Kensington Palace and Gardens

This is me standing just inside the kitchen modelling my new trenchcoat purchased at H & M's for 35 pounds on Friday night while shopping with my housemates.

So on Saturday, I decided to take advantage of the Open House that was happening all over London, from downtown out to the boroughs like Barking. This was an event in which all kinds of architecturally significant buildings were opened to the public for free for the weekend. I got on the c2c train since the tube doesn't run here on the weekends. Transportation for London has taken on a massive project of updating the entire tube system--trains, tracks, signals, everything--over the next ten years, and the project is in high gear now in preparation for the 2012 Olympics. This means that every weekend 4-5 subway lines within the system are partially shut down for two days during which time there is a replacement bus service which lengthens the journey to about double tube time. Luckily I live in Barking which also has good train service via the c2c into London, so I opt to pay a bit extra and take that rather than spend upwards of two hours on a bus each way.

Staying on the theme of infrastructure maintenance, I have been impressed by the efficiency of the Brits in repairing roads. Because they do not have the luxury of four-lane roads and/or relatively little traffic as many Canadian communities do, they complete all of their roadwork at night. You'll see 5 or 6 machines working together at 11 pm (as my housemates and I did on our way home from our night out on Friday) to complete a stretch of road 100-200 metres in length. The next night they move down the street and do the next 200 metres.

OK, back to my story. So I took the c2c to Fenchurch station where I transferred without difficulty this time (see last weekend's post for my previous confusion) to the tube at Tower Hill. From there I took the Central line to High Street Kensington. I found the most wonderful

foodie's paradise when I got above ground again, called the Whole Foods Market. It had the most tantalizing smells emanating of freshly baked bread, roasted vegetables and herbs and many other nice things. I got inside and found the highest quality fruits and vegetables, many lovely baked goods, a good variety of exotic chocolates, an impressive cheese display and a gigantic wine selection from all over the world. There was a restaurant on-site and many take-out type options, prepared foods (by which I do not mean fast food, but nutritious, scrumptious- looking entrees and salads) that you could scoop into a box to eat immediately or to take home to the fridge. Much emphasis on organic and local as well as vegetarian. I didn't have money to spend there yesterday, but I have made a mental note to return in the future.

I got to Kensington and wandered around the gardens before getting to the palace. There were gorgeously manicured gardens bordered by short shrubs. Upon entering, I was told that in fact it was only free if you were there with the tour group which left a

t 2 and 4 (I had arrived at 2:40). I decided I didn't want to stay until 4, nor was I interested in paying 12.50 when I had not intended to stay longer than an hour. I continued my walk through the gardens which turned into Hyde Park. There were lawn chairs available for the public to use so I saw many people there with books and magazines, camped out for the afternoon there. I've included some pictures here.

One of several carefully tended gardens around Kensington Palace.

a statue of Queen Victoria

A statue of William of Orange on the east side of Kensington Palace.

These are some of the buildings on High Street just outside of Kensington Gardens. This Pizza Hut has a bit fancier building than usual...