http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , United Kingdom , England , Greater London , Kensington en-us Sun, 26 May 2013 04:34:38 +0000 Sun, 26 May 2013 04:34:38 +0000 Finally with a 12 hour flight to Helsinki and a 3 hour transit I39ve finally arrived at London. Like a very exciting little kid I was shouting within myself when the plane arrived greeted with slight snow and an awesome weather as compared to scorching heat. Well firstly it is my first encounter with snow like REAL snow and secondly the weather is too cooling or Shiok in Singaporeans http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-767720.html Even though the semester was over my adventures were not. Mom got to London on Monday early in the morning and I met her at the airport. We dropped all of her stuff at the hotel and drank some tea so that she could regain energy. Then we headed to the Latin Quarter to get a canal tour. What we didnt think about though was that we needed cash to get on the boat Although we missed the first http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-729203.html I said to the bartender tonight after watching a match on ESPN.Of course you do he said you39re American.Which is the kind of antiAmerican joke I appreciate. It39s funny it39s not meanspirited after this he did answer my question and I had walked right into it. I won39t say it fits us because I was friends with plenty of people on the women39s rugby team at Hamilton http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-677438.html The Natural History Museum is one of those wonderful Victorian buildings so abundant in London that draws your eye before you even get close. The architecture itself makes the museum a truly remarkable place before you have even stepped into the main entrance. Of course when you do step in you are greeted by a diplodocus or at least the carefully weldedtogether bones of a diplodocus that pro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-675765.html Well 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 aro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-668853.html Here we are getting ready to go to London dreading our arrival there because we just heard that the customs agents will all be on strike when we arrive. Thank goodness we booked a driver to pick us up They emailed to let us know what to expect. Up to 8 hours wait at the airport to go through customs Yuk http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-668433.html After my theatre class today we walked over to the Gore Hotel for a British afternoon tea. I was really excited for this because I had been told to bring an appetite and to dress up a little for this. Anything that I can get dressed up for and have some food is an automatic win in my book. The hotel was gorgeous It was a large dimly lit room with elaborate wall paper and furnishings. Very comfor http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-660565.html Monday was the first day of class Well I only have class in the afternoon so it isn39t bad at all. The theatre class is going to be great fun. It seems as if all we do is watch plays and write reviews and maybe read a review here or there. We don39t have an actual class for another 3 weeks because we are going on tours and just watching plays for the weeks in between. This is such a wonderf http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-647057.html London is one of the most sought after tourist spots in the world. People from all over the world come to visit London. London has a beauty of its own in all seasons. London has one of the most beautiful summers in the whole world. Thousands of visitors come to visit in order to enjoy the pleasant summers. As far as winters are concerned the city is decorated with lights and the festival of Christ http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-638415.html The Kyoto Garden in Holland Park has reopened after extensive work by specialist gardeners who flew in from Japan to work on the space. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-637760.html Arrived to a warm sunny summers day in London yesterday. Fed the squirrels in Hyde Park. Watched the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace this morning and had a look through the Queens Gallery. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-624852.html Flying premium class is always better when you know someone else on the same flight who is flying economy. And they are stuck in a seat where it's so small and doesn't recline very far they bitch about not getting any sleep on the flight. when you slept 5 hours. and are pissed that the only good movies to watch were on the first three channels of the flight which are available to premium class o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-607814.html Friday 25th to Monday 28th MarchFriday morning saw us on an earlyish train from Exeter to London. John managed to get some work done during the two and a half hour trip while Ali enjoyed the scenic views of the countryside. In London we stayed in a private hotel essentially a BB in Kensington quite close to Kensington Palace and Gardens and Peter Pan. It's a very attractive area and nearl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-605752.html Last day in London. We really do love it here. It reminds us of Portland in so many ways. Today we went to see the changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace and the changing of the horse guards. The horse guards were really cool because you could get right up close to the horses and riders. The changing of the guard at Buckingham palace I found to be kind of a mess. None of it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-589712.html Well today was weird. We had planned a boat trip along the river and when we went to get on the Underground to get there it was PACKED. As it was a Saturday we thought it might be the norm. NO it was a huge protest rally. The news said there was over 250000 people walking through the streets protesting wage and benefit cuts. So we stopped and watched for awhile. It was history in the maki http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-589491.html I can't believe its going so fast We are just loving London. The food is fantastic the people are great and everything is in bloom.....AND SUNNY Today we took the Underground and a red double decker bus to the British Museum. It is ginormous and fascinating. Exhibits from Egypt Japan China Afganistan Greece.....and Many more. We had slept in a little bit trying to get caught up so w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-589488.html My roomates Alanna and Kristen and I spent a few days in London visiting Sam.... We left very very early in the morning on Thursday think 430 from our apartment.... and arrived finally in London around 11 am. We took a bus into London because we flew into some remote airport in the middle of nowhere and we got off on Baker Street. This was a good place to stop because we got a few things o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-588990.html A few busy days in amazing London ... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-587664.html So the first three weeks in London have been quite the adventure I moved into my apartment in Kensington which overlooks Hyde Park. They call Kensington the Royal burrough because Kensington Palace is located here the home to Princess Diana. I have done the touristy things like Big Ben Westminister Abbey as well as the Tower of London to see the crown Jewels. I learned how royalty works by as http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-565008.html Today is the day Nikki I go to pick up our rings before the wedding Well pick up Nikkis ring anyway I got mine for Christmas we both woke up really excited about getting her ring but the jewellers was not open until 11 so decided to take advantage of the fact with live in London and the fact we had so much energy to visit The Natural History Museum and The Victoria Albert Museum.From http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-558964.html