London, Day 4: Changing of the Guard

This morning, a couple of us students went to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. When we got there, a large crowd had already gathered. Two guards in bright red uniforms with fluffy black hats were standing in front of the palace. They stood very still and occasionally marched back and forth very stiffly. There were police officers all over the place to keep everyone where they wouldn't get in the way.

At about 11 am, a bunch of guys in red coats riding horses passed by and entered the park. They were followed by a bunch of guys in red coats on foot. After awhile, the men on foot came back around and marched into the palace grounds. Then a marching band in red followed by a group in modern uniforms went around the street and into the grounds. The marching band was playing some pretty typical marching music. The men in charge of the red group and the modern group yelled a bunch, and walked around. Occasionally some other men walked around too. Eventually, the two guards were replaced. After that, the marching band began to set up to play. Strangely enough, they began to play a song that sounded like a modern soft jazz song--the sort of thing one might hear at a formal dance with good music (i.e. not hip-hop or rap).

The whole ceremony was long, thoroughly confusing, and hard to see because of the crowd in front of me. I'm enjoying looking at my pictures, because that's the best view I've had. You wouldn't believe the number of people holding up various recording devices over the crowd.

It's amazing, all the ceremony and ritual required to replace two guys. Well, I guess marching around in front of the palace every day in a silly uniform is better than being sent off to Iraq.