London: Kensington Palace, Portobello Road, Hampstead Heath

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I hope everyone got yesterday’s blog all right. I have heard that some of you were faced with an incorrect hyperlink in the email notification. Everything looks OK from this end, so I assume that the TravelBlog website was on the fritz yesterday. You ca always go directly to the website if you search “travelblog WmMorris”. Today I did quite a bit of walking around London and used several modes of public transportation to get to all the places I wanted to see. First I walked to Kensington Palace to see the special exhibits on Queen Victoria. She was born there 200 years ago and spent her childhood there, too. (After she became queen at age 18, she moved to Buckingham Palace.) The displays were interesting and I liked walking in the same hallways that she used and seeing actual items that belonged to her, eg baby shoes, a gown she wore at age 12, etc. It was late morning by the time I made my way to Portobello Road in the Notting Hill area of London. If, like me, you are a fan of the movie titled Notting Hill, then you will be pleased to learn that the street looks just like it does in the movie. There are plenty of quirky little shops, many pedestrians and shoppers, and on certain days of the week there are market stalls in the street, but not today. I stopped at a corner pub called The Duke of Wellington and had a pleasant pub lunch of chicken sandwich and Diet Coke. (I am getting over jet lag, but not enough that I wanted to risk a pint of ale in the middle of the day. Maybe tomorrow.) After lunch I took a bus, then the Underground, and then one of the suburban trains to get to Hampstead Heath which is supposed to have good views of London. I have heard about this for years and never made it up there before. My expectations were high and I confess that I was somewhat disappointed. One is so far away from the city that it’s hard to make out the buildings very well. Still, I’m glad to have gotten there finally and the Heath is a pleasant place to walk. Tomorrow I will be making the first of my day trips from London, so I’m hoping for more rain-free weather.

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