We didn't have anything pre-planned for today so we decided to continue what has become a little bit of a tradition for us. On our previous two trips to England, the first thing we did was visit Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. So while we didn't visit him yesterday, we decided to make up for that by going there today. We walked up to Great Portland Street station...they have some really great names around London...and caught the Tube around to Paddington.
Before setting off for Kensington Gardens, we stopped off to visit Paddington Bear...he is a virtual Geocache inside the station and although I could have chased it up yesterday, I didn't bother. After a short stroll through Paddington and Lancaster Gate, we were in the gardens...it was a beautiful sunny summer day and they were looking beautiful.
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| My good mate...Paddington Bear |
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| Anita in the Italian Gardens that separate Kensington Gardens from Hyde Park |
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| Some of the wildlife in Kensington Gardens |
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| Anita with Peter Pan |
After taking our photos with Peter Pan, we decided to head west out of the gardens as we hadn't been out that way before. After passing by the Round Pond we came to Kensington Palace and when we got there, we decided to go in for a visit...and we were very pleased we did. No sign of the current residents but plenty of interest about the Royals up until Queen Victoria.
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| Kensington Palace with the Palace Gardens in the foreground |
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| A young Queen Victoria |
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| Inside Kensington Palace |
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| King William III stands outside Kensington Palace |
After Kensington Palace, we made our way out to Kensington High Street where we wandered up and down past the shops. Feeling in need of a rest, we decided to head back to our B&B. Instead of taking the Tube, we took a bus...you get to see so much more from upstairs on a Double-Decker as we went alongside Hyde Park, through Hyde Park Corner, up to Marble Arch and the along Oxford Street.
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| The streets around Kensington |
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| Buses in Oxford Street |
With nothing planned for the afternoon, we decided to go see if I could make good on an offer I had made. Quite a few months ago I had picked up a trackable Geocoin that the owner wanted to get to a particular cache in England for their friend to pick up. I had offered to get the coin to England and, if possible, even drop it in the particular cache. Well that cache was in Finsbury Park...four stops on the Victoria line north of where we were staying.
We caught the Tube from Warren Street and before long we were there...what a contrast to upmarket Kensington! As we left the station, the tone was set by the group of policemen...and not your "friendly Bobby" types either...having serious "discussions" with some of the locals about what they might be doing and what they might be carrying. Undeterred, we pressed on and went into the park to find that it was mostly closed off so they could set up for the Wireless 2014 concert on the weekend. With all the activity I did actually get to the cache but that didn't really matter as we had an interesting outing...which we finished off with a bus again to get back into London.
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| Coming back from Finsbury Park by bus |
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| Five o'clock crowds in Regent Street |
This is MY area of London. I lived in Kensington on two occasions, just behind the High Street. On the first occasion I worked as a nanny and used to take Alice to school behind the Albert Hall. I'd walk home through Hyde Park / Ken Gardens, Past Kensington Palace and along back roads - making sure to pass along Drayson Mews. (I wonder if it was named after an ancestor of mine.) I still return to Kensington every two months to get my hair cut, as I have not found anyone in Oxford who does it as well as my London stylist.
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