Any day in London where it promises not to rain, you have to
get out and about in this town. In one week, my self-imposed deadline arrives so I wanted to enjoy a day in London
that I had dreamed about for so long.
The theme of the day was Queen Victoria, the longest reigning monarch of the British Empire. Queen Victoria never saw the sun set on the British Empire and was married to the true love of her life, Prince Albert. My mother named me after this British Royal and after today I am even more honored to have her name.
We started at the Marble Arch, which is an entrance to Hyde Park. We raced to Speaker’s Corner, the
famous spot where anyone can say anything without penalty. On this early Sunday morning with fog, no one
wanted to speak apperently. We sighed a bit, but decided to walk through the park.
This park is very flat and was created around Serpentine lake. We enjoyed watching the locals use the park for exercise, dogs off “leads,” and children running around aimlessly. On our way, we passed by the Serpentine Art
Galleries. These Galleries were a favorite of Princess Diana and she was one of the main patrons. The first gallery exhibited works of a German
artist who invented a certain type of exhibition art which uses light and mirrors to reflect art and movement.
Both of us found we could enjoy this exhibit. The second exhibit was so bad, I couldn’t go past the first room. Again, let go of the modern art Britain.
As we crossed the road into Kensington Park, I got excited for what was to come next. At the end of the park, was the Prince Albert monument. This was Queen Victoria’s husband so this monument was large and evoked all corners of the British Empire. It combined British history with Roman, as the Romans conquered England first. You have to see it:
Across from the statue is the Royal Albert concert hall. People dream of playing in this place.
Next we walked a few blocks down Exhibition Road to the cluster of museums. I wanted to visit the British Natural History Museum, but the line was over one hour just to enter the museum. Hopefully later in the week I can visit to the world’s first/best stuffed Wooly Mammoth! To avoid the lines, we went across the street to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This
museum was impressive; it can’t quite rival the Louvre, but the collections are certainly amazing. The museum has
everything from fashion dresses, to sculpture, to European and Asian Artifacts. We saw so many great artists and finally got to see one of Leonardo’s sketch notebooks in person. I couldn’t help but reference Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as small wings devoted to each artist’s (turtle?) works was in the European floors. Also, we saw many artifacts from BC and 100-500 AD. This was
impressive and I could not help but to stare. However, we learned from Egyptian tombs – money cannot buy you class or fashion sense…please note the sock has only one split, as it was worn with sandals.
The Queen & King also commissioned replicas of famous statues and these are placed in one four story room. This was truly unique and I even caught Jordan staring.
After all of that history, we needed to eat at a local pub. During lunch, to ensure Jordan could enjoy some London history, I found Sir Winston Churchill’s old residence’s address. He lived a block away from Kensington Park, so after some searching we found his old house. We had to walk through a few of the most expensive housing blocks in the world, most were used by embassies or consultants. These houses left me speechless. This walk should be on every one’s tourist map of London.
After that adventure, we quickly ran back to the park to go to Kensington Palace. I’m sure if you are reading my blog, you are aware this is where Kate Middleton resides. The Palace allows you in the original part of the Palace for four exhibits. The first shows you the original part of the Palace, which was a house Queen Mary &
Prince William bought (From Magna Carta fame).
The second show the next family
and there expensive addition. The last
shows the life of Queen Victoria. The
fourth was a special exhibition of dresses worn by Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret (her sister) and Princess Diana.
It was great! The Palace was a bit small, but still neat to imagine the royalty that lived there.
The next stop was the Orangery Tea Room, which is part of Kensington Palace. So many royals and famous people have had afternoon tea here, I had to try it. As I have never had afternoon tea, I was giddy. The tea service was amazing, as well as the champagne they paired with it. I’m not sure I will be enjoying afternoon tea
again, but this one time was perfect as I sat and watched the locals play in the park.
We quickly ran to another double decker bus, and went straight to Harrods’s. As we approached this store, I wanted to snap my fingers and have my mom be with me. (This also happened yesterday when I took ten minutes to stare at the royal crowns.)
The store was quite overwhelming, but it did have every brand you could imagine for every type of everything in the world.
We ended the night on a street with all local restaurants, off of Bond Street. We will probably visit again, as it was hard to even choose one place to eat. It made me appreciate London as a true
melting pot.
I am so tired, so I’m watching the BBC and laughing at these funny British words. I cannot wait for tomorrow, as we are visiting the British Library and lots of Sherlock places! (I promise Jordan will get to enjoy a day soon…….)
-Lauren
