It was about an hours drive from Gatwick airport to the Kensington area of London where our hotel is located. The first thing we noticed driving through the countryside is the similarity between here and home – rolling hills, pastures, and lots of trees. It was beautiful.
We arrived at our hotel around 11am and got checked into our room. It was a typical city hotel room – clean with all the amenities but a little small. Cindy took a quick nap while I explored the neighborhood to find restaurants, the Underground tube entrance, money exchange center, and get familiar with the area.
Next, we headed out for a tour of Kensington Palace (the home of the late Princess Diana Spencer). We had purchased a London TravelCard which allows us access to the Buses, Trains and Tube while we’re here – a great idea! Everyone is so nice and helpful too so getting around was quite easy.
We caught the Tube close to our hotel and exited on High Street Kensington to one of several shopping meccas in the city. As we walked down the street and turned the corner, we came upon the entrance to the Palace. The grounds of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park were stunningly beautiful. It was a gorgeous day here and a holiday (Father’s Day – a relatively new celebration here in England). The park was filled with people enjoying the day and one another. As we moved through the park, we came up to the gates of the Palace.
The tour was very interesting. We were given a small digital recorder for the self-guided tour. The narrator guided the listener through each room providing background and bits of information. The rooms were beautifully decorated and well preserved. The artwork was spectacular! This place has been around a long time and became a royal residence in 1689.
After the Palace tour, we went back to the Tube, caught the Circle Line to South Kensington and transferred to the Piccadilly Line – headed for Covent Garden. We got off the Tube at Piccadilly Circus and decided to explore the area. We managed to see so many sights today simply by “wandering and stumbling” our way through London – no real planning on our part! We even found ourselves across from St. James Park just as President Bush was leaving Buckingham Palace and heading to 10 Downing Street for dinner with the Prime Minister. His motorcade passed right in front of us and the security was incredible. I got lots of video and Cindy caught a few pictures (posted on Flickr).
From there, we made our way down to Trafalgar Square – simply amazing and beautiful! We watched a couple of street performers (including a magician doing card tricks for me) and then made our way up the road toward Leicester Square where we grabbed dinner. We had no idea how late it was so we found the Underground entrance and made our way back to the K+K George Hotel for the night.
Tomorrow, it’s the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. I’m sure we’ll find many more things to do in this incredible city.
Don’t forget to check out the pictures we posted on Flickr – London Day 1.