A London Friday - part 2

Ok, so we were at Kensington Palace and we wandered out down a little lane and this is where not carrying a guide book/smart phone, and instead just walking around with a small tourist map all of a sudden seems like not such a brilliant idea.

Because we have no clue where we are; but we like it! We're in this lovely little lane with gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous houses, and Roo & I are having this long mock argument about which house is better. I'm gesticulating wildly and pointing at one with a balcony and he's shaking his head and pointing to another with tall windows on the second story.

Amelia and Hugo are snapping pictures until I actually look at a small, discreet, supremely elegant, black sign which indicates "no photography allowed" & says something about a security zone. I point out this sign to everyone and we all gawk around in confusion. WHAT is is that we're not allowed to photograph? The back of Kensington Palace? Yes, that must be it, I say. Maybe it's because it's a working palace still?

We shrug and start walking in a different direction and I realize this is a very quiet street. And some of the buildings have barricades. And flags. And big black heavy armored looking vehicles parked in front. And of course the ubiquitous CCTV cameras are on every tree and lamp-post. But they are ubiquitous and by this time I've stopped noticing them. Except now I notice them again. I blame low blood sugar for how long it took me to realize that we were right in the middle of a bunch of embassies and probably in the scopes of sharpshooters on all the roofs.

"I want to attack THAT embassy!" they imagined me saying when I was extolling the virtues of the adorable little balconies and waving my arms.

"Nepal? What have you got against them? How about the Russians though?" they imagined Roo saying.

It's the Israeli Embassy that gives it away. Between the flag, the closed off sidewalk and the barricades, even I figured out it.

So I'm not posting any pictures from that street because I figure we tried their patience enough already & I'm not sure what the penalties actually are for photographing secure zones.

We eventually scurried away from there and wandered down another street which also had lots of embassies & high commissions but of nations which apparently don't fear terrorist attacks quite so much. Or maybe there were no photography signs here too & I just missed them......

These are apparently some of the most expensive streets in London. Hell, most streets in London are expensive from what I can make out. It's like Vancouver in that respect....

This wisteria against the white plaster is stunning. It's paved right up to the edge of the plant; amazing it's living and growing like that.

 We kept on walking & even walked right by TS Eliot's house.

By now it was 5'ish and we still had lots of plans for the rest of the day so we took a break to eat at a small restaurant a few blocks away from the Natural History Museum which was our next stop.

See you in A London Friday - part 3 soon!