Our seventh day in London was the first truly rainy day we had on our trip; the fair weather until this day was very unusual for London weather! We didn’t let the rain stop us from our plans for the day though, and we headed over to the Royal Albert Hall for our first stop of the morning.
Once we arrived at the Royal Albert Hall, we were taken on a tour of the building, and we even got to go into the balcony of the empty theater. It was really cool to get to see the theater like that!
Royal Albert Hall, opened during the reign of Queen Victoria and named after her husband Prince Albert, is a coliseum style theater, with a stage in the center (in the round) and seating surrounding the stage on all sides. The theater has held many famous musicians throughout the years, and is well known for its annual Proms concert. The Beatles themselves played at Royal Albert hall twice in 1963, but performed separate solo shows many times since. Both of their performances at the Royal Albert Hall were huge moments in their career as a band.
Royal Albert Hall
Once our tour of the Royal Albert Hall was complete, we walked over to Buckingham Palace, as we had not yet seen this famous London site. It was originally our intention to watch the changing of the guards, but unfortunately it was canceled because of the rain. We were still able to get some great pictures in front of the gates though!
Outside the gates of Buckingham Palace
After we got lunch, we headed to Westminster Abbey for a tour from our guide Philippa. This was my favorite site from this day. The abbey itself is gorgeous, but what amazed me so much was all of the history behind its walls (both figuratively and literally, because many famous British people are buried within the abbey.) Philippa was so knowledgeable about the abbey and all of its history and inhabitants, and I learned so much from her this day. It was very powerful to stand over the graves of such important people in history, such as Sir Isaac Newton, which left me especially awestruck since I am an engineering major. I’m not going to lie, I was also excited to stand in the same place that Prince William and Kate Middleton got married in.
Westminster Abbey
Courtyard garden at Westminster Abbey
Cloisters at Westminster Abbey
After our tour of Westminster Abbey we went to St. Martin in the field to watch a classical music concert. This was a very nice break from the British Invasion 60’s music we had been focusing so heavily on, and showed us a totally different side to the British music scene. The talent of the musicians was incredible, and they even played a tribute to us at the end of the concert after they found out we were there, which was really incredible! It was a great way to end our seventh day in London!
St. Martin in the Fields Church