A Sprinkle of Gratitude

London – A Final Wrap up of our Holiday

Posted on August 13, 2018 by admin

Distance walked – 240.8km

Number of Windtrainers – 5

Number of Runs – 5

Museums visited – Royal Observatory, Cutty Sark, The Tower of London, Shakespeare’s Home, The Natural History Museum, Churchill War Rooms, Victoria and Albert Museum, Imperial War Museum, British Museum

Favourite Museum – The Tower of London and The Crown Jewels.

Palaces – Blenheim Palace, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace.

Favourite Palace – Kensington Palace

Art Galleries visited – National Portrait Gallery, Tate Modern, The Serpentine Gallery, The Courthauld Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, The Queens Gallery, The Queens Mews,

Favourite Art Gallery – The Courthauld Gallery

Restaurants visited – The Ivy, Albasto, Margaux, Amaya, Farm Girl, Champagne and Fromage, Fenchurch 37, Margot, Cahoots, Mash, Bluebells, Fortnum and Mason Jubilee Tea Rooms, Tozi.

Favourite restaurant – Margot for Dinner and Fortnum and Mason for Afternoon Tea

Shopping districts visited – Carnaby, Oxford St, Bond Street, Regent Street, Soho, Covent Garden, Harrods, Brick Lane, Box Park, Connaught Village, Nottinghill, Sloane Square, Fortnum and Mason

Favourite shopping district – Carnaby

Markets visited – Borough Markets, Columbia Markets, Spitalfields Market, Camden Markets, Portobello Markets.

Favourite Markets – Columbia Flower Markets

Musicals and Theatre – Bat Out of Hell, 42nd Street, Romeo and Juliet, Phantom of The Opera, Wicked

Favourite Musical – 42nd Street

Areas Outside London visited – Highgrove Garden, Blenheim Palace, Bibury, Bourton on the Water, Greenwich, Stratford Upon Avon, Windsor

Other stuff – Taylor Swift, Fever Tree Championship, Making of Harry Potter Warner Brother Studios, Globe Theatre

Gardens visited – Highgrove, Skygarden, Kensington Palace Gardens, Shakespeare’s Home Gardens, Hampton Court Palace Gardens

Favourite Garden – Highgrove Gardens

Bleinham Palace Gardens

t Hampton Court Gardens

Hampton Court Garden

Most interesting thing I learnt: The most interesting thing I learnt was to look critically at museums and art galleries when I visit them. I was lucky enough to be sitting in a museum when a lecturer was interviewing his students about an assignment they had been given. He was questioning them about the information that was available in the museum and who chooses what the public get to see and why. It made me think about the different museums we have seen in different countries and the different information that is presented. For example the Jewish Museum in Berlin presented different information about the Jewish Holocaust to the Imperial War Museum in London. It is very important to have an awareness about different biases when visiting different galleries and museums around the world.

Most amazing thing that happened: We had a drink in a very groovy bar called Cahoots and then dinner at a restaurant called Mash with friends from Brisbane. Michelle was off to Paris Fashion Week the next day as part of the media contingent. She was so excited. We were thrilled to share a meal with her and her husband Paul the evening before her amazing adventure.

Michelle writes for She Brisbane. Here is the link to her article about her experience . A Dream Comes True – Paris Fashion Week.

Best thing about our holiday: The best thing about our holiday was sharing it with our family. I have taken a paragraph from my last holiday blog but once again it is very appropriate

I am sitting quietly today thinking about our holiday in June. We had the most wonderful time seeing beautiful places, eating scrumptious food, learning about new cultures, and making special family memories.

There are terrible things that happen in the world.There is so much fear being perpetrated all over the world. One of the highlights of our holiday for me was coming home and the love I felt for my family and our country.

We live in a country that is free. We are free to be who we want to be, we are free to vote for who we want to run our country, we are free to put our hand up to help run our country if that is our desire and we are free to disagree if we want too.

I am so grateful that we had such a wonderful holiday. I am grateful that we came home to Australia. I am grateful for all the things I experienced while we were away. I am grateful for spending time as a family and I am grateful for spending time with David .

I encourage everyone to travel and I encourage everyone to appreciate what a special country we live in.

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged grateful, Gratitude, London, Travel, travel blog., travel blogger., walking | Leave a comment

Our last day in London – My Grateful List

Posted on July 18, 2018 by admin

Well our last day in London has arrived.

Today I am grateful David took us all to Hampton Court Palace. We were all a little less than enthusiastic. None of us could decide how we wanted to spend our last day in London. I was tempted to meander and shop and watch the people go by. David convinced me otherwise. I am very grateful for going out to Hampton Court Palace. It was lovely.

