May 30: Kensington Palace, Hyde Park & Albert Memorial, V&A Museum, Les Miserables

From the statue gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum

We started the day seeing Kensington Palace.  This is the palace where Queen Victoria grew up, and was the palace of Queen Anne and King George II.  It is done up in a fairly theatrical style, rather than being strictly historical.  It is very creative and interactive, but has a different atmosphere than some of the ruins and even the actively used castles we have seen.

There is a display of four of Princess Diana's gowns, but the Modern Royal Family section was closed.

The only picture that turned out.

The Queen's Rooms were used for a display about the life of King George and Queen Anne.  Their only son to survive out of infancy died a few days after his 11th birthday.  The displays were interesting, but I'm not sure I always understood them.

This gallery was full of whispers, gramophones, and birdcages.

The display of the prince.

The long gallery with origami birds.

There is also a tour of the King's rooms, accompanied by a court intrigue game, which we ignored until the very end, when we had to pick drawers.  I was denounced, and Alanna was banished.   Perhaps we might have done better by following the rules.

King George did his Royla Audiences here.

We next went for a stroll along the length of Hyde Park, past the round pond, where we enjoyed the swans, and past the Albert Memorial.  We went past several embassies and practices our flag identification.  I think I enjoyed this game more than Alanna.

By the time we got to the Victoria and Albert Museum it was time for a water break, and then we viewed some intereting exhibits.  I enjoyed the presentation on garments made with golden spider silk.

Alanna was particularly interested in the theatre exhibits, especially the rhinoceros that Benedict Cumberbach acted alongside.

We also saw the fashion section, and toured through the parts of European histroy that are still open.

Next, we went for a walk through Chelsea looking for the Hummingbid Bakery, as Alanna's friend Mike had recommended that we go there.  It ook a while, due to wrong turns, but we bought our tea, cappucino and a cupcake each, and took them "to go" to avoid the VAT tax.  Unfortunately, as soon as we left the bakery, it started to rain, so we abandoned our picnic in Hyde Park idea and ducked under umbrellas, then set out at the tail end of rush our for Trafalgar Square, where we planned to do some people watching while waiting for our play.  This plan also came to naught, as there was a film performance set up, so we walked around Covent Garden and bought hand painted shirts.  

In the evening we saw Les Miserables, and it was beyond brilliant.  How, after 28 years (this is the fifth performance I've seen) they can make it so fresh and original is a mystery to me! 

We staggered home on the tube, getting in at 11:30, and packing to head home.  I'm really excited to be getting back, but Alanna is pretty sad to be leaving Britain.