Kensington Palace

Tuesday 29^th May 2012

The weather in London was lovely again today, clear sky with a temperature of 24°. Just perfect for sight seeing.

Another trip on the tube heading for Queensway tube station then a short walk through Kensington Gardens to visit Kensington Palace. The Palace was built in the 17^th century as a royal home for King William III and Mary II. Part of the palace is still lived in by some of the Royal family. It is soon to be the home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William & Kate).  The staterooms and the rooms where Queen Victoria grew up have now been opened to the public, so we were able to walk through them - really interesting.

Burlington Arcade

After visiting Kensington Palace we continued walking along Kensington Road to Knightsbridge to catch the tube to Piccadilly Circus. By now it was well past midday so we had lunch in a café and then walked through Burlington Arcade, which was built in 1819 and has recently been refurbished. Everything in the shops is very expensive. There is a Vintage Rolex Shop, which has watches dating back to the turn of the century. I liked the look if the 1954 model (my birthday) but didn’t like the £8,800 price tag, hence Lynne didn’t think it would be a good late birthday present.

Continued walking along Piccadilly past the Fortnum & Mason store and onto Leicester Square tube station to catch the train back to our hotel to rest our feet. London is really teeming with people at the moment as the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations commence next weekend.

As tonight is our last in London (for a while at least) we decided to go back to the North Sea Fish Restaurant where we had our first dinner in England back in 2009 - still great fish and chips.

Sherlock Holmes Museum

Monday 28^th May 2012

The weather was again excellent, clear blue sky and temperature in the high 20’s.

Domestic duties required this morning so we went to the laundrette to do some washing.

First sight seeing event for today was a trip on the tube to Baker Street. 221b Baker Street is where the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson lived. Took photos of us wearing the trademark Holmes deerstalker hat, pipe and magnifying glass sitting in his chair.

Abbey Road Crossing

We then walked past Lords Cricket Ground to Abbey Road in St John’s Wood to see the Abbey Road recording studio and the foot crossing made famous by the Beatles on the cover of their Abbey Road Album. Took photos walking across the crossing. The local motorists appear to dislike the tourists walking back and forth across the crossing continuously taking photos and holding up traffic.

St Martins Theatre

Back on the tube to Oxford Street to look at some shops, then onto our hotel to get changed, have a light dinner and set off on the tube again for the theatre. After a short walk across Leicester Square we arrived at St Martin’s Theatre to see Agatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap”, now in its 60^th year and the world’s longest running stage production. The show was great and the theatre very ornate however the legroom was very cramped, certainly not made for tall people like us. The play was excellent, commencing at 7:30pm and ending at 10:00pm with an intermission. Great day!