Well, as most of you know, I have been back in the country for the last few days…I’ve spent most of my time unpacking, doing laundry, and generally relaxing and chilling out. But before I get too far removed, let me give you the low-down on the last few days of my vacation.
Monday was another walk-around day – we started the day with the tour at Kensington Palace. A little piece of advice to the travellers-to-be: unless you’re facinated by the way people dressed at court over the last few centuries, skip the first floor and go straight to the second. The first floor (actually, the first LAP of the tour) is all about dress. Specifically, Diana’s dresses. (Well, why not. It WAS her residence, after all.) For people like me, the second floor is much more interesting – that’s where you’ll find the Royal Apartments. This is (in my opinion, anyway) the interesting part, since you get a full picture of life at court, and how business was conducted. The palace has been beautifully decorated – in some places with replicas, in some with the original decor – and is definately worth a visit.
Following lunch, we checked out the “Bond, James Bond” exhibit at the Science Museum. It was a typical retrospective-type exhibition, but it was still really neat to see some of the props (Bond’s cars, Jaws’ teeth) close up. I also took a Bond trivia quiz while I was there – not surprisingly, I scored pretty well. From there we briefly checked out the National Gallery, but as we were running short on time, went straight to the National Portrait Gallery – essentially a history lesson with lots of pictures, but very interesting.
Another show on Monday night – this time, “Auntie & Me”, a very dark comedy about old age and dying. Very very funny. The show was somewhat short, so after the movie we cut across Leicester Square to see “Chicago” (the movie, not the live show – I just wanted to specify, since they’re both running in London). I still can’t get used to the idea of buying booze at a movie theatre, let alone actually taking it into the theatre. But then, I’m not used to people selling me ice cream in a theatre either. It’s a cultural thing.
Tuesday was mainly a shopping day – the National Portrait Gallery shoppe, the Cinema Store, Tower Records, Virgin Megastore, The BBC Shop, The London Transport Museum (for Jen’s “Mind the Gap” shirt, among other things), lots of other shops in Covent Garden…well, you get the idea. That took up the better part of the day. Top it all off with “Anything Goes” at the National Theatre and a nice dinner at the Prospect Grill in Covent Garden, and that’s a pretty complete day.
Wednesday was the our flight back – but before we left the hotel, I snapped some pictures of Russell Square from the terrace on our hotel room, and ran down to the Safeway for some essential exports – Apple Tango, HobNobs, Wine Gums and (this is perhaps the most important thing) Penguin Bars. The minibus ride back to Heathrow was uneventful, if not a little boring. Naturally, when we got to the airport, it started to rain. But at least the computers didn’t go down this time.
I went a little nuts in the Duty-Free area. If you haven’t travelled internationally, the Duty-Free area is where you can buy stuff (candy, chocolate, clothing, alcohol, cigarettes…damn near anything, really) without paying local taxes or duties for exporting/importing. We finally have some booze to go in our “bar”, I got Bry his beloved Crunchie bars, I bought a bear for Julie from Harrod’s, more Wine Gums…the list goes on. But I managed to get everything into the overhead compartment, and that’s what counts.
And now I’m back. La la la. Pictures will be coming shortly – I’m in the process of choosing the best ones and giving them witty captions.