Coffee at Buckingham Palace
My sister, Christine, and her good friend, Anne, were on a
bucket list vacation that was to include London and I needed very little
persuasion to join them there for a week.
London, as I have stated before, is my very favourite city in the world,
and it is even better now that James and Amber live there.
I arrived at Gatwick after an easy flight and made my way
via train to James and Amber’s apartment.
Unfortunately for them, I arrived on the very day that their belongings
arrived from Australia. It didn’t worry
me however they were a little upset that their house was full of boxes, which
left little room to move around their home.
I was just happy to see them looking so well and we did a quick catch up
on everything that had been going on with their jobs and London life.
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| Two Sisters |
The next day, I was up and out the
door early as I was
meeting Christine and Anne at Buckingham Palace. I mistimed my journey and arrived very early
so I was able to take a walk through Green Park and all around the outside of
the palace. It was a beautiful day and
there were squirrels scampering all through the park, which was virtually empty
except for a few joggers. Finally I
spotted Christine and Anne and they briefly filled me in on some of the
highlights of their trip to Berlin. It
was great to see them again.
Christine had booked us a tour of the State Rooms and we had
a lovely time wandering through the opulent surroundings. It was all very well organised with an
informative audio guide. Photos were not
allowed, and whilst at first this seemed disappointing, you quickly realised
how pleasant it was not to be surrounded by people jostling for photos or
taking a never-ending stream of selfies.
This meant that the crowds moved easily through the various rooms and
galleries. The furniture, artworks and
décor were all fabulous and the rooms were much more ornate that I had thought
that they would be. The most thrilling
aspect, for me anyway, was the special exhibition of the Queen’s clothes, which
was being held in honour of her 90th birthday. There were clothes from her childhood right
through to the present day. Highlights
were her many beautiful evening gowns, many of which are just as fashionable
today as they were when she wore them 50 years ago or more. The Queen’s wedding dress was on display and
it was lovely to see it close up and appreciate its beauty. The showpiece of the exhibition though was
the Coronation gown. The intricate
embroidery on this gown was absolutely stunning. It was worth going to the palace just to see
this gown alone. There was also a
display of Her Majesty’s many and varied hats, including one, which I swear was
a dead bird, complete with beak! We finished out tour with a coffee in the
palace café, a visit to the gift shop (very tasteful souvenirs) and a stroll
through the gardens to the exit.
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| Parliament Hill |
Our next stop was Hampstead Heath as this was a place on
Anne’s wish list. A short train trip and
walk took us to this massive 320 hectares parkland. We took a walk up to Parliament Hill, from
where the view over London is protected by law.
Needless to say, the view was pretty impressive and you could see the
skyscrapers and the City of London along with St Paul’s Cathedral. It was very peaceful walking through the park
along the tracks and thankfully we didn’t see any grass snakes. There were a number of ponds with lots of
water birds and swans enjoying themselves and even a lido. It never ceases to amaze me just how much
open space there is in a city of over eight and a half million people.
Well, if I thought that I had an early start the day before,
then the next day was a doozy. It was grand
final day and the match was between Michael’s beloved Swans and the Western
Bulldogs. James had organised tickets
for himself, Amber and I at Belushi’s in Camden and the kick-off was
5.30am. There was no way that I was
going to miss the grand final so we were up and ready before dawn. James had booked a ride with Uber, so that
was a first for me. The pub was filled
with Aussies, all seeming to barrack for the Doggies except for our small group
and one brave fellow wearing a Swan’s scarf.
Another first for me was drinking gin and tonic at 6.30am! The least said about the game the
better. A disappointing result for the
Swans however, at least they made it to the grand final. Perhaps next year the Hawks will be back
although the recent trade week has had some huge surprises/shocks for us.
I said farewell to James and Amber as they had their own
plans for the day and headed into meet Christine and Anne at the Wallace
Collection. There have been some major
refurbishments and the displays are laid out much better. It really is an astonishing collection of Old
Master paintings, the most famous of which is The Laughing Cavalier as well as a
number by of artworks by Rembrandt, Rubens and Canaletto. None of the items on display can ever leave
the collection, not even for a temporary loan exhibition, as this was a
condition of the bequest by Sir Richard Wallace’s widow. It is one of my favourite places to visit in
London.
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| Robin Hood |
Next, it was off to St Paul’s Covent Garden, otherwise known
as the actor’s church. This lovely
church was designed by Inigo Jones and contains many memorials to famous actors
and entertainers including Charlie Chaplin, Noel Coward, Boris Karloff and
Richard Greene (best Robin Hood ever).
The choir was rehearsing which added a nice touch and we returned to the
church later in the week so that Christine and Anne could finish looking at all
of the different memorial plaques. The
first Punch and Judy performance took place under the portico at the front of
the church.
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| Anne & I in the West End |
A brief wander around the market followed by a quick bite of
lunch in the West End and then it was time for a real treat – we had tickets
for the matinee of The Mousetrap! I saw
the play 32 years ago at St Martin’s Theatre, and incredibly, it is now in its
64th continuous year. Anne
had never seen the play however she didn’t need to fear me giving away the
ending, as I had forgotten “who did it” a long time ago. This was Christine’s 4th time
seeing the production! The acting was
very good and we had a fun time and were surprised by the ending (except for
Christine). The cast finished with the
traditional request for the audience not to reveal the ending after leaving the
theatre.
To cap off our busy day, we took a train ride out to Brick
Lane. We had our obligatory drink at the
White Hart (famous for where one of Jack the Ripper’s victims was last seen)
and then it was off to find a good Indian restaurant for dinner. Anne and I took a back seat and let Christine
drive the negotiations for our meal.
Christine is very good at haggling and we were soon seated and enjoying
our negotiated free bottle of wine. The
food was fabulous (definitely the best meal I have had on Brick Lane) and it
was nice to relax and hear a bit more about Anne & Christine’s travels to
date. We went our separate ways, with me
catching the tube by myself at 11.00pm.
I felt very safe and even walking through the streets from the station
to James & Amber’s apartment, I didn’t feel at all nervous.
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| Columbia Road Flower Market |
Anne had never been to a flower market so naturally I
suggested a trip to Columbia Road. We
arrived about midday, and the market was in full throttle and quite
crowded. It was interesting to see the
change in the flowers on display from when I was last there in August. Pretty soon, I suppose, the mistletoe will be
on sale.
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| Regent's Canal |
Next on the agenda was the Postman’s Park. Christine wanted to show Anne the Memorial to
Heroic Self Sacrifice, but do you think I could find the park? It took a considerable time of wandering in
circles before we chanced upon it. We
were the only people in the park and it was peaceful and sad reading the tragic
tales the plaques told. We timed our
visit perfectly because, as we were leaving, a tour group arrived which would
no doubt have shattered the peace.
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| Happy Birthday Tim! |
We met James at Angel station and he took us for a walk
along Regent’s Canal. The weather was
perfect and it was very picturesque with beautifully decorated canal boats tied
up and other long boats travelling along the canal. He and Amber live in a lovely part of
London. Amber was minding us a table at
the Island Queen, a fabulous pub, as Christine wanted to have a traditional
roast for her Sunday lunch. We had a
great meal (my roast pork was perfect as was the crackling) and we spent a fun
afternoon just chatting.
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