Blogs from Former Students

Changing Tourism at Buckingham Palace

By: Elizabeth McErlean

I listened carefully as I could hear drums beating from beyond the mall. The mass crowds of peoples’ ears pointed upwards and the loud roar from the crowd emerged into quiet whispers. The drumming continued to get louder and louder, and finally I could see the Queen’s Guard contingent slowly walking from St. James’s Palace, off The Mall on Malborough Road beating their drums and walking as though they were mannequin like figures with stern expressions across their faces. Over the large crowds of people surrounding the railings at the Victoria Monument, I caught a glimpse of the large bearskin hats that are the stereotypical feature of the British guard. As I stood in front of Buckingham Palace I was awestruck at its majesty and eagerly waited the changing of the guard, one of the greatest traditions of England’s royalty. As the daily ceremony commenced, I could not help but notice the reverence of the assembly and the countless faces amongst us. So many people had come to witness this traditional English ceremony and it made me think about how England’s historical past had become a tourist attraction.

The procedure of the ceremony begins at St. James’s Palace, situated off of The Mall in Marlborough Road. A detachment of the ‘Old Guard’ forms up there in Friary Court at 11:00 am for an inspection by the Captain of The Queen’s Guard. This contingent then makes its way down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace at approximately 11:15 am preceded by a Regimental Band or Corps of Drums.The other half of the Old Guard is already on duty at Buckingham Palace and is inspected while awaiting the arrival of the St. James’s Palace detachment. The St. James’s detachment enters the Palace Forecourt through the South Center Gate and takes up position beside the Buckingham Palace detachment on the left hand side of the forecourt. Now complete, the Old Guard awaits the arrival of the incoming ‘New Guard’ from Wellington Barracks situated at the Buckingham Palace end of Birdcage Walk.(http://www.trooping-the-colour.co.uk/mounting/index.htm)

The changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, or more formerly known as Guard Mounting, is a popular London tourist attraction, close to the main London hotels, drawing thousands of visitors to Buckingham Palace to watch. The changing of the guard takes place in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace and is free to anyone to watch daily. The easy access to the ceremony makes it a desirable for London visitors and is also conveniently affordable. Tourist attractions like the changing of the guard mark a new era of tourism in the last decade of the 20th century (Ostergren and Rice, Ch. 11).

Traditional mass tourism in Europe was always to beaches or the mountains, yet a new variety of tourism has emerged. This new abundance in traveling stems from an emerging consumer preference for something different then traditional packaged European tourism. The demand today is more flexible travel arrangements and is being met by revolutionary changes in European transportation. As I traveled to London, I was able to take an easy Jet that is advertised for 69 euro’s roundtrip. The implementation of trains, buses, and advanced infrastructure also allow easily accessible transportation that caters to those wanting to see the main attractions of a city. Today, the preservation of historical buildings and landscapes is a relatively recent phenomenon. Upholding and maintaining these historical buildings and monuments allows for cities to develop these sites as main tourist attractions. As I visited Buckingham Palace and witness the Mounting of the Guard, I could see the historic nationalism present in the royal family and the traditional meaning of the ceremony, but the large crowds of people allowed me to witness the affects of changing tourism.

The "United" Kingdom

By: David Williams

When Americans think of the United Kingdom they mostly picture England. Especially with the World Cup in full swing national unity is at full tilt on the island off the coast of France. After visiting London though, I quickly realized that was certainly not the case. There is regional pride much like the Catalan region in Spain present in the ‘United’ Kingdom. With England in the south and Scotland in the north, there isn’t much common ground to be found between them.

Having been to Scotland before, I understood their opinion of the English. In 2007, I stayed for 10 days with a student my age outside of St. Andrews in a town called Wormit. The picture above is me in St. Andrews Castle overlooking the city. While there, I noticed many things about their culture that differentiated them from the English. Not only does Scotland have their own flag, a national anthem called “The Flower of Scotland” but they don’t cheer for the England national team or totally embrace the English as countrymen. There was a girl in our group named Hannah who was from York, England and was teased playfully for not being Scottish. In arriving in London, I almost immediately saw how this was a definitely reciprocated feeling.

Stepping from the Tube onto Great Portland Street in London, I immediately became jealous of my friend Will. He had been living in a flat with 5 other guys in a very sheik, young part of town. Making sure that I was looking the correct way to avoid traffic, Brad and I were taken to a local pub. It was called the Mason’s Arms and a sign on the wall noted that Ian Maclean frequently drank there. To the right is a picture of it I found online. I made my way to the bar and asked Will which beer I should get. A gentleman sitting at the bar who was probably in his mid to early 40’s and wearing a sport coat and tie turned around and asked if I was from America. I replied that I was and he immediately grew a big smile on his face. He told his name was Harry and said that he went to New York about 6 years ago. While there, he was met with much acceptance and insisted on buying me drinks to recipricate the kindness. The next thing I know, I am surrounded by 3 or 4 local Englishmen asking me questions about being abroad and American politics. Several of them asked why I chose Luxembourg as a place to study and they also gave me tips on how to impress English girls. I joked with them on how the oil spill was caused by British Petroleum, not American Petroleum which made them all laugh. Eventually, the conversation steered towards football and they told me about how the people love certain teams based on location and region. While on the topic of region, I immediately thought of our class discussions about them. Being an inquisitive person, I asked them if the stereotype is true about the English and the Welsh having poor relations. All of them laughed and said that it wasn’t the Welsh they had the problems with; it was the “bloody Scots”.

From a historical standpoint, Scotland and England were never supposed to get along. The well known revolution lead by William Wallace, depicted in the movie Braveheart, occurred in the early 1300’s. It was in this revolution that the Scots earned their freedom. This freedom lasted until the early 1700’s when Scotland unified with England to create one country under the Acts of Union. This happened despite the national outcry by the people of Scotland against it. In class, we read in McNeil about the reaction to the movie Braveheart when it was released in 1995. It was received with two different reactions; one was a worry that all of Scotland would become a Braveheart theme park. While the other was a modern day push for Scottish independence. The Scottish National Party was the main group to voice this protest. Right now, a man by the name of Alex Salmond is leading the SNP and has been called a “Modern Day William Wallace”. He claims that “an independent Scotland would have no larger a fiscal deficit than most members of the European Union and would easily meet the Maastricht criteria for joining its Euro single currency.” http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9903/14/britain.scotland/

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777806.html?pageno=2.

In the bar, one man in particular explained to me that the Scots want to be their own country despite the fact that it could never work out. When I asked why it wouldn't work, he said " A place where men wear skirts could never run themselves". I silently disagreed but did not want to start a debate with someone who lived in England about Scottish rights. When I speak to my Scottish friends, they all say that it is possible for Scotland to be free but it is also unnecessary. They have independence as far as they are concerned and least they can be civil with their English neighbors. I will only ever have an outside looking in perspective on this issue but I believe that William Wallace died to free Scotland, and although they are not independent, they are certainly free.