Northern California Style

Northern California Style

Jolly Old England Part II

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A few more snaps and things from our London part of our trip..

On our first day out we decided to do Westminster Abbey which we have never managed to make it to on our previous trips. It was gorgeous and once inside you are blown away by the size of it. I had no idea how many famous Brits as well as kings and queens are buried here. The individual chapels are quite beautiful. The current church was built in the 1200’s and it is thrilling to see something so old that has survived so much. 
Doors were amazingly beautiful.
The guys waiting to get in.
The front. Sorry there was no snapping this without people.
 
Lots of these guys if you look around!
I think what makes these kind of spots come alive is the stories that go along with it. Make sure you get a headset or a tour guide. You will hear why each nook and cranny has a story and it’s fascinating.
So lovely. No photos inside of course.
From here we walked to some of the parks and about. Do you know there is another palace in London? We walked right past St James Palace. It was where William and Harry lived with their father Prince Charles for some time. Now it is home to Princess Anne as well as Beatrice and Eugenie in London. Funny about London, you are wandering about and there you are at another palace…
It was the first royal palace and former home to the monarchs before Buckingham Palace was built.
Nearby, we walked through St James Park.
It’s smaller than Hyde Park, but quite lovely and has some very nice gardens.

 The view from the park looking straight at Buckingham Palace. You can spy it in the middle there.

We also spent some time in Hyde Park. It’s 630 acres and is divided by the Serpentine.
wikipedia
Hyde Park is so huge you could wander for days and never see it all. I loved the big open spaces.  London has these park chairs you can rent, but they always appeared to be empty when we were there. It was cool June weather though. Such a thoughtful thing. You could just bring your picnic and it’s already there for you. Keeps the parks looking a bit nicer, not so motley either.
Love the neat order of these chairs! Only in Britain!
The Princess Diana Memorial Playground is wonderful and fun to just wander through with it’s brambles and secret paths.
There is a wonderful pirate ship that my boys are now a bit old for, but my youngest still loved the swings.

Even my husband had fun trying to figure out some of the games. As you can see there are separate little hideaways that have small games to try in each. A child behind him is on a spinning one.
My  personal favorite part is the Serpentine and waterside cafes.
This is the view from another cafe there. 
You can sit here and have a drink or a snack and rent or watch the paddle boats.
More stylish Londoners.
The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain nearby, is a large oval – fun to follow along on a warm day.
 
There is an art installation you can climb right now by the Serpentine Gallery.

 This part of the park is Kensington gardens I think.

Looking toward Kensington Palace, Kate and Will’s new home under renovations.

Londoners really come here to chill at the end of the day. I like how this gentleman brought his novel and found a stump. I noticed others brought the newspaper and found a chair. It’s a real gathering spot after work in the summer and the park stays open until midnight!

At the end of the day many Londoners also head to their local pub. The pub is really more a neighborhood gathering spot and so many are wonderful restaurants as well.

I love the colorful baskets of flowers that decorate almost all the pubs.

I also adore the national summertime drink which is Pimm’s cup! Seems everywhere you go, monument, castle or pub you can get it. It’s a very lightly alcoholic drink. It’s very like an ice tea and jammed full of cucumber, fruit and mint if you get a good one.
I have made a few of my own jugs at home by the pool and they have been very well received! I like that they don’t have much alcohol, which is nice in summer.
As you can see I enjoyed a few of those.
We particularly liked this gastro-pub, The Grazing Goat. Pub food has really gotten better since I was here last.

One thing that always surprises is the many places to eat outdoors in England. Even thought their weather is usually not great it’s almost always an option to dine outside. That is so different than here in California where outdoor eating is harder to find. Crazy given the weather differences.

I hope I haven’t droned on too long about London, but I wanted to share all the details. Tomorrow’s post will be on our day trip to Windsor and The Victoria and Albert Museum. Later I’ll share some about our stops in Belgium, Holland and Germany, which I promise are a lot shorter!
Thanks for reading!
Kim

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