The Enchanted Palace

Yesterday I visited Kensington Palace. Much of the palace is closed off because it's undergoing restoration of sorts. The experience was far different from any other visit to other palaces across Europe. You are given a booklet that explains that your mission is to find the seven princesses who have lived in the palace and to find out their stories. There's a map that is marked with crowns which indicate that a princess has lived in the room. The first room is known as the 'Room of Royal Sorrows' where Queen Mary of Modena died of smallpox. She's supposed to be the hardest to find, but I was able to figure it out rather quickly. What was interesting about how the palace was decorated is that it was not left the way its previous residents left it. Photography was forbidden, so I have to rely on Google Images for further explanation:

If I'm honest, I would've preferred it not to look the way the presented it, but it was a great way to learn the palace's history. Out of all the palaces I have visited, this has been by far the most 'family friendly' and 'hands-on' palace. In the 'Gallery of War and Play' you can make a 'Cabinet of Curiosities,' which I did, and you can play with toy soldiers, which I did not. The staff at the palace is very kind and appear to be dedicated to making your visit a memorable one. Furthermore, throughout the palace you find the seven princesses and their stories. At the end you enter the 'Gallery of Dancing Shadows' which blares Duran Duran's 'Hungry like the Wolf.' Why? I don't know, but it's quite a site and portraits of all the princesses hang on the walls. 

After the scavenger hunt at the Palace I went to the infamous Orangery on the palace grounds. Multiple travel guides have suggested that this is a 'must-see,' but I failed to see what was extravagant about it. Sure it's situated next door to a palace but really, the service is awful. I was seated immediately and my server took my order nearly 10 minutes later. I ordered a raspberry meringue, but was told that they were sold out, and so I opted for the Orangery Cake and a hot chocolate. Immediately after I ordered my server went to the table next to me: an American girl with her British boyfriend. The American girl ordered the raspberry meringue and they were magically no longer sold out. I was really irritated by this, but I ignored it. Aside from the service, the cake and hot chocolate were fantastic. After waiting nearly 20 minutes for my cake and hot chocolate, it was brought to me and I quickly forgot about my terrible server. Once I had finished my delicious snack I felt it was time to proceed to the next stop on my journey. After waiting another 20 minutes, I discovered that my server was nowhere to be seen and so I had to flag down another server. She treated me like a third class citizen when I asked for my bill and had the attitude of 16 year-old spoiled brat (she was in her mid-late twenties). Once I paid, I was out of there and on my way to the Museum of London Docklands. Below is a photo of the Orangery:

Whale vomit protects you from the plague

Today I went to the Museum of London, but mainly because it was free. I wasn't really sure what to expect from it, but truthfully, I enjoyed it the most out of any other museum I have visited (unless you count the Royal Historical Palaces). I'm currently taking a class on eighteenth century London and I can honestly say that it is the most interesting course I have ever taken in my entire life. I was a bit bummed when I found out the Tudor dynasty module wasn't offered this term and that because I needed one more class to fulfil my visa requirements, I decided to suck it up and take the eighteenth century London module. It probably won't transfer back, but that's fine with me because I just love it so much! Anyway, enough about that- more on the Museum. The Museum of London had a very modern feel to it and everything was neatly organised.

My favourite bit about the Museum of London was the seventeenth and eighteenth century exhibits. The seventeenth century exhibit mostly focused on the plague and the eighteenth century exhibit had the Vauxhall Gardens. I found this to be interesting about the plague:

Below are images of what the Vauxhall Gardens looked like in the eighteenth century:

 Concerts would be performed in the Gardens by composers like Handel.

Above is the layout of the gardens and below is an image of what the Gardens looked like:

Since the Gardens are no longer around, the Museum recreated (well, not really) something that would be a bit like an evening at Vauxhall Gardens. A film was rolling and focused on several people who were spending their time at this pleasure garden. The Museum also had clothing on display of what would have been worn to the pleasure gardens.

Being seen at Vauxhall Gardens was a good thing, as polite society tended to visit these pleasure gardens for socialising and for entertainment.

After my visit to the Museum I walked over to St Paul's Cathedral:

I learned at the Museum that St Paul's burnt down in the Great Fire in 1666 and was finally rebuilt in 1710. After walking around the Cathedral I headed over to the Globe Theatre:

I wasn't able to go in because it was too late. Maybe next time. 

Albannach

I ventured to Trafalgar Square for some haggis at Albannach. It was mighty tasty : )