Day 15

Today we adventured somewhere a little farther out (and free!), Fulham Palace. It’s not a “real” palace, it was the residence of the Bishop of London for 12 centuries. The Fulham grounds were beautiful and had tons of history.

We arrived at the palace after a (semi) long train adventure. We checked out the cafe and thought about getting tea but decided to do that after seeing the museum and the gardens. Mistake! But more on that later.

The museum inside the palace was good. There was an exhibit with different smells from the time period. What was in each case was hidden and you were suppose to guess what the smell was before looking. We went along taking big whiffs of each and we guessed ginger and lavender correctly but we were wrong on grass. Then we got to the last, which was manure… that big whiff was regrettable!

The library was beautiful. It had a secret door that one of the bishops, had installed. After the library we went to see the gardens.

Fulham Palace has a beautiful walled garden. There are bees and every color of flower as well as fruits and vegetables. There is also a 500 year old oak tree. We marveled at the fact that the tree is almost twice as old as our country. Perspective.

We went back into the cafe ready for some tea, in a palace! What could be better?

Our bubble was promptly burst when we were told that tea ends at 3:00. It was 3:14. We tried to convince him but we were told the “chef” who “does the tea” left promptly at 3:00. So we did not have full tea. But the guy at the counter took pity on us and gave us a free red velvet cookie. Yummy!

There had been a group of older British tourists at the Palace at the same time we were there. They had left before us but we ended up at the train station at the same time. When the train arrived they stayed on the platform unsure if this was the correct train. Everyone else got on the train and found seats. The group of 10-12 older people realized this was the correct train and came aboard. All of the people in their 20s and 30s jumped up so that these folks could sit down, which made us quite chuffed.

Katie struck up a conversation with one of the women and learned an interesting fact about one of the parks we visited in London. Green Park is so named because it is the only Royal park where there are no flower beds planted. The story goes that Charles II was caught picking flowers for his mistress. When his wife, the Queen found out she ordered all the flower gardens be removed from the park!

We also tried to help our new friends on the train with directions when they missed their stop. The response they gave to missing their stop was, “c’est la vie”. These people were definitely #lifegoals.

We went back into the city and headed to Primark for some things. Literally you can get anything there! Cameron walked into the changing room holding clothes and some flip flops. The fitting room attendant stopped him and said, “sir, you’ll have to leave your slippers”. To which Cameron was very confused for a moment and replied I don’t have slippers. New vocabulary!

There are so many small differences in the language. We’re both working on learning it!

From there we wandered China Town for a bit until we got hungry. Katie looked up a restaurant on Trip Advisor, Lanzhou Noodle Bar. It looked good but was way too busy when we got there. A few doors down was an Italian place called Piazza. We went inside without reading any reviews online. Gasp!

And it was the best meal we have had yet. Cameron had Bolognese and Katie had ravioli that was to die for good. We definitely want to go back there before we leave the city.

Also they had a sparkly glitter toilet!

Day 16

Today was super chill. We walked Kensington Park, read and relaxed. Getting to spend so much time together is helping us to grow. We are excited to see where this adventure takes us in our marriage.

For dinner we continued the good food trend with takeout from The Greedy Indian Cow. Cameron had super spicy vindaloo. Katie had yummy masala curry and the restaurant included a free appetizer!

We watched the football (⚽️) game on the computer at home. It was nice actually being able to hear and see the game. Hopefully for the rest of the games we can find a chill spot.

Day 17

We headed to the Science Museum today. Well sort of… First we took a detour to the “Science Centre” which is on the opposite side of the city. (Citymapper is pretty solid for directions in London, especially if riding the tube, but hit or miss on looking things up by name rather than address.)  It was a happy accident that led us to finding a great Italian Cafe and the Emirates Stadium, home to Arsenal.

After more googling and realizing our mistake we headed to the Science Museum.

The Science Museum is very interactive and well done. It is up there as one of our favorites so far. We would definitely suggest checking it out. They had a huge display on aviation. One of Cameron’s favorite plaques explained that the Wright Flyer had been on display there in London in 1928 due to an ongoing beef between Orville Wright and the Smithsonian Institute, but when the Smithsonian apologized nearly two decades later for taking shortcuts when attempting to make its Aerodrome model the first powered flight, Orville forgave and asked for his Flyer back so that it could be displayed in the US at the National Air and Space Museum.

Elsewhere, the topic was memory. London cabbies must remember ‘the Knowledge’ – 320 routes and all notable landmarks in the six mile radius around Charring Cross station – before gaining their license. Brain scans show committing that volume of information to memory makes physical changes to their brains.

The rest of the British National Science Museum was equally fascinating, from the first steam engines to the renewable energy sources of tomorrow. Unfortunately though, their Energy Hall didn’t have a Geovator (shout out to Houston Museum of Natural Science and video for those that don’t know about this!), so that was a little disappointing. We learned a lot and enjoyed the Science Museum.

Today is the Fourth of July so we thought we should do something “American”. We saw a Five Guys on the way to the museum and decided to head “back” that way. After going a very round about way we found it. Today was not our best day for directions!

There was some excitement at Five Guys. A couple (from Minnesota) came over to the table we had chosen and asked if there was a phone left there. We looked around and didn’t find one. They stuck around trying to figure out where the phone went (even digging through the rubbish bin to look for their trash). Eventually the staff looked at the CCTV footage. Some guy had come over with newspaper/leaflets for the people to look at and when he set them on their table he swiped the phone. Until this point we hadn’t seen any negative experiences like this but it definitely reminded us to be aware of where our things are at all times.

