We had a lovely lazy day on Saturday. Michelle plays a British program called QI for me every morning as we eat breakfast and after that we took care of a lot of chores.

In the evening we set out early for dinner and called in at my old junior school which is attached to a lovely church in Kensington. I showed Michelle where I think all my back problems started...a very, very long playground where we used to walk "like crabs" from one end to the other. The church was open so we went in and the photos came out better than we expected.

St. Mary Abbotts Church 

Entrance to St. Mary Abbotts School

(Note that it says 'Girls' above the small door and 'Boys and Infants' above the big door)

 Enterance to St. Mary Abbotts Church

 Inside St. Mary Abbotts Church

 Stained Glass Window, St. Mary Abbotts

Door from entrance into the chapel, St. Mary Abbotts Church

Then we wondered through the park, past Kensington Palace where there are still tributes to Lady Di. It seems it would have been her birthday on 1st July and there were many birthday cards wrapped in plastic and lots of flowers.

Sunken garden behind Kensington Palace

Birds by the pond, garden at Kensington Palace

We had dinner with my friend Wally, his sister Barbara and his partner Caroline. Wally, Barbi and I have known one another since birth and our mothers, although they only met one another in England after the war, were great friends. It was really nice for Michelle to meet such old friends and give meaning to all the old photographs of us as children. We both absolutely loved the Greek restaurant where the humous was to die for and my lamb roasted on the spit was wonderful. In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we went back there on Sunday.

First, on Sunday, we went to Speakers corner but didn't linger for too long. It all seemed rigged to me. There was a woman spouting on about spirituality, egged on by an old guy telling her she was a miserable and wicked old bat

Crazy Lady at Speaker's Corner, Hyde Park

Crazy Man fighting with Crazy Lady at Speaker's Corner, Hyde Park

and there was a black man, with a huge crowd around him, who was talking a load of rubbish about the Israelis and the Palestinians. I suspect it was all staged for tourists. Either that or all these people were a bunch of nutbars!

Left: Black Man going on about the Israelis and Palestinians

Right: Black Man blessing his spot on Speaker's Corner before he starts preaching

From there we went to see the Serpentine where Michelle took lots of pictures of the many different ducks and particularly the little babies which were just balls of fur.

Fountains at the top of the Serpentine

Swan and Signets in the Serpentine

(The Signet on the left had a deformed leg)

Mummy Duck and Ugly Baby

Mummy Duck and Pretty Babies

Ducks sitting on the posts across the Serpentine

Heron on a post

Duck with Strange Colours

We also saw the statue of Peter Pan which has been there since I was a kid

Peter Pan Statue

Figure on Peter Pan Statue

Faeries on Peter Pan Statue

Mice on Peter Pan Statue

and then we walked along the Bayswater Road and looked at the paintings for sale by many different artists who exhibit their art on the park fence. We understand from a conversation with one of the vendors that this walk is not as popular as it once was and sales are down considerably. By the time we'd done this walk we were close to the restaurant that we visited last night and decided to go for lunch...more humous and a lot of other Greek goodies. We were torn between enjoying the food and the fact that we were heading for real English tea at the Orangery in Kensington Gardens.

The Orangery, Kensington Gardens

The Orangery, Kensington Gardens

Inside the Orangery, Kensington Gardens

This was another treat Michelle had set her heart on....little sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and little cupcakes.

Table Setting and Menu, The Orangery

Afternoon Tea for One, The Orangery

(£15 include pot of tea, sandwiches, scone and clotted cream, and small pastries)

She liked the place, the nice teapots and the fact that this was afternoon tea English style, including the half hour queue to get in! Meanwhile, outside on the lawn they had erected a large open sided tent where they were having a dance 60's style.

Lawn Between the Orangery and Kensington Palace

(The tent on the left is where the dancing was held)

Young and Old Dancers

Many young people as well as old guys and women like me jiving and dancing to traditional jazz just like I did when I was 17. A really mixed crowd. It was fun to watch and I think that Michelle was quite surprised at how well some of the couples danced together. On the way out of the park Michelle mentioned that she would like to wrap this part of London up and take it back home with her.....a warm Sunday evening in the park, lots of families, some strolling around or cycling, some picnicing on the grass, and all of us "people watching".

