After Westminster Abbey we headed to our next destination, Kensington Palace. We got a little confused about which bus stop to get off on us we had a bit of a walk but an extra walk in London is much more pleasant than extra walking at home.
I was excited to see Kensington Palace
.it was where Princess Diana lived and William and Kate were planning to move there. It was also where Queen Victoria spent her early life. Part of the palace is still open for tours along with the gardens. It had recently opened a new exibit on the life of Queen Victoria which I was excited to see.
testing out my throne
The interior is gorgeous! Just my style,, but the exhibit was a little odd..it was done in a very abstract sort of way. Hard to describe but I still enjoyed looking through the rooms.
After the tour D.Jay took me to the orangery for afternoon tea. The wait was ridiculously long, but this was one of my bucket list things
..have afternoon tea in England. Check!
We waited for about 45 minutes before being seated. Its a long, thin marble building full of little tables & chairs and lots of little orange trees with miniature oranges on them. I really wanted to take one home. It was stupidly expensive but this was On our way out of Westminster Abbey we grabbed a quick snack to eat on our bus ride to Kensington my own splurge.
I ordered a white peony herbal tea and D.Jay got a hot chocolate. We each had our own tiered tray with goodies
it was all good but my favorite was the scone and clotted cream.
This was a real pinch me Im in England moment
I was at a palace having afternoon tea.
After tea we walked through part of the gardens. It was so beautiful but it was starting to drizzle and was very windy so we didnt hang around very long.
We hopped on a bus and headed to Trafalgar square and the National Portrait Gallery. D.jays willingness to visit the portrait gallery is proof of his love for me. Im sure he could think of 1,000 things hed rather do than look at a bunch of pictures of dead royals while his history obsessed wife tells him little bits of info about them and which ones shes related to, but he didnt complain once.
Here I am being crowned by my ancestor Edward the 2nd
Oops
right after D.Jay snapped this someone came over and told us no photography was allowed. I felt a little sheepish but I hadnt noticed any signs. Oh well
..at least I got one picture in.
We spent about an hour in here while I fed D.Jay a running commentary on every thing he never knew he didnt want to know about the royals of Britain. Hey
.someone needs to benefit from my vast knowledge besides me. He was my own little captive audience as I played tour guide
and this is Charles I
.he was beheaded
..heres Katherine Howard
.shes the 2nd of Henrys wives to be beheaded
After D.Jay was set free from the National Gallery we headed over to St. Martins in the field hoping to catch an evensong performance
but when we got there we discovered it was closed. Bummer.
St. Martin's in the field..
Oh well
we were exhausted so after sitting and watching the mass of humanity moving about Trafalgar square we headed for home.
A performer in the square
Near our tube station was a Tesco, a grocery store, and we decided to grab dinner there to take back to the apartment. It was fun to walk around and see all the different things. I probably could have wandered for a couple of hours but kept my gawking at a minimum. Since it was the Thursday before Easter I had fun looking at all the Easter candy. I know
.it doesnt take much to excite me.
Once back at the apartment we skyped with the kids for a few minutes
.compared blisters, aches & pains
.ate dinner and passed out.
Up next
.tell the queen I want a refund