Our last day in London was another busy one.
We got to Kensington Palace before it even opened. We were about third in line! Even though they aren’t even living there yet, I just wanted to say “Yoohoo.. Wills? Kate? We are hereeee!”
Hyde Park was a flurry of activity –
Getting to Kensington Palace early meant that I could show Bill where I lived in South Kensington as well!
I spent half of my life in this phone booth when I would call mum and dad using dodgy phone cards –
Our block.. awww I miss it!
Our old place! The bright blue door has now been painted –
Inside the Palace itself, the new museum was really well done. Our Royal Historic Palaces membership came in very handy again and we were able to spend time quickly getting through the displays (that were really quirky and original) as we had so much planned for the day.
Palace Gates –
Bill beside ‘his’ statue –
Peace in the middle of London –
Will and Kate’s backyard –
We then went down to Buckingham Palace again for the Changing of the Guard ceremony. This was the biggest waste of time compared to what we saw earlier in the week and also there were so many (very annoying) people. We just wandered through the crowd and jumped on a bus and thought we’d go on a bit of a ride. There were massive traffic jams everywhere…
We were watching the world go by when little did I know, we ended up near Shepherd’s Bush – the Australian expat capital of the world. When I lived in London, I remember Fiona and I coming down here one night after a cricket win and then… never again.
But, when we got off the bus I saw a place called ‘Jumbuck Pies’ I ran so fast into that place and immediately shrieked. REAL pies, REAL chips, REAL gravy and Australian groceries. STOCK UP TIME!
I had a pie with chips and gravy and washed it all down with a Solo. I bought Samboy chips, lollies and chicken salt to bring home. It is so awesome knowing I can fly just 7 hours away get chips and gravy that tasted real. YES! This was just awesome –
Being sidetracked at Jumbuck Pies meant that we then had to head back in a hurry for our tour of Parliament. Due to a car accident, we were a little late but they just put us on another tour.
The tour of Parliament which was absolutely fantastic – no photos allowed so I cannot share any with you. If you are in London, a tour of Westminster is a must. I don’t know why I never visited there when I actually lived there, but we loved every moment of the tour.
Afterwards, we relaxed in the cafe for a bit, where we enjoyed Official Parliamentary Water. Oh yes indeed!
We then got to marvel at Big Ben one more time –
Before we knew it we had jumped back onto the tube to get out to South Kensington.
Getting off the train at my old station, everything seemed different. I was kicking myself for, what I felt, not really getting into London when I lived there. But then again, that was over 10 years ago. I was so much younger, so I guess, I was how any other 21 year old would be.
I would love to go back there and work for 12 months now as a ‘grown up’. I think it would be just fantastic.
We deliberately got off at South Kensington and we officially wound down the end of our trip with Mass at the Brompton Oratory. It is a lovely church that is well suited to South Kensington. That bit of downtime was very much needed before we realized that it was time to get back to the hotel and try and pack all of our stuff.
Our European vacation was now, nothing more than a few pages of my typed itinerary sitting in a hotel bin. But, after what was easily the best vacation ever, it was great to know that we planned so well, we walked far and… we were heading back to New York. I still pinch myself when I realize that is where I get to go when I think “It is time to go home..”