Today we met a friend for lunch and then walked over the Charing Cross bridge to the south bank of the Thames, walked up river past the London Eye and crossed back over on the Westminster Bridge. We still hope to go up on the London Eye but that will have to wait till we come back from Sandwich.

Charring Cross Footbridge across the Thames

(next to the railway bridge)

View from Charring Cross Footbridge

The London Eye

Michelle did take some photos of Westminster Abbey but we have no intentions of going inside at £16 a pop! ($25 each when so many wonderful things are free) She also took photos of Big Ben and the houses of parliament but won't get a chance to upload pictures for this blog until the weekend.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, Side View

Statues on Westminster Abbey

Inscription Carved on the Wall of Westminster Abbey

Big Ben and Parliament Buildings

Westminster Bridge and Big Ben

I'll post it anyway and you'll have to backtrack for the photos whenever Michelle can find the time to do the work. Thanks for all the great comments about our blog. Someone said that the last time they logged in they got a message suggesting the site wasn't safe. Please let one of us know if you've had this same problem.

If this is Tuesday, it must be Sandwich (by the sea)!!!

Sue

We Walked.....And Walked......And Walked

We woke up bright and early on day two and after waiting for the repairman to finish (if you don't know what repairman read this) we headed out for the day.   We walked up to Victoria Station and caught a bus that took us into Notting Hill where Mum grew up.   We got off at "her" stop and walked around the corner to find her old house.  

Street Sign from Mum's Street 

Mum Lived on the main floor (the two big windows in front).  Her friends Moni, Roger and Gerard Boynton lived in the top flat (the top windows)

After walking around the block and trying to get a peak into the communal back garden we headed off toward Portobello Road and the market there.   There are two markets, a daily fruit and veg farmer's market kind of thing and a Saturday antiques market.  It was a zoo and it turned out we were walking against the crowd so we had to fight the hoards of people coming down the hill from Notting Hill Gate tube station.  

This picture doesn't do the crowds justice but I had to wait until it was kinda clear before I could take a photo.

Literally, there is trash everywhere.  It's dumped on the street, in bags on the curbs or like here it overflows out of garbage bins.

After walking through Portobello Road we met up with a lovely friend of my Mum's named Lisl.  She was a delight and we spent a few hours chatting and having tea.  There was a beautiful old church across from her flat (there are beautiful churches everywhere in this city).

St. Peters Church 

St. Peter himself perched at the top of the chapel

From here we walked to Hyde Park and past this road, I don't remember what it's called, but it's where all the Royals live.  You aren't allowed to take pictures down this street, but I took a few from the top of the road.

Looking up the road past security.  Just off camera on the right was the sign that said "No Photography" 

Looking at the entrance gate and the road beyond

Then we headed into Hyde Park at the Kensington Garden end and walked along the Broad Walk toward what is called the Round Pond.  

The Broad Walk

Once we reached the round pond we cut across the grass toward an area my Mum called the Second Lawn where she and her mother used to meet the other mothers and children.  From there we walked along a path my Mum called the Geegee Walk (that's not it's real name, that is just what they used to call it). We followed the Geegee Walk until it came to a statue and then we headed off in another direction.

Looking up the Geegee Walk 

The Geegee 

(apparently geegee is baby talk for horse in my Mum's world)

From here we walked toward the Royal Albert Memorial, Past the Flower Walk and Rotten Row (where they ride the horses).   

Royal Albert Memorial with Royal Albert Hall in the background 

Royal Albert Memorial

By the time we got through all of this it was about 7:30pm and we were both pretty tired and hungry.  We found a lovely pasta place in Kensington where we had a quick (and very yummy) dinner before walking home to our flat.   It was a great first day, but it left us both a bit sore and tired.

Love From London

Michelle