I didn't have a ton planned for Saturday (or Sunday for that matter). I had figured that I would be a bit tired from going full speed several days in a row, so I planned on the lighter side.
I did get up early and headed to Nottinghill. This was a cute and bright cottage I saw.
The plan was to hit up the Portobello Road Market.
I had read that you should get there by 8:00 to avoid the crazy crowds. I think I got there about 8:30, and boy did I miss the crowds! The vendors hadn't even finished setting up completely.
I really drooled over these silver vendors, but I didn't buy anything
I managed to escape the market and only purchased a couple of onesies as a baby gift for my friend Abby who had given birth to her 4th baby the day before.
I walked a while and found more pretty flowers at a Pub
I kept walking until I found an underground station, and took it to Paddington Station. From Paddington, I took a cab (because I didn't want to do two more train changes to my next destination). I headed to 45 Park Lane, to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Cut.
After a diet of chocolate, fries, and a waffle on Friday, I was starving!
{iphone photo}
After some sustenance, I walked up the street to Marble Arch, stopping briefly to drool at the Aston Martin dealership on Park Lane. From Marble Arch, I took the underground to The British Museum.
The British Museum is a huge museum where you could easily spend a week, if not longer.
In addition to all the artifacts to look at, the architecture is quite something.
I knew I could wander around for days and I still might miss something important. So I found a guy that worked there and said, "what are the 3 must see exhibits?", and then I hit those up.
(1) The Ancient Egyptians Exhibit...
(2) The Rosetta Stone...
{iphone photo}
and (3) the Parthenon exhibit, which I really loved...
Outside of Athens, there are only 3 places where you can see pieces of The Parthenon (the Louvre in Paris; the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen; and the British Museum in London)
I embarrassingly walked right off a step after I took this photo because I was so enthralled with the room...
I took a cab from the museum to Kensington Palace, because my feet and bum ankle were getting really tired at this point in the trip.
I didn't do the tour of Kensington Palace because I had done that before, but I walked through the sunken garden there, because I remembered that I really liked it. On the way, I noticed some changes that they had made including a gift shop, restaurant, and new entrance for the tour.
The statue of Queen Victoria had been cleaned up as well
Then I walked through Kensington Park toward Hyde Park
The Serpentine
Prince Albert Memorial
I spent lots of time walking through the park, enjoying the flowers, and soaking up the cool weather
I walked all the way through Hyde Park, back to the restaurant Cut. I had spied a really yummy sounding Lobster Club Sandwich on the menu that I wanted to try for a late lunch
{iphone pic}
After lunch, I took a cab back to my hotel. I was really tired, and decided to take a nap before I got ready to head out for the evening.
I had tickets to see a play called "Skylight", so I took the underground to Leicester Square.
I had been toying with the idea of seeing "Skylight" when I started planning my trip in early June, and then I saw Hugh Jackman tweet that he saw it and it was one of the top plays he had ever seen, so I quickly booked my ticket.
Luckily, I was there one week before it closed.
Carey Mulligan was great, but Bill Nighy, who I love in all his movies, was beyond brilliant.
I had great seats (as you can see I was the first down in the stalls)
The play was wonderful. I'm so glad I got to see it. It's one that you are still thinking about many days after.
When I got home, I noticed that there had been a write up in June's Vogue Magazine about it, but I had totally over-looked it!
Stay tuned for my last full day in London!
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