Kensington

As you would realise if you check my blog fairly frequently, I am been ’off the air’ for a few days. This has been because the pace of this tour has been so frenetic I simply have not had time to write. I have been up at 5 am every morning and not in bed until about 11 pm. We have been travelling, going on walking tours, etc., all day long, and then participated in various events at night as well - including a medieval banquet in a Welsh castle, accompanied by superb Welsh singing and music, and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo - what a Wow! event that was! .  

But it has been an amazing journey, so the long hours have all been very worthwhile.

Rather than jump about, I will return to our first day of touring and take you through our days in order.  

After our whirlwind tour of London, we drove straight out to Kensington where we were going on a tour of Kensington Palace, including their recently installed exhibition of some of the clothes worn by Princess Diana. 

First we were given an hour to find somewhere to eat in the main shopping street of Kensington. A food hall was recommended so most of us trouped in there. Unfortunately the food was fairly luke-warm and not very impressive. On my way back to the meeting point, however, I spotted a lovely cafe and decided to go in there for a coffee and a cake. The cakes displayed in the window were ‘to die for’!  It turned out that the coffee was one of the best I have tasted in a long while as well, so I decided the indulgence was well worth slipping back a little in my battle of the bulge. “Those who indulge, bulge!” - a very popular fridge magnet some time back. Oh well, I did do a lot of walking that day . . .

Next we visited a very old church, St Mary Abbotts, which was next to a very old, small primary school. We were told that Beatrix Potter married in that church and that the children of the former Prime Minister of England, David Cameron, attend the school. 

After wandering amongst some expensive houses and apartments in Kensington, we finally arrived at the very stately Kensington Palace. That palace has many stories to tell. I will show you what it was like inside and tell you what little I know in my next post.  

A war memorial in London.

The Methodist church diagonally opposite Westminster Abbey. In their basement they ran a cafe and provided toilet facilities for people visiting Westminster Abbey, a popular and much-appreciated service.

Inside the lovely cafe in Kensington. 

More of the cafe.

The fascinating story behind the cafe.

My indulgence. Yum!!

Some of the cakes in the window. 

More cakes!

We saw quite a few famous shops on our travels, such as Harrods. This Marks and Spencer was over the road from the cafe.

The Marks and Spencer store. 

St Mary Abbotts Church.The next two photos show the Primary School attached to it. 

Some of the residences in Kensington.

The fronts of these apartments were in the street next to Kensington Palace. That street, which also contains some Embassies, is a high security area. We were not allowed to take any photos in that street.

The front gates of Kensington Palace.

There were a small number of tributes to Diana on the gate. This no doubt will increase enormously on the 20th anniversary of her death. I have photographed the message in the card so you can read it. 

Close-up of the ornate gold work on the gate. 

This part of the palace is often occupied by William and Kate when they need to be in London on official business. 

The entrance for our tour.