Sunday, February 1, 2009

Abba? Really?

We went to the changing of the guard on a beautifully sunny day. Believe it or not I even took my winter jacket off at one point. The gates of Buckingham Palace were packed with tourists. Good thing we don't consider ourselves tourists any more. That, and we did our research to know what the drill is and where the best place to stand is. The element that makes the changing of the guard such a monumental event is the bands that accompany them. They turn a regular, every day, basically nonevent into a grand procession that every tourist must see. You can only imagine our surprise during this formal undertaking on the grounds of the Palace when the band lines up and busts out a medley of Abba to serenade the soldiers (and the crowd) as they go about their formalities. This is exactly what went through my head: The changing of the guard occurs with Abba in the background? Really? It was actually pretty funny, especially when the crowd started singing along. A few really got into it and actually started dancing when they started to play Dancing Queen. Who knew? The changing of the guard happens to Abba.
The old guards.

The new guards.

The crowd

The horsie guards.

The band departing after their stirring performance.

The guards leaving the palace.

We tried to get the guards in the background but it didn't work.

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