Kingston, the Palace, & a Great London Tour

---

Hi.

Just thought I would add some more pictures for the sake of it. The
following photos are from Kingston on Thames, (Surrey) which is about 40
minutes South West of London on the overland train. I went out there
for the day just before I left London, to see where my family history
lies. One picture is of the house where my great grandmother was born
in 1895, & where she lived with her family until they moved to New
Zealand. It was nice to see because she didn't die until she was 97,
so I knew her for a great deal of my life. It was incredible to find
the house still there &, although obviously renovated over the years,
also in good condition.

I later went to Hampton Court Palace which was about a 30 minute walk
away on the other side of the Thames River. My great grandmother's
parents both worked at the palace to support their family. The palace
was so much larger than I had imagined - far larger than Buckingham
Palace for example. When you initially look at it you just see the
front & think that that's all there is to it, but the palace is as
deep as it is wide, & with all the buildings included, takes up a
phenomenal amount of space. The palace also has acres of gardens
which it is famous for. I didn't go inside the palace itself or the
gardens, as there is an entry fee & it was a bit steep for me at the
time, but I enjoyed looking around the outside, & hope to go back for
a better look one day.

I also went on an awesome London tour with the London Bus Company the other day. It really was worth it's weight in gold. The tour guides are witty & know the answer to anything you ask them. They also throw in some interesting modern-day facts & jokes, rather than it just being an old person's tour. Really excellent fun sitting on the open top deck of a big double decker bus - I went on a really nice day & it was well worth it.

That's it for now.
Ciao, Toni.

---