Portobello Road

We got up this AM and went to Kensington Palace. It was nice and we enjoyed the dress collections, both Princess Diana's and the older ones. I still think Hampton Court Palace is my favorite of the palaces though. We then had lunch at the Orangery. I had the soup of the day. I really didn't understand what he said it was. Didn't really like it, but the homemade bread with it was terrific. I liked the hot tea too--had the Earl Grey. We ate outside on the terrace. It was breezy and pretty, but Eleanor thought it was cold, so we walked back to the flat and Eleanor changed into jeans. The temperature today was just amazing. I know I am going home to hot and humid; today was maybe 70 and breezy. That I will miss.

We then decided to check out Portobello Road and its shops and markets. They are slim on a Friday. Apparently Saturday is the day to go, but we had a really good time shopping there and spent plenty of money to support the local merchants. This was on Eleanor's list of things to do because of the scene in "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" where they sing about Portobello Road. The most nostalgic part to me was shopping in the....are you ready for this Dad.....Woolworth's! I didn't know those still existed anywhere, let alone on Portobello Road in Notting Hill, London. We bought a bottled drink and some candy which was sold by the hmmmmm....kilo maybe? We pay for things in pounds, but don't measure them that way here. Gee, I'm not sure. It was .69 pence per whatever the measurement was! There was an antique store along the road that had the most amazingly beautiful crystal doorknob sets. I texted Will, but he told me the price was too high. Pity....I'd love to have cut crystal doorknobs in my house...wish they had been a deal!

We came back to the flat and did about 90% of our packing for tomorrow, so I could relax for the rest of the evening. We are going to head to the Victoria and Albert and out to dinner in a few minutes (it's about 6:30PM) and then try to get to bed early. Our car hire is picking us up at 5:45 AM to head to Gatwick for our flight. The flight is oversold and when I checked in online, it was saying that they would be asking people to get off the flight for compensation. I was tempted since it might pay for Eleanor to get back to Europe next summer, but when I checked the other flights out, I only found two more flights after that to the states and they had full coach sections too. Oh well.

*****************************************************************************

Back again....We went to the Victoria and Albert. Unfortunately, they had most of the galleries closed off. I wish their website had been clear about the fact that their late night didn't include all the galleries. We would have made more of an effort to go earlier in the day. We saw some amazing religious art and sculpture though. There was a display on stained glass and church objects (for communion, reliquaries, etc.). Breathtaking stuff. We spent a little over an hour there and then headed toward Queen's Gate Road to catch the Number 70 bus back toward our flat. We walked past the Baden Powell House along the way--it is the former home of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, the founders of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. We found out while at Hampton Court Palace yesterday though that she was a "grace and favour" resident at Hampton Court when she was elderly. Eleanor and I would like to be "grace and favour" residents and get to live in a palace for the rest of our lives!

We finally caught the bus at the gates of Kensington Gardens (far side of the gardens from where we are staying though). We got off about a block and a half from our flat....although we didn't realize we were that close. Tonight....on our last night....we found the cut-through to the side road which we overlook from our flat. Figures! :-) We went to a Tex-Mex and Spanish tapas restaurant around the corner from the flat. This was a concession on Eleanor's part because she doesn't like Mexican food. I had chicken fajitas that were very good....they allowed her to order from the kids menu even though she is obviously older than 10. She had a burger and "chips". Total cost was 29.81...geesh!

During dinner, we discussed our highlights for the week.

For Eleanor, her top three were 1. Spamalot, 2. Kensington Palace, 3. The Churchill Museum and 4. The hamburger she ate at the restaurant across from Hampton Court--perhaps tied with riding the tube. That was more than three wasn't it? LOL

For me, the top three are: 1. Swan Lake, 2. Churchill Museum and 3. Hampton Court Palace. I liked the tube a lot too!

Will told me earlier that if I can get the airlines to compensate us with two round-trip transatlantic flights to go ahead and hop off the plane...but only if they guarantee us seats on another flight tomorrow. I'll see what I can do....

I'll check back in when we get home tomorrow. For now, Ciao!