Walking in London: Day Two

I'm going to be extra cheesy and try to title each post with a different song about London. Points if you can name who sings the song.


Today was fabulous London weather. It started out clearish, with the occasional threatening black cloud by hints of blue sky and fluffy clouds. So I decided to do the outdoorsy stuff on my itinerary first, because in London as in Seattle, you just never know with the weather. So champagne-hangover be damned, I headed off first to Hyde Park. I love Hyde Park, possibly because I spent two weeks living in a high-rise hotel on Park Lane last winter. Or maybe because I got to go horseback riding through it last fall. Or maybe because it's the former hunting grounds of Henry the VIII and I'm obsessed with all things Tudor. Regardless, it's a lovely park. I stopped in at Kensington Palace, because I haven't been there before, and I believe that every trip to England must include a castle or a stately palace. Because it's England. Most of Kensington Palace is an homage to Princess Diana, because she lived there for a bit. Some of her dresses were on display which was kind of cool but almost kind of creepy in a way. Because they're all displayed in a lighted glass case on headless mannequins... But I loved the state apartments, of King George, Queen Mary, and Queen Victoria. And I loved it because it was nearly empty. I wandered up the King's staircase completely alone, and stood solitary in Queen Victoria's bedroom. And if you stand really still and just take it all in, it's the closest to time-traveling that I've experienced.


After the palace, I walked down Kensington High Street and hopped on the tube over to the City, where I crossed the Thames on the Millenium pedestrian bridge. I overheard a smarty-pants explainanator American tourist telling his bored wife that the bridge is some kind of engineering marvel because it's a suspension bridge, but the suspension cables are all underneath it. So I thought I'd sound all smarty-pants and tell you that too.


I ended up near the Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe theater, but decided to find some lunch before taking either in. I nearly went to a new hip restaurant noted in my guide book called Leon's, but it wasn't open for business yet. "Oh well, I really wanted fish and chips anyway..." I said to the friendly hostess who turned me away. "Oh! Then you must go to Borough Market!" she replied, and gave me directions. "It's a ten-minute walk, but it's worth it." I found the market, and it was an old covered market full of vegetable stands, flower sellers, butchers, and sandwich shops. And of course...a chippy. Advertising "proper fish and chips," I knew I couldn't go wrong. And it was worth it.


After stuffing myself full of vinegar-soaked fried pieces of heaven, I headed back to the Tate Modern. I went in to use the loo, because that's what I do at free museums. Then I went to catch the Tate to Tate Boat, but since I was early for the next boat, I wandered about in the gift shop at the Globe. Possibly a 25 pound mistake, but oh well. I'm on vacation. My boat ride was nearly marred by a group of 40 high school students boarding at the same time, but I managed to tune them out and enjoy the ride. Although I did overhear this little gem:

Teen #1 (as Teen #2 snaps photos): God, we're acting like a bunch of tourists!
Teen #2: I know! I'm surprised we aren't covered in sunscreen, we're such tourists.
Teen #1: Steady on now, we're not Americans.

And it turns out the ticket-takers were so flummoxed by collecting student fares from the 40 unruly teenagers, that no one came round to sell me a ticket, and I got a free ride :)


The Tate boat dropped us off at the Tate Britain, one of my favorite museums. So I wandered about in there for a while, loved the Hockney on Turner collection, revisited the Tudor portraits, and regretted my decision not to pay the 11 pounds to see the Millais exhibit so I bought a bunch of postcards instead.

Back on the tube again, a brief stop at Waitrose (British grocery store. Love it.), and after enjoying the best cheddar ploughman's sandwich and cheese and onion crisps, I think I'll have a dip in the hotel pool. Thirty minutes after, of course. Safety first, kids, even while on vacation.