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Published: December 1st 2011
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Royal Burough of Kensington and ChelseaWell, we arrived and I remember why I loved London the first time I ever visited back in 2001. London is magical. Even with a third of the city buildings covered with scaffolding due to the “sprucing up” taking place for the upcoming Olympics, London has an exciting pulse. Jim and I tried to pick up on that pulse when we arrived on Wednesday, but to be perfectly honest we dragged ourselves around from the time we arrived at 6:30 am until 1:00 pm when we were allowed to check into our room and threw ourselves fully clothed onto the bed for a nap.
We walked over to Hyde Park and Kensington Palace, but the palace is being remodeled for the Olympics this summer and the Public Rooms are hosting modern art exhibits, so we skipped it. I had been there during my last trip and the rooms Queen Victoria and Princess Diana had lived in are really interesting to see, but Jim wasn’t too upset to miss it (more of a chick thing in his opinion). We did check out Harrod’s Department Store which was beautiful and elegant. The store windows were all decorated with stunning Christmas vignettes.
Cabby Stand
This little house is where the Cabbys have their coffe break. Our hotel, the Mercure in South Kensington is a small hotel rather homely on the outside, but modern and recently remodeled on the inside, with great service, a small bar/lounge area and clean, smart rooms including really comfortable beds. South Kensington is my favorite area to stay. The streets are lined with white Georgian flats each fronted by tall white columns and black doors and all in a tidy row marching down the street. We are near Earl’s court which hosts a convenient underground station so we have been catching the tube around London from there. The investment in the “London Pass” and the “Travel Card” before we left the states was really worth it. No waiting in line, no getting tickets for museums, we just breeze on in and jump on any underground train to wherever we need to go in London.
Earl’s Court also has what we have dubbed our favorite “local” Old English Pub called the Courtfield, and the bartender there has already recommended some other great pubs around London, including another typically old English style pub just a few block from our hotel called the Pembroke.
All of London is decorated for Christmas and
Kensington Palace
You can't tell, I'm sleeping behind those glasses! the lights make the evenings sparkle with cheer. We started off the day with a walk through St. James park to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guards. You really must get there at least 45 minutes early in order to get a decent location near the fence. If you don’t, you don’t have a chance of seeing the guards do their thing in the courtyard of the palace. There are MOBS of people there! We fortunately got a place near the fence, but as the crowds pressed in behind us to get a view and take pictures I felt a little apprehensive. I felt it was worth the effort but Jim was ready to leave as it neared the end of the routine.
(Be sure to watch the two videos!) Next on our list was Westminster Abbey where the queens and kings of England were crowned and buried, including, Queen Elizabeth and her sister Mary, Queen of Scots. Unfortunately no pics allowed except outside. The highlight of the abbey, the “Lady Chapel” is a delicate jewel box of a space with soaring walls and a lacelike gothic ceiling.
A hop onto the tube and we
Jim Phones Home
No Jim, we brought our cell phone! headed to Covent Garden where we had been told there was an Australian bar and also a great traditional pub called Porterhouse where we could have lunch. I had a savory Beef and Ale Pie and Jim had Haddock and chips. Both were as great as we had hoped our first “typically” English pub meal would be.
Covent Garden was all done up for Christmas with lots of kiosks bursting with great smelling food, and all sorts of Christmas gifts. Musicians were playing Christmas songs for the shoppers and a magician showed off his tricks.
We ended up back at Earl’s Court and Courtfield for a last glass of wine and a final walk back to the hotel in the rain which made all the Christmas lights glitter even more since they were reflected in the shiny streets.
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