Day 18

Changing of the guard again. Eventually we’ll figure out the best spot! Today was pretty close though. We sat on the fountain steps until it started getting busy and then moved up to the gated area so that we had a front row view. The view was great. It’s also fun people watching at super touristy things like changing of the guard.

Later in the day we headed to Borough Market because they do a demo kitchen on Thursdays and Fridays. If you are in London and have time on a Thursday/Friday definitely check it out! It’s an hour of free entertainment and free food samples after they cook. The chef was funny and the food was delicious. We want to come back next week!

Day 19

Cameron tried out a Muay Thai class today at Fightzone London. He really enjoyed it and is looking forward to trying workouts in different places we stop around the world.

For lunch  we went to the Love Shack. It is a chill patio area with hammocks and astroturf (because it is situated halfway under the overground train line). We had ginger kombucha. Katie had a grilled cheese toastie and Cameron had a delicious Sexy Lentil Salad. Jokes were made and then the owner ended up calling Cameron “Sexy Lentil” the rest of the time we were there.

We wandered around the Hackney area the rest of the afternoon. Eventually we decided to get dinner and landed on Basil Japanese grill. We got take out and went to eat in a nearby park. It was a park we had been to a few times but by wandering around we found a new area of the park!

We are planning to go to Notting Hill and Portobello Road Market tomorrow. So we are going to watch the movie tonight. Cam is excited about another Rom-Com!

Day 20

We are getting better at the Tube system here. We made it to the Notting Hill area without any wrong turns or backtracking!

We went to a French cafe chain, Paul for coffee and breakfast. We got take away coffee and quiche so that we could eat it in the park.

We walked to Kyoto Garden which was a gift from Japan. Sitting by the waterfall we enjoyed our breakfast and coffee. The local wildlife is fearless and got very close to all the people walking through the garden. One squirrel stopped about a foot away from our bench and slowly devoured a chip, staring us down the whole time, daring us not to leave in offering of food for safe passage through his park.

After some photos in the garden we adventured to Portobello Road market through Notting Hill. This sleepy area lived up to the hype of the movie. Walking through the backroads of Notting Hill was beautiful. It was beyond crowded with people and items for sale. There was food, vintage items, new items, flowers and basically anything you could think of along this street. Although it was crowded we would both say this was something not to miss.

       

Today was a people filled day. After the morning at Portobello Road we headed to the London Pride Parade. As soon as we made it to the Tube Station we knew we were headed the right way. There were rainbows and glitter everywhere. We had looked up directions but then decided to follow some folks that looked like they knew where they were going! We ended up being in a perfect spot to catch the beginning of the parade, although it had started 30 minutes earlier up the street. It was amazing to see how big London’s Pride Parade was today. It made our hearts happy to see all the love!

    

Cameron wanted to watch the England vs Sweden game so we headed back towards our AirBnb to find a bar. We went back and forth on whether we should head all the way back to the AirBnb to change clothes or just go to the bar early. Eventually we landed on just going to the bar. This ended up being one of our better travel choices yet!

Because we found seats! (first time this has happened during a football game at a bar) The bar we chose was the Virgin Queen. It actually ended up getting pretty crowded and being standing room only behind the tables we were seated at. Definitely was a good idea to go a little early! England won and there was a lot of excitement for the remainder of the evening as everyone was celebrating. (This victory sent them to the semi finals and ultimately a fourth place finish, as in 1990. Except for winning the Cup once in 1966, this year and 1990 tied for England’s best finishes in the quadrennial FIFA World Cup tournament.)

Tomorrow we move to a Hostel. We might even miss Bongos and Guitars (our current AirBnb’s name because both bongos and guitars were available in our room). Other things in the room included a keg full of concrete. This AirBnb is top of the list for interesting so far.

Day 21

Today we moved again. This time to a hostel in Greenwich. This is the farthest out we have been so far. It was convenient getting from the train to the Hostel though because it is only a block away. We locked up all our stuff in the hostel room (at least the best we could) and adventured around our new neighborhood, Greenwich!

This is a quiet little area that is still quite touristy because of the Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark and the Greenwich Royal Observatory/Prime Meridian. We left the hostel and went for ‘fush and chups’ first before walking around.

The Golden Chippy is a must do if you are in Greenwich. It is a little bit of a walk from the touristy area but it is worth it. First of all the fish is bigger than your face. Second it is fried to perfection. We also had onion rings that melted in your mouth they were so good.

After lunch/food (we haven’t been eating at anywhere near a normal lunch or dinner time), we picked a direction and walked. Unfortunately this direction led to a huge hill but fortunately that led to a beautiful view of London. We found a small park that was almost completely deserted accept for some boys practicing their skateboard skills on the grass.

We decided to wander on to see what else we would find. We took a long walk around to get to Greenwich park. We saw the Ranger’s House, more beautiful views and the Royal Observatory from afar. Eventually we walked back down the hill and left this beautiful park.

We headed for the river and found the Cutty Sark. We stayed here by the river and by the ship and watched the sunset over the water. Beautiful barely begins to describe it.

And then we went back for our first night in the hostel…

London London