Two Weekends, Two Palaces

One of the great benefits of living in southeast England is the access to a tremendous amount of history within a short drive from home. Matthew and I like this television show, Horrible Histories, which supplements our real life learning experiences.

Last Saturday, we rode the train from Oxford to London and took the Underground to the Royal Borough of Kensington, a community in the western part of the London metropolitan area, to visit Kensington Palace. Kensington Palace was the childhood home of Queen Victoria where she also lived as the reigning monarch with her beloved husband, Prince Albert.

Kensington Palace is on the west side of Kensington Garden which adjoins Hyde Park.

While walking from the underground station, we found a road with a guard house and a "No Photography" sign which was so enticing, we had to walk down it toward our destination. The first building on the street was guarded by two assault rifle toting London police officers and was flying the flag of Israel. We found a street of embassies! The palace was just a short walk down the secure road and was surrounded by people walking, biking, and lounging in the sun.

This is the side gate the palace. Most of the house is open to the public but the Royals still live here.
Prince William and Princess Kate are the current residents.
Check out the massive security fence on the left of the footpath.

One of the ornate ceilings.

A coronation robe.

The artwork throughout the building is impressive.

21st century Matthew is transformed into...

...Victorian era (1800's) Matthew!

This painting depicts Queen Victoria's first audience after learning of her ascension to the throne.

This is the room where it really happened.

Queen Victoria's wedding dress.
The original lace was removed so she could wear it for subsequent events.

Young Victoria and Albert.

After an unhappy childhood, Victoria seemed to find happiness only in her German husband, Albert.

We enjoyed tea at the Orangery Restaurant outside the palace. The building was originally used to house the royal citrus trees during the winter months. 

The paparazzi are everywhere these days!
Matthew is becoming a pretty good photographer. 

The Princess Diana Memorial Playground is well supervised and has a large ship to climb on.
Matthew is almost to the crow's nest.

This statue of Queen Victoria was commissioned by her daughter and sits in front of Kensington Palace .

We thought this was some very fancy church as we approached through the garden.

It turned out to be a memorial to Prince Albert. Queen Victoria spent many years in seclusion after Albert's death. She even wore black for the remainder of her life. Most of the area around the palace was dedicated to his memory...

...including Royal Albert Hall, directly across the street from the memorial.

Prince Albert was a supporter of science and the arts. The Victoria and Albert Museum, London Museum of Natural History, and the London Science Museum are only a short walk from the memorial. We only had an hour until closing time so we popped into the science museum.

The Apollo exhibit was so realistic that Matthew experienced the lack of a lunar atmosphere.

Lawnmowers have not changed much since 1832.

Planes, trains, and automobiles!

This Ford Model T looked new.

A WWII German V2 rocket, used to attack Great Britain. This technology eventually led to the U.S. space program.

On the way back home to Oxford, we found Paddington Bear in the Paddington Rail Station.
Does anyone remember how he got his name?

This Saturday, we braved the traffic and drove toward London to visit Kew Palace, located within the 300 acre Kew Gardens.

Kew Palace was the home to King George III and Queen Charlotte, the monarchs during the late 1700s.
This sundial would have been near the centre of the royal compound consisting of many buildings.
Only the palace and the kitchen building remain today.

Kew Gardens has many acres of trees, flowers, and plants from all over the world.

Many of the plants appeared to be from tropical regions.

As palaces go, this one is relatively small but the location is fabulous. The River Thames is behind the house. 

Madam Tussaud made this wax bust of King George III from an impression made from his face.
It looks so life-like that I had to resist making the L sign on my forehead.
(Remember 1773 to 1776?)

In this portrait of Queen Charlotte, her bracelet has the face of her husband the king. She was originally from Germany and married George within 24 hours after meeting him. They seemed to have been a happy couple.

The princess' bed was short. Apparently, people in the 1700's believe they would die if they slept flat. 

Queen Charlotte's bedroom contains original furniture. She died while sitting in this chair.

The building next to the palace was the kitchen. There are ovens in the wall on each side of the cook top.

This room was where the silver was cleaned. Due to his health concerns, King George was advised to take warm baths so he bathed in the kitchen so the servants would not have to transport the hot water to the palace. This posh tin tub was probably his.

Lori in her circa 1700's dream kitchen. The food is cooked over charcoal fires.

Matthew is high above the garden on the Treetop Walk.
It was a little creaky and I was glad to get back on the ground.

This is Evolution House, one of the several glasshouses on the property.
We entered one containing tropical plants and my glasses fogged up from the heat and humidity.

Matthew up in the tree tops. Each wide area had a foliage fact or two.

Back on the ground. Yes, we were walking on the surface that you can see through.

The trees here were planted as far back as the early 1700's. Some were there naturally and are much older than that. I have never seen so many large trees in one park.

Even though the weather is turning colder, the flowers are gorgeous.

Wildlife was also everywhere we looked.

With each weekend, I half expect to run out of things to see and do but it does not happen. The weeks fly by and I know the cold weather will be here soon. We still need to visit Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace and Churchill's War Rooms so I know at least one more London trip is required.

Stow-on-the-Wold and Cotswold Wildlife Park

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After church last Sunday, we drove to Stow-on-the-Wold to explore and have a Sunday roast. We enjoyed the village so much that we returned on Saturday morning before visiting the nearby Cotswold Wildlife Park.

Matthew found the Stow visitor centre so we could learn where to explore.

Stow, like many English villages, has a cross in the Market Square.

This stone marks the last battle of the English Civil War  which was fought in Stow. The Parliamentarians kept their Royalist prisoners in St. Edwards Church, seen in the background.

The side door of the church was very old and small.

Lori and Matthew are outside the church gate in front of the men's store were I eventually bought a new winter coat.

 

After shopping, we enjoyed a local ice cream before Matthew tried out the medieval stocks in the market square. 

This pub claims to be England's oldest inn. 

This small but beautiful garden was along our walk back to the car park.

I have never seen red ivy before. Many of the stone buildings are covered by green vines.

On Saturday, we were able to see the inside of St. Edwards Church, named after the pious English king, Edward the Confessor. On one of our earlier London trips, we saw his tomb behind the altar at Westminster Abbey.

Our next stop was Cotswold Wildlife Park where Matthew acted as our tour guide. He had visited months earlier with his friend, Reuben.

http://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/

We rode the train around the perimeter of the park to learn the layout of the exhibits.

This bactrian camel, originally from the the Gobi desert, is now part of the local herd. 

The beautiful gardens allowed me to get some floral photography practice.

The Madagascar exhibit had double doors with a little room in between them at the  entrance.
This room was necessary to keep the lemurs inside the enclosure because they just run loose among the people.
We arrived at feeding time. 

They are kind of cute.

After eating, it was time to lounge and look at the people looking at the lemurs.

The wolves were eating too. We could tell which one was the alpha male.
The others ran away when he approached the raw meat on the ground.

Rhinos.

The train that we rode earlier passed by whilst we were approaching the giraffes.

Feeding time here, too. We could get close enough to touch them but we were not supposed to.

Giraffes smell a lot like horses.

The zebras were parading around their enclosure so everyone could take photos.

More floral photography. What kind of flower is this? Can you find the bee?

My favorite lemur photo.

We heard some roaring so we hurried to the lion exhibit. I don't believe that the noise was coming from this relaxed pair.
I think that these two lions are a couple...

...a kiss...

...and some snuggling.

The weather was perfect for this family adventure. We enjoy our time together. I am glad we live in the sunniest part of England.