The original Tudor palace was begun by Cardinal Wolsey in the early 16th century, but it soon attracted the attention of Henry VIII, who brought all his six wives here. Surrounded by gorgeous gardens and famous features such as the Maze and the Great Vine, the palace has been the setting for many nationally important events. When William III and Mary II (1689-1702) took the throne in 1689, they commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to build an elegant new baroque palace. Later, Georgian kings and princes occupied the splendid interiors. When the royals left in 1737, impoverished ‘grace and favour’ aristocrats moved in. Queen Victoria opened the palace to the public in 1838. It has remained a magnet for millions of visitors, drawn to the grandeur, the ghosts and the fabulous art collection. Taken from https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/the-story-of-hampton-court-

The Palace, the history and the gardens were all lovely. It combined almost all the things I have enjoyed about our London visit all in one place – an amazing Palace, more history of the royal family and beautiful gardens. The only thing that was missing was some fabulous music.

My next blog post will be a wrap up of our trip.

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged beautiful gardens London, grateful, Hampton Court Palace, Henry VIII, London | Leave a comment

Thursday 12th July Grateful List

Posted on July 17, 2018 by admin

Today I am grateful for The Imperial War Museum, The British Museum, A restaurant called Tozi and the musical Wicked.

We started our day at the Imperial War Museum.

The Imperial War Museum London’s world-class collections tell the everyday and exceptional stories of people whose lives have been forever impacted by war, with unique documents and objects, art, sound and film. Ground-breaking galleries reflect on war from the First World War onwards, to conflicts that continue to shape our world today. https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/142062-iwm-london-imperial-war-museum-london.

I am so grateful that the kids explored this museum for hours. I was in awe of the bravery and resilience of our human race but overwhelmed by the loss and devastation that occurs as a result of war. There was an exhibition about a number of Victoria Cross and George Cross recipients. The exhibition was broken up according to why the recipients were recognized as brave. The categories of bravery were described by boldness, aggression, leadership, skill, sacrifice, initiative and endurance. I loved that bravery was categorized in so many different ways.

After the Imperial War Museum we visited the British Museum.

The British Museum, located in the Bloomsbury area of London, United Kingdom, is a public institution dedicated to human history, art and culture. Its permanent collection numbers some 8 million works, and is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence having been widely sourced during the era of the British Empire, and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. It was the first national public museum in the world. From Wikipedia.

Exploring these two museums took us all day and we could have spent hours and hours more at the British Museum.

After visiting the museums we went straight to dinner. David had found an amazing Italian restaurant called Tozi. We shared delicious small plates of Italian food and the wine list was all Italian wines. Our waiter was from Florence and all the other waiters were Italian. It was a fun, busy and wonderful place to have a meal prior to going to the theatre.

After dinner we saw Wicked. I have seen this musical before and once again I loved it. My favourite song from this musical is For Good. I love it because it always reminds me how important having great girlfriends is.

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged British Museum, For Good, girlfriends, grateful, Imperial War Museum, Italian Restaurant, London, Tozi, Wicked | Leave a comment

Wednesday 11th July Grateful List

Posted on July 13, 2018 by admin

Today I am grateful for another visit to the V and A Museum and Afternoon Tea at Fortnum and Mason.

The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.3 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. We have visited the V and A Museum a couple of times. It is so huge you could spend days and days there just absorbing all the beautiful exhibitions.

In the afternoon we went to Fortnum and Mason for afternoon tea. This was so special.

Photo from Fortnum and Mason.com

Fortnum and Mason has quite an interesting history which you can read about here:

Fortnum’ s History.

Founded as a grocery store, Fortnum’s reputation was built on supplying quality food, and saw rapid growth throughout the Victorian era. Though Fortnum’s developed into a department store, it continues to focus on stocking a variety of exotic, speciality and also ‘basic’ provisions.

The store has since opened several other departments, such as the Gentlemen’s department on the third floor. It is also the location of a tea shop and several restaurants.

Another interesting fact about Fortnum and Mason is they have a bee hive on the roof! You can read about them here:

Bee Hives at Fortnum and Mason

The store and afternoon tea were very special. I felt I had escaped the hustle and bustle of London for a few hours.

When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Where is beauty to be found? In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment?

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged Afternoon Tea, bee hives, Fortnum and Mason, V and A Museum | Leave a comment

Monday 9th July and Tuesday 10th July Grateful List

Posted on July 12, 2018 by admin

Today I am grateful for the Globe Theatre and the Churchill War Rooms.

