That day, the sky was completely blue. I went to see the horse guards'
parade which I had wanted to see once with my parents.
We arrived at Horse Guards at around 10:40 and took some pictures together
with the guards. After that, we moved to the square where the parade would
be held. I had thought that the parade would start at 11 o'clock, but at
10:45, a bell rang. Then, the guards wearing red uniforms began to appear
in the square. After a while, I looked at other guards horse back riding
around the corner of St. James Park. They were entering the square. At
around 11 o'clock, all of the two guards finished lining up and a guard
in each group blew a trumpet.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The leader of each group stood apart and began to say something. Probably,
they passed on some message, but the procedure didn't seem to finish, although
they sometimes stopped talking. When the two leaders didn't speak for a
while, none guards moved. Gradually, I began to get tired of standing,
but I couldn't speak so much with my parents because the place was very
quiet when the Changing of the Guards ceremony was taking place. Five or
ten minutes passed.
I couldn't help but say, "Probably, they are waiting for the next
bell to ring." My father seemed to feel tired and said, "I think
so. They have to finish at a certain time. Maybe, they've already finished
sending word to each other about their task, and now they may be talking,
"'How is your wife?' and so on". His imagination was lively.
I said, "Probably, at 11:15, the next bell will ring, won't it?"
My father said, "Yes, I think so."
However, when it was 11:15, the bell didn't ring and the ceremony continued.
To stand watching a silent and still scene for about 15 minutes was an
eternity and made us feel a little tired. Ha ha ha.
About 20 minutes later, finally, two men stopped talking and the ceremony
finished.
Does the ceremony have to finish 11:30? I don't know.
Anyway, the weather was fine and we could see the ceremony carefully from
such a close distance. I think it was quite a good experience although
it wasn't as spectacular as the parade at Buckingham Palace.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 to the TOP |
 Trip to England |
 I really like London! |
