Saturday

The day started out sunny, but still very cold and it quickly clouded over (happens everyday).  We went to the Portobello Road Market to check out antiques, food, and more.  We spend the morning exploring the area, enjoying curry and churros and chocolate!  In the afternoon we popped over to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  We saw modern Middle Eastern photography, ceramics and furniture collections. 

This evening we enjoyed Theatre at the Old Vic, where we saw Winslow Boy, which was excellent. Afterwards we walked across the Waterloo Bridge, taking in the lights of the city at night.

Outside the Natural History Museum, beside the V&A. 

The cafe at the V&A.

At the Old Vic Theatre

At the theatre.

The London Eye and Big Ben at night.

 

The city lights. 

Greenwich and the London Eye

Today we visited Greenwich and the Cutty Sark!  The Cutty Sark is a tea clipper which has been preserved as a museum, we opted to skip the museum as the queue snaked around the boat.  

We did hike up to the observatory and admired the view.  At lunch on tope of the hill, we shared a picnic table was a friendly Russian family who now live in London.  The view was quite good, but despite the sunny photos it was freezing.  I’m am starting to suspect that the weather in London is always terrible, although according to the BBC, this is the coldest March in England in 50 years!! 

At Greenwich with the Cutty Sark.

Cutty Sark!

At Greenwich on the dividing line.

View from the observatory at Greenwich

There is sun, but it is not warm.

Inside the National Maritime Museum.

Next we took a Thames Boat back into central London to board the London Eye for a view of the city!  Despite the crowds we were waited only 30 mins to board, although the line was massive.  We did met a friendly grandfather from New Zealand while waiting in line. He was visiting with 3 generations of his family, including his 2 month old grand-daughter.  We walked over to the Tate Modern and enjoyed a beer overlooking the Millenium Bridge, the Thames and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Big Ben from the London Eye

The Shard.

Buildings at White Hall (mostly the bureaucracy)

Next we headed over to Brick Lane, the traditional heart of London’s Bangladeshi community for dinner.  Unfortunately the Bangladesh community has mostly moved out of the area, and now it’s mostly a tourist trap.  We picked a promising Middle Eastern restaurant, and ran into Yasmina and her friends again!  The chef was Algerian, but the food seemed to be generic Lebanese/Syrian/Palistinean.  After finding out that Dan was Lebanese, a plate of baclava appeared at our table.We were planning to go to a comedy club nearby but couldn’t find the spot, so ended up just heading home.

Thursday and Dan arrives

Dan arrived this morning.  He was a bit tired after the overnight flight with not much sleep.  He did agree to a quick visit to the British Museum to check out the Magna Carta and other historical documents.  Then it was over to Oxford Circus for some shopping. We enjoyed dinner at White Rabbit, with a new dessert option, orange sherbet with chocolate ganache and malted chocolate crumbs.  We met up with Yasmina and her friends from Madrid, who were visiting for the weekend, at a pub near Highbury & Islington Station.  

Hampton Court Palace

Today I visited Hampton Court Palace, which was built during the reign of Henry VIII.  The palace is just south of London, about 45mins by train from Waterloo Station.  It’s right on the Thames River.  Interestingly Henry VIII would not have stayed here for long, because after a few months his lavish entertaining would have completed exhausted the local food supplies, meaning that the court would have been forced to move on to another of his palaces (he had a few dozen).  The visit was especially interesting as there were actors dressed as King Henry, Anne Bodelyn and other members of the court who were going about their daily activities while I visited.  At one point Henry was yelling out the window at Anne who was down in the courtyard below.  There audio guide was also excellent, and included with admission.

The gardens are reminiscent of the formal French style, although after seeing Versailles (see later post), it paled in comparison.  I was briefly lost in the hedge maze, the oldest one still in existence (Versaille got rid of theirs during one of many garden renovation projects)

Front of Hampton Court Palace

Nothing says welcome to the Palace, like a goat and a dragon on their hind legs...

Inside the Royal Kitchens, Henry VIII's diet was 70% meat and it's believed that he may have had scurvy as a result of this gluttonous diet.

Henry VIIIs at the palace window.

He looks annoyed because Anne Bodelyn is proving difficult to please.

The gardens at Hampton Court Palace, reminiscent of Versailles until you actually see Versailles.

Fountain Courtyard

Meadows full of crocuses in the "wild garden"

Lost inside the maze...

Finally found my way out of the maze, at the Lion Gates.

Swans in the fountain

The palace is right on the Thames, looking at it from across the river

 

After the palace, I managed to get back to Whitehall just in time to see the pomp of the Inspection of the Guards at 4pm.  This happens daily at the Horse Guard’s Parade (site of the recent Olympic beach volleyball competition).  It is not as long or elaborate as the changing of the guards, but that only happens every other day. 

Then I walked over to check out the house where my Great-Grandmother’s family lived in 1918 before emigrating to Canada. 38 Amwell St. in Islington.  

Looking up Amwell St. 

This evening I enjoyed the ballet Gisele at the London Coliseum in Covent Garden.  Dan arrives tomorrow!

The cast taking a final bow.

I was not in one of these boxes.

Inside the London Coliseum, for the ballet.

The English National Orchestra (ENO) also plays at the Coliseum.