She is all that I imagined her to be and oddly familiar. Apartments, houses and shops intimately abut one another, Range Rovers litter the tree framed roads and well trodden cobbled stoned streets show that beauty comes with age.
After a quick change of clothes, we dropped our luggage off in Pembridge Gardens and took off for a breakfast and coffee at Café Diana. The café walls were plastered with photos of the late Princess Diana - at first it oozed "touristy" but the atmosphere soon changed as locals came pouring in! The café owner rose to the occasion being the perfect host by offering great local knowledge. With his advice circled and marked on our map we headed across the street for a stroll down the refreshingly quiet Kensington Palace Gardens. Embassy after embassy, mansion after mansion - these buildings/houses were certainly a sight to see. Unfortunately no photos were allowed so I caught an image of the sheltering trees above us.
We turned into Kensington which became Hyde Park. Hyde Park is refreshingly beautiful with its abundant trees, daisies, bluebells and buttercups that grow wildly amongst the soft tufts of grass. We made friends with the locals (squirrels) and admired the beautiful foxgloves, poppies and other orchestrated blooms in South Flower Walk. The Walk was filled with tourists but beyond the gates, school children played tennis, men played football and locals cycled and others ran with their dogs. Many dogs took advantage of their off-leash freedom, stretching their legs by bounding after squirrels (who I might add didn't seem to being exercising the same enthusiasm). We even had a brush with the Royal Carriage!
London is a cultural melting pot with just the right amount of city and cosmopolitan thrown into the mix. The buildings are low-rise which gives it a historic and impressive vibe and the cafe and culinary culture is true to it's culturally diverse inhabitants.
We walked until our feet could walk no more. It's 6pm and we're both in bed - exhausted! I wonder what tomorrow holds?
