Susan's ScrapbookMemories of London Hi all..time to wrap things up!!! I have been living out of this old suitcase tooo longg!!! Last time we talked, I was on the train to London after a highly emotional day at Althorp. I felt so totally drained emotionally...I looked at the sites in London with new eyes now...it all had an entirely different meaning .... We had left Northampton around 5 p.m, & were back in London just after 6 p.m. or so....then cabbed it back to our hotel & got settled in. We were able to check our big suitcases at our hotel when we went to Paris..so we collected those & headed up to our room. We retired early ..so exhausted from our journey to Paris & Althorp.... The next morning we were back on our feet... decided to head over to Buckingham Palace to see about getting tickets to go inside. The line-ups for tickets & entry were horribly long whenever we had passsed by there in our travels...but we were down to our last few days..it was now or never!! They whisked us right thru the lineup & handed us the tickets..said we would go into the palace in 10 minutes, so we should quickly go over to the entrance!! That was a stroke of luck!! So off we went to the palace!! There were two security check points, they scan your bags just like at the airport, & I had to check my backpack & camera, as we were not allowed to take them inside. When looking at the front of the palace, we would have entered on the left hand side, & toured all along the left side of the square & across the back. The first part of the palace that enthralled me was seeing the grand entrance , where the carriages would pull up & the royals would enter the palace...I stood there & envisioned Diana coming out of the bridal coach with her train billowing behind her....magical!! I cannot describe the sheer granduer & opulance in the palace, everything is so ornate, from the floors right up to the ceiling.....unbelievable... We also walked thru the throne room, where the official pictures from the wedding were taken...as you can imagine, I stood there a long time..picturing the bridal party posing for all those historic pictures...the room is not that large..I can't imagine all those people in there!! It is also the room where Diana would practice her ballet during the engagement period...now that was hard to imagine..I would have loved to see her dancing thru the room... We passed thru the room where Elton John sat & played the piano for the jubilee concert, & also went thru the music room, where the boys baptisms were held....so many grand rooms..oh how I wish those walls could talk!! As we neared the end of the tour, I heard one of the guides mentioning Diana, my radar went up & I quickly sashaed over to hear...she was telling people that the flag would only be flying at the palace when the Queen is in residence, but because of the uproar over that when Diana died, they now fly the British flag there all the time, & replace it with the royal standard when the Queen is in residence....Well, I already knew that, but it was still nice to hear Diana's name mentioned at B.P.! We ended our tour of the palace by exiting out the garden doors at the rear....coming out onto those grey stone steps where the engagement pictures were taken....wow...what an extrodinary feeling...I stood on those steps & pretended I was Diana, with my "Prince" standing one step up behind me!! I would have loved to take a pic of it... We walked along the path & stopped at the stall to get our bags & cameras..then we went further down the path to the gift shop...lots of people buying in there....I bought a Diana postcard, the only offering to her in the store.... Our ticket to the palace also included entry into the royal mews....so from the gift shop we walked along the path thru the Queen's gardens...viewing the tennis courts on the far end...I never did see where the pool is..must be hidden away... We exited the grounds of the palace at the very back end..then had to walk all the way back up the side on the outside..to go into the royal mews!! Pheww..lots of walking!! The only interest I had in the mews was to see the glass coach...I had no real interest in the other carriages & horsey things....so I admired it while mom looked at everything else! We also saw the car that Sophie travelled to her wedding in....no where near as magical to look at as Diana's carriage....it is so surreal to see these things & imagine her perched in it..so full of love & hope on her wedding day..of course, after just coming from Althorp & seeing everything there, it made it all the more heartbreaking to see.... We finished up at the mews..had a bite to eat..then caught the bus over to "Madame Tussuads" wax works. We bought our ticket thru the tour bus,so we walked right in...The place was crawling in people..didn't know who was wax & who wasn't!!!Wow, such excellent likenesses!! Of course, I was looking for Diana, & when I found her I could have cried..I found her likeness to be similar to her..but of course not as alluring as the real thing...the way the artist had done her eyes..she looked so sad....the first thing I thought when I saw her was "Diana would never wear a dress like that"...boy was I wrong,as I later found out that it was a copy of a gown worn by her, made by Catherine Walker!!! They also had the royal families likeneses there..some were better than others...people all pushing to have their pic with the queen..mom wanted me to pose with Diana,I didn't like that idea..sorry... So that about wraps up our last Wednesday there..only one more day to go before we fly home..... Don't want to leave!! Will write more soon... ~~Love Suzz~~