The guards switch a couple of times a day, but on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 11:00 a.m., they will put on a ceremony that many people come to watch. There are guards mounted on horses that patrol the streets around the palace as the new guards march in. A division of guards stands in the courtyard of the palace, dressed in their traditional long red coats and tall black fur hats, as the new guard is escorted in. Some of the guards also play music throughout the ceremony.
I got to watch all of this take place through the gates of Buckingham Palace. It was one of my favorite cultural experiences so far! It is really hard to get a good view because the grounds around the palace get crowded with people really fast. I had to get there really early to get a spot. I had to wait for a bit, but it was worth it. The ceremony started with a short parade of a regiment of palace guards. Some of them were playing drums and horns. There were also a few of them on horseback! They all marched down the street and through the gates of the palace. They waited there while the old guard on duty was escorted out and the new one was escorted in. Then, they all paraded back down the streets. The whole ceremony took about 30 minutes. Even though it was really crowded and hard to see sometimes, it was really worth it for those few moments when the palace guards and the horses would walk right in front of me as they went by.
The palace also had a little cafe by the gardens. It was a small cafe with many different pastries and sandwiches to choose from. It was very difficult to make a decision on what to get for lunch. I ended up deciding on a fruit scone. It was delicious. It was two pieces of cake bread with cream and fruit stuffed in between.
