Phillimore Place, Kensington Palace and Winter Wonderland

Turns out my great grandpa lived just around the corner in 1891. A short walk from the High Street and we came across No 15 Phillimore Place.




Standing on the steps where I know he trod made me feel somehow more connected to him. I was pleased to see that the neighbourhood is pretty up-market, so Great Grandpa must have been doing alright.






From there it was a short walk to Kensington Palace, where Jess was keen to do the Tour. But first we had to have FOOD, so it was off to the Orangery. This little building Queen Anne had built so that she had somewhere to sit in the afternoons and entertain her guests. It was also a hot house for trees. Citrus and Gum apparently, for the heady scent they both exuded.




This is the view out the window. I didn't take any photos inside the Palace. Jess's Flickr blog has quite a few.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36105272@N06/sets/72157632090010375/
I thought the Palace Tour not terribly exciting. It was good to see the wood and those high ceilings and doorways (were people taller in the 1600s?) The rest was installations of whispering window seats (gossip of the court) and glass cabinet displays of clothes etc. Interestingly, the staircases were amazing (what is this sudden pre-occupation with stairs?)
They were JUST the right height for you to step up or down comfortably. I guess they did that for Kings and Queens when they built Palaces. Wish we had those stairs at our apartment.
From there we trekked our way to Winter Wonderland, which is a Christmas market situated in Hyde Park, a seriously massive Park I can tell you. We tried to walk...and walk...and walk. I think Jess would have made it but I was fading fast so she hailed a London Cab and we were there within 5 minutes.
It was crazy busy. The crowds were thick and we were stuck in the middle of a hoard of people waiting to be let in to Winter Wonderland. Definitely not a comfortable position to be in. I handled it very well I thought. A couple of minor panic attacks and then we were in with thousands of others.
Jess and I shared a mulled wine. How delicious. All spicy and hot. Why don't we do this in Perth? Oh yes, I forgot. It's HOT at Christmas in Australia.
Today is our last day in London. Tomorrow we head to V's house in St. Albans. It's already snowing there so we should be...well...cold!


Me outside the golden Kensington Palace gates.

Location:London, England