A Day at Kensington Palace and A Concert at Barbican

Day 3 in London; Today was a busy day, we had tickets to visit Kensington, 1 hour walk from the hotel, and a concert an hour the other direction. Fortunately, the tube was handy for both places otherwise we would have taken a cab. 

 We dressed for the concert in the morning and took off, we had to be at Kensington at 11am. We didn’t know what to expect at Kensington, but didn’t expect for it to take the entire day. 

Kensington Palace

We were wrong! First visitors go thru the part of the palace where Queen Victoria was born and raised until she was 18. There are some pieces that exist from her time there. The room where she learned she was queen is being repaired as the upstairs flooring was loose but you can still walk thru it. And the table where she met her ministers for the 1st time is still there. 

 The balcony that overlooks the door that Albert entered thru the 1st time Victoria saw him is small. I stood on the balcony and took a photo of Dale entering thru the door and he looked as handsome as ever! 

The room where Victoria received the news that she was queen then received her ministers at this table

The room Victoria was born in

There are many quotes from Victoria which brings the palace alive.

From Victoria’s rooms there are the apartments for King George II and Queen Caroline. These are very grand and fun to see. Here is a link to the palace where you can see some of what we looked at.

https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/#gs.jb6mvm

After all the gawking, we were hungry and wanted to sit for a bit. Where better than the café. A bit of cake and coffees were what we needed. But we were running out of time. 

We hurried back to the exhibit of clothing. We were lucky to see this as it closes soon. There was Diana’s wedding dress with the full train stretched out. It was quite amazing. 

Then there were dresses made for and worn by Diana, The Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth. Original sketches were on display as well as how the clothes were 1st put together using muslin. This was most interesting as I love to sew. 

Finally with only 30 min or so to spare we ran to the gardens. The garden is the one recently in the news where William and Harry both were there to unveil the sculpture of Diana with 3 children. The garden is so beautiful and as the sun was setting on the pool it was reflecting the fading light. 

We caught the tube and went to a venue we hadn’t been to before, the Barbican. We were to hear Mahler, Symphony #4, played by the London Symphony Orchestra. This symphony was so amazingly beautiful, one of the best versions we have ever heard. We wouldn’t mind going back for more music someday. 

We found a little Italian restaurant that has nearly all items in a gluten free version and the wine and dinner was so good. 

 What a day!!