Whew! We arrived around 630 this morning. Our chauffeur was waiting for us, swept us to the hotel where we could check in immediately. A quick shower and we were off with great enthusiasm. “Just a short walk” to Kensington Palace had us rethinking our plans 🤪. We eventually got there, toured the birthplace of Queen Victoria, the former home of Princess Diana and visited the dress exhibit of Diana’s gowns. Allen was a a great sport and allowed me to read every placard and gaze at every dress. It was awesome!!! We saw the “sunken garden” that supposedly Diana loved, the playground created in her honour and the round pond outside of the palace. I was in heaven. Too bad I was so tired that the end became a little blurry. They sold jewellery in the gift shop and I thought maybe that would be a good keepsake until I saw the price tags. $500 items were not what I had I had in mind.

We marched back to the hotel, Shepherds Bush, found some fish and chips and beer, had a nap and went to Jamie Oliver’s restaurant for a light supper. There is a theatre next door to our hotel and Three Day Grace is playing there tonight. Great first day! Tomorrow we tour Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s.

Pics:

1. Funny masks you can buy with royal faces. They are everywhere
2. Bulldogs EVERYWHERE in the Kensington park.
3. The sunken garden. Very pretty
4. Me in front of Kensington Palace. I didn’t have the patience for the crowd to disappear for perfect pic
5. Funny ad for flu “jabs”
6. Good pic of gates
7. Commemorative stone in honour of Diana
8. Fun with English phonebooths
9. More phone booths
10. Entrance to Kensington area