2024 • London
June 12, 2024 to June 14, 2024
For the first time since before the outbreak of COVID, since Brexit was finalized, and since the passing of the late Queen, I visited my favorite city in the world: London! Not much had changed; the city was still incredibly busy, there were still historical sites around every corner, and some of my favorite restaurants were still there. Of course, I did get to experience some new things while in London. Back in 2019, Elizabeth Tower (which houses Big Ben) was completely covered in scaffolding for renovations, and before that, only UK citizens could go up into the tower. Now, visitors from around the world are allowed to visit following the renovation, and I, of course, jumped at the opportunity. While in London, I also visited Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Imperial War Museum, and the British Museum. I also visited Windsor Castle for the first time since 2009. While visiting the royal residences, it was a bit of a difference to see the change in the royal cypher from “E II R” to “C R III” to signify the accession of Charles III to the throne—when someone has been on the throne for 70 years, as Elizabeth was when things change it can be a little jarring! Speaking of royals, for the first time ever, I saw the royal standard flying above Buckingham Palace, signifying the King was in residence at the time, and then, two days later, the royal standard was flying at Windsor—either the King was following me, or I was following him! Anyway, after spending a couple of days in London, it was time to head on out to the next part of my trip: Croatia.
