do in London?

Thank you to The Rubens at the Palace for a fantastic stay. Our address was literally Buckingham Palace Road and we were steps from the Palace where the Queen was in residence. We saw the Palace at daytime and night time. We walked through Hyde Park and saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. We loved afternoon tea at Egerton House Hotel which is also part of Red Carnation Hotels. In the evening, we saw COMPANY at the Gielgud Theater. The show is a twist on the original with Bobbie as a female bachelor this time. I visited Harrods for the first time and loved all the holiday decorations in the store and around the town.

VIDEODo You Want To Explore London With Me?

We found a changing of the guard: 

The Four ‘O’ Clock Parade, also known as the Dismounting Ceremony and Punishment Parade takes place at 16:00 hours in the courtyard in front of the Horse Guards building.(Facing Whitehall).

The guards are inspected by an Officer and then the mounted guards take the horses back to the stables for the night.

Two dismounted sentries will then guard the entrance until 20:00 when the gates to Horse Guards are closed and then one sentry will remain on duty until 07:00 when the gates re-open.

The 4 ‘o’ Clock Parade started in 1894 when Queen Victoria found the entire guard drinking and gambling while on duty.

As a punishment, she said they had to be inspected every day at 4pm by an officer for the next 100 years!

The 100 years finished in 1994. However, the reigning Queen wanted the parade to continue as a tradition.” 

VIDEODid You See The Punishment Inspection?

 

Lisa and Julie at The Rubens at the Palace
Lisa and Julie at The Rubens at the Palace
Lisa and Julie at High Tea at the Egerton House Hotel
Lisa and Julie at High Tea at the Egerton House Hotel
The Rubens at the Palace at night
The Rubens at the Palace at night

 

 

Lisa Ellen Niver

Lisa Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries on six continents. This University of Pennsylvania graduate sailed across the seas for seven years with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Renaissance Cruises and spent three years backpacking across Asia. Discover her articles in publications from AARP: The Magazine and AAA Explorer to WIRED and Wharton Magazine, as well as her site WeSaidGoTravel. On her award nominated global podcast, Make Your Own Map, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors, and as a journalist has been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and two National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty-two times. Named a #3 travel influencer for 2023, Niver talks travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, her YouTube channel with over 2 million views, and in her memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.

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