After the class visit to the British Library and an adventure on the Tube, we were free for the rest of the afternoon. I decided to join a few of my classmates for lunch and a walk around Kensington Gardens before touring Kensington Palace, the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
(once again, I was unable to take a good photo of the outside, so this one is from here:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Palace)
First, I have to say it was HOT in there. Apparently, Thursday was the hottest day of the year so far and after walking in the sun for awhile, touring a palace sans AC was a little uncomfortable. I hope the royal apartments have AC, but most places around London don't because the weather is so moderate. Despite the stuffiness and the darkness (to help with temperature and preservation concerns, I assume?), I enjoyed touring the various rooms and exhibits. I probably enjoyed the exhibits dedicated to Queen Victoria and Albert the most as I know more about that history than others.
In general, when touring the various palaces, estates and old buildings we've seen, I've appreciated that while there are a lot of stairs, they aren't steep. I had a little fear before coming to England that the stairs would all be like in Nauvoo (for example) and so far they're not. Here's to hoping it stays that way!
After our tour of the palace and a visit to the gift shop, we once again set out to find the Peter Pan statue that is somewhere in the gardens. After consulting the posted maps and wandering for a bit, we found it (much to my classmate's delight!). It was at about this time I realized I was relatively close to the Hyde Park Chapel, but I was too hot and too tired to try and find it, so that's still on my to-do list.
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