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April 18th 2011
Published: April 23rd 2011
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Friday 25th to Monday 28th March


Friday morning saw us on an early-ish 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 B&B) in Kensington, quite close to Kensington Palace and Gardens (and Peter Pan). It's a very attractive area and nearly every house is 'three (or four) up and one down' and painted white. This gives the streets a very light and airy feel. Interestingly, in nearby Notting Hill, the houses seemed to be painted in contrasting colours (often pastels). Another thing we found interesting was the numerous shared (but private) gardens. These are enclosed (locked) gardens, only accessible to the residents of the adjoining streets.

While John spent the afternoon working, Ali joined the throngs out enjoying the sunshine in Kensington Gardens and said hello to Peter Pan. On the way back she spotted an inviting corner pub, which we decided to try for a drink later. We enjoyed the (very crowded) atmosphere so much we decided to stay for dinner. The food was excellent - even though we were just in the bar.

On Saturday we spent some time wandering around the area and found ourselves in the famous Portobello Road markets in Notting Hill. It was great despite being jam-packed with people (police were handing out brochures with tips for outsmarting pickpockets!). Most memorable of all though, were the buskers - very cool and high quality. After the previous night's good experience with corner pubs we decided to try another in Notting Hill - this one was equally good. True to the pattern, we went in for a beer and ended up staying for a meal.

John has wanted to see the British Museum of Natural History for ages, particularly the Darwin Centre, so we spent a couple of hours there at the end of the day. It's extremely good, with loads of great interactive stuff, but sadly it was so hot inside that it really detracted from the experience.

On Sunday we decided to try out the Tube - only to find the Circle Line was closed (they're doing loads of work on weekends in preparation for the Olympics). This complicated matters a bit, but we got there in the end (Baker
The Round Pond - Kensington GardensThe Round Pond - Kensington GardensThe Round Pond - Kensington Gardens

Everyone ventured out to enjoy the unseasonally warm weather.
Street). Yes, that's THE Baker Street of Sherlock Holmes fame and our route to Regent's Park took us past his 'house' (a museum) - complete with 19th century Bobby standing guard out the front. Regent's Park houses lots of waterways, including a boating lake and a waterfowl sanctuary. It was amazing to see so many different types of water birds - especially in the centre of one of the world's largest cities. The park was fairly quiet (it was reasonably early), only a handful of people enjoying the feeble sunshine and the masses of spring flowers.

From there it was a short walk to the massive Camden Markets. These are very different from the Portobello Road Markets - while there's the usual market fare, Camden is much 'edgier' with loads of goth, punk and such. It is also an absolute rabbit warren with alleyways, arcades, street stores as well as the canal-side stores and pubs - so easy to get lost. After a while it was all starting to get a bit overwhelming - but luckily we hap'd upon a Moroccan restaurant with a quiet upstairs room.

John HAD to ride on a red double-decker bus - so we hopped on one heading for Westminster. Where we got off happened to be just around the corner from Buck Palace so we thought we'd better have a look. We watched the guards marching up and down for a bit, then went for a stroll through St James' Park en route to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. We crossed over the Thames and did a circuit along The Embankment, across Lambeth Bridge and back to Westminster Abbey. Then it was back to Kensington on the Tube before heading to Fulham to have dinner with Ali's nephew Dennis and his girlfriend, Claudia. They said they were taking us to a "gastro-pub" which worried us for a while - to us "gastro" means a stomach bug - but they explained it's short for "gastronomic pub" and it lived up to the name - the food (and company) was great!

Our last day in London was also the last day of our trip. John spent the day working while Ali visited St Paul's Cathedral (but refused to pay the ₤14.50 entry fee!) and the nearby Fleet Street/Temple area - which she was interested to see because it features in many of Charles Dickens' works.

After that, we sat on a 747 for 20 odd hours - what can we say!?


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The British Museum of Natural HistoryThe British Museum of Natural History
The British Museum of Natural History

Home to the Darwin Centre, amongst many other things.
Mer-people fountain! - Queen MaryMer-people fountain! - Queen Mary
Mer-people fountain! - Queen Mary

In Regent's Park. If you look closely, you can see that the merman and mermaids have two tails each (like legs but with flippers instead of feet) - it looks very weird!
Saint James' ParkSaint James' Park
Saint James' Park

Looking over St James' Park Lake towards Whitehall
Westminster AbbeyWestminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey

There were people camped nearby waiting for the Royal Wedding which was still a month away!
Dennis and ClaudiaDennis and Claudia
Dennis and Claudia

Dinner at The Butcher's Hook
Temple Bar in Paternoster SquareTemple Bar in Paternoster Square
Temple Bar in Paternoster Square

Designed by Christopher Wren as the ceremonial entrance to the City of London from Westminster, Temple Bar replaced the original wooden toll-house (despite it having survived the Great Fire). Removed stone-by-stone to make room for London's burgeoning traffic in 1878 (yes, London had traffic problems back then!) it was rebuilt here in 2003.
Royal Courts of Justice in Fleet StreetRoyal Courts of Justice in Fleet Street
Royal Courts of Justice in Fleet Street

Note the heraldic griffin in the centre of the road (where Fleet St becomes The Strand) which marks the place where the Temple Bar stood until it was removed.


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