Day 6 - Hampden Court Palace

We woke up to the glorious SUN!!! What a wonderful site for London and probably the last we see of it before we head back to Colorado!! Too bad with the sun came some really cold air! I was freezing all day long!

We took the tube and train today to Hampden Court Palace arriving just as they opened. We joined the first guided tour led by a gentleman dressed in period costume. He welcomed us to the Palace and gave us some general information about the complex. From there we joined another tour where our female guide (dressed as a Lady) described in great detail the rooms of King Henry VIII. The great hall that we were awed by was used as a dining room for members of his court. His court was rather large and more than 600 were fed in that room in 2 shifts. The tapestries on the walls were wonderful and each one is worth more than than a ship today. There were a total of 10.

After our guided tour, we got the audio guide and set up to learn more on our own. We got to view the Apartments of King William and Queen Mar, the apartments of George II and lastly the great Kitchens. Afterwards we headed out into the gardens to enjoy their splendor. Lastly we took a quick jaunt through the hedge maze. This was yet another wonderful tour ant took us almost 6 hours!

From Hampden we headed back to London and to Harrods Department store where I proceeded to have a "meltdown" with all the crowds of people. I was looking for a few souvenir items to take home and just couldn't seem to get around without stumbling into millions of people. Eventually I found what I wanted and couldn't wait to get out of there.

After the tube ride back to the neighborhood where we are staying, I had yet another brush with disaster when my shoelace got caught in the escalator! I couldn't pull it out of the elevator - it just kept trying to pull me back into it. The people behind me kept pilling up and trying to help me get out of the hold of the monster! Eventually Dad pulled me free!! Thank heavens!

After a nice meal at an Italian restaurant by the flat, Dan and I headed back out to explore the area. We looked for the BBC shop only to find they are no longer in business. (Guess we'll have to order Doctor Who stuff online.) Then we searched for the Twining's shop and found that they will be open tomorrow and closed for the remainder of the weekend... looks like we're going there tomorrow. And before we headed back home we went back to the Toy Store where they did find Doctor Who stuff and found out their hours so we can go back and get Melanie what she wants! It was a nice walk. Hard to imagine that people are still out and about so late.

Speaking of late, it's past my bedtime. Another day out by 8 tomorrow, so I'm off for some sleep...