The Globe stands a few hundred yards from its original site. The original Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed by an Ordinance issued on 6 September 1642. The rebuilding of the iconic building stems from the founding of the Shakespeare’s Globe Trust by the pioneering American actor and director Sam Wanamaker.

The present Globe was opened by Her Majesty The Queen in June 1997. We were lucky enough to see a rehearsal for the upcoming season of Othello.

Shakespeare, during his 52 years on earth, enriched the English language in ways so profound it’s almost impossible to fully gauge his impact. Without him, our vocabulary would be just too different. He gave us uniquely vivid ways in which to express hope and despair, sorrow and rage, love and lust. Even if you’ve never read one of his sonnets or seen a play – even if you’ve never so much as watched a movie adaptation – you’re likely to have quoted him unwittingly. It’s almost impossible to avoid. All information sourced from Wikipedia.

After touring the Globe we spent the afternoon in the Churchill War Rooms. The war rooms are beneath the streets of Westminster in an underground labyrinth and are where Winston Churchill and his inner circle directed the Second World War.

It was another wonderful day filled with literature and history.

After visiting the War Rooms Lucy and I continued on for about another hour. Prince Louis was christened on Monday afternoon and Lucy and I hoped for a glimpse of some of the Royals. We stood at the edge of a driveway entering Clarence House where William and Kate were having afternoon tea following the Christening. We were rewarded with a view of the car William and Kate and Louis left in. William was driving.

Tuesday was another day inspired by a wonderful writer and one of my favorites – J K Rowling. We went to The Making of Harry Potter The Warner Bros Studio Tour in London. We all felt like we had stepped into the magical world of Harry Potter.

And we drank Butterbeer

And ate Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans and Chocolate Frogs.

And a wonderful thought from J K Rowling to finish on

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged Globe Theatre, grateful, Harry Potter, J K Rawling, London, Prince Louis, travel blogger., William and Kate, Winston Churchill War Rooms | Leave a comment

Sunday 8th July Grateful List

Posted on July 11, 2018 by admin

Today I am grateful for seeing Windsor.

Windsor is a town on the River Thames in southeast England, just west of London. It’s home to Windsor Castle, a residence of the British Royal Family and where the Queen spends most of her weekends. Built by William The Conqueror in the 11th century, the castle was extensively remodelled by subsequent monarchs.

We were so lucky as David’s cousin Andrew looked after us for the day. We saw Windsor Castle, the town of Windsor and had lunch in a local pub.

We had been told by many in the family to not miss out on the Chelsea buns from the local coffee shop so that is how we started our day. They did not disappoint.

Next stop was Windsor Castle.

It was so lovely to catch up with Andrew and his lovely partner Karen.

On our way home we managed to find Paddington at Paddington Station.

What a lovely day!

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged Chelsea Bun, grateful, Paddington Bear, travel blogger., Windsor, Windsor Castle | Leave a comment

Friday 6th and Saturday 7th July’s Grateful List

Posted on July 10, 2018 by admin

Today I am grateful for The Natural History Museum, seeing more of Harrods , the Portobello Markets on a Saturday and Phantom of the Opera.

Friday and Saturday seemed to be days of revisiting things I have done before. I am always surprised that I can visit places more than once and each time see it with new eyes.

The Natural History Museum is a beautiful building filled with lots of different collections from the natural world( I hadn’t been here before).

Visiting this museum caused me to reflect on all the people who work in this building behind the scenes. I have no interest in insects or snakes or rocks or many of the other things in this museum but I am very interested in how to improve and preserve our planet. I am in awe of all the research and time other individuals are spending researching and investigating our natural world and how we each have an important role to play in this world no matter how different and uninspiring it may seem to others.

After our visit to the museum we stopped at Harrods for lunch. I was again reminded how one person can make a difference – it may seem small and insignificant but one person can change a persons day.

Sophia and I had coffee at the coffee counter and the man making my coffee made my day!

On Saturday we visited the Portobello Markets again. Saturday is the big day at the Portobello Markets. We started with a delicious breakfast at Bluebells.

We stopped by the Travel Book Shop and the Blue Door from the movie Notting Hill.

And just in case you don’t remember the movie…..

In the evening we went to Phantom of the Opera. I have seen Phantom of The Opera numerous times and always love it.

We were lucky enough to see The London Pride March on the way.

The parade itself, which coincided with England’s World Cup quarter-final in Russia, included about 30,000 people from 472 organisations.

But up to one million other people are thought to have lined the streets to watch the event.

Once again I was reminded that every single person is special and we all have a special and unique contribution to make to this world.

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged grateful, London, London Natural Museum, London Pride, Phantom of The Opera, Portobello Markets, travel blogger. | Leave a comment

Thursday 5th July’s Grateful List

Posted on July 10, 2018 by admin

Today I am grateful for traveling to Stratford upon Avon.

