Day 4 - 18th Sept Hyde Park, Harrods, V&A, Nat History, Kensington

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Thomas up at 5am, the rest of the family up at 7am. Tea in bed as normal. Brekkie at 8am once the "workers" are all finished. There seems to be a a few groups of 4 guys sharing double rooms, and they are all in the meal room at 7.30 when it opens.

Tubed to Hyde Park Corner. Checked out Wellington's Arch and a memorial for Australia and New Zealand. Walked West down the Southern Side of Hyde Park. Impressive gardens. Found the Queen's Horseman at practice.

Walked South out of Hyde Park via Poor Row(?) and into Knightsbridge. Weaved our way through the streets, with the kids telling me we were lost. Walked past some very posh shops such as Prada etc, all with their armed security guards. Turned right, and there was Harrods. Much rejoicing and we were never lost ! I don't think the kids appreciated how different Knightsbridge is to Earls Court.

Spent close to an hour watching people being fleeced/doing a bit of shopping in Harrods. Christmas World took up most of our time, much to Christophers disgust, as he has money burning in his pocket. Checked out the pet shop with it's 900 pound Jack Russels and Siamese and Burmese cats. Strollers for dogs, and all manner of other crazy stuff. Did a qucik lap of the ground floor for CRE's sake. He wants to buy a watch, but declined to lose all his money in one hit. He is going to wait until duty free in Dubai now.

Next Stop the V&A(Victoria and Albert Museum). A bit high brow for the kids so then down the road to the Natural History Museum. Absolutely Fabulous. Kids mainly interested in the Dinosaurs. Had to Run past the Juvenile T-Rex on display. Thomas suddenly had an urge to go find a toilet !

It was 12.30 by the time we had done the Dinosaurs, so headed North back in to Hyde Park. Picnic lunch of buns/cheese/ham we had picked up earlier. Sat at the Diana Memorial Pool thingy for about 45 minutes. Weather today was pleasant. The forecast was for rain in the morning, followed by soggy and a max of 15. Actually turned out slightly cloudy and about 17/18 so quite a nice lunch, followed by ice-cream.

Then headed back to the Albert Memorial. MASSIVE !!!!!!! I knew Victoria loved him...but....unbelievable.

From there, we headed to Kensington Palace. Did the tour, which took about 90 minutes. Good, but only involved about 30 rooms of a 400 room, "working palace". A no photo event. Gardens very impressive and photos and video shot. Off Course, bumped in to our American friends ...again.

From Kensignton, we headed back to Earls Court, and we were home by about 5.30pm.

Unwound for a while and uploaded photo's. Have now worked out that I can't send any emails, but can receive them. 7.30pm Late Dinner across road at a burger joint. Strange name, great burgers. Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

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