We travelled out to Stratford Upon Avon in a hire car. Again I am grateful for Google Maps. Once again David and I were together in a car navigating to a different place and we had not one argument!

Stratford-upon-Avon is a a medieval market town in England’s West Midlands, and is the 16th-century birthplace of William Shakespeare. Possibly the most famous writer in the English language, Shakespeare is known for his sonnets and plays such as ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Hamlet’. The Royal Shakespeare Company performs his plays in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and adjacent Swan Theatre on the banks of the River Avon.

We saw his birthplace, home and we were lucky enough to attend Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

The photos in order are The village of Stratford upon Avon, The Family, The garden at the site of Shakespeare’s home, The Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

The production we saw of Romeo and Juliet was modern and amazing!

https://youtu.be/XTRALOpmlo0 eo

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged grateful, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, Stratford upon Avon, travel blog., travel blogger. | Leave a comment

Tuesday 3rd June and Wednesday 4th June’s Grateful List

Posted on July 9, 2018 by admin

Today I am grateful for The Tower of London, Camden Markets and Kensington Palace.

Just as an aside – we are totally unprepared for London weather. We all looked at the forecast before we came away and we were expecting temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to 20 degrees Celsius. It has not been these temperatures – we have had about 30 degree average since we got here and not one spot of rain.

Now back to what we did on Tuesday.

On Tuesday we spent the day at the Tower of London. Wow! We had bought our tickets online so luckily didn’t have to line up for hours in the sun.

The Tower of London has been a fortress, palace, barracks, zoo, prison and a museum.It is now a leading tourist attraction and a world heritage site. Today the Crown Jewels are one of the most popular attractions at The Tower of London. One of the most remarkable facts about The Crown Jewels is that it is a working collection. The Imperial State Crown is usually worn by the monarch for the State Opening of Parliament. When the next coronation comes around, key items will be taken to Westminster in readiness for the ceremony. Today parts of it will be removed to be used in the christening of Prince Louis.

On Wednesday we made our way to Camden Markets. Around 200 stalls jostle for space in the narrow alleyways off Camden High Street/Chalk Farm Road. This market was originally known as Buck Street Market. Many of the stallholders sell their own jewellery and clothes designs. It was a great morning filled with interesting and alternative market stalls and has great market food.

Here is a link to all the types of people you are likely to see at the Camden Markets: 10 types of people you will see at the Camden Markets. I think we saw them all!

After finishing our delicious market food lunch we opted for a different pace for the afternoon. We caught an Uber to Kensington Palace. We have used the tube just about every day but moving six of us around it sometimes works out to be cheaper to jump in an Uber.

Kensington Palace is the official residence of many members of the royal family including William and Kate and Harry and Meaghan. When we got there someone had just arrived by helicopter.

The two exhibitions that are on at the Palace at the moment are Victoria Revealed, which is about Queen Victoria’s long and extraordinary life, and Diana:Her Fashion Story. I enjoyed both but was in heaven looking at all the most famous outfits that Diana, Princess of Wales wore.

The whole Exhibition of Diana’s clothes made me cry. She was such an extraordinary woman who was lost too soon from this world. She was not only one of the most stylish women in the world but she also did extraordinary things like walking in an area where land mines had been ( in the outfit above) to raise awareness about land mine fields and she shook the hands of AIDS sufferers which started to convince people that they wouldn’t die by touching AIDS victims.

After I had gathered myself together we again went out into the sunshine. Kensington Palace has another beautiful garden which we were able to appreciate .

Once we left Kensington Palace David and I tormented the children by recreating the photo we took of ourselves on the day we got engaged. We got engaged at 10am on the 10th October in 1992 in Hyde Park. Here we are 25 years later still loving each other’s company and now being able to share our lives with our beautiful children. We are so blessed.

As Princess Diana said:

“I think the biggest disease the world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved. I know that I can give love for a minute, for half an hour, for a day, for a month, but I can give. I am very happy to do that, I want to do that.”

Until next time

Posted in London, My grateful list, Travel | Tagged Camden Markets, grateful, Kensington Palace, London, Princess Diana, travel blogger. | Leave a comment

Monday 1st July Grateful List

Posted on July 8, 2018 by admin

Today I am grateful for a very touristy day. We all enjoyed The Original Hop On Hop Off Bus around London. It is a great way to see London.

The highlights were Buckingham Palace, The Queens Gallery and The Queens Mews. I loved seeing the carriage that Princess Dianna and Charles used for their wedding and also the Coronation Carriage.