Day 150 - So it's not really a tower?

London (Leyton) - All Seasons Leyton

One of the good things about the London Pass is that it allows you to skip the entrance queues at some of the attractions saving quite a bit of time. We started the day with the Tower of London, and we were both surprised by the size of the place, as in our colonial naivety we had always thought it was just a "tower" but of course it is a huge castle complex. It was really interesting taking in all the history in the different sections, all the names, stories and history that you absorb over the years and here was the place where it all had happened. Although there were lots of people there the place is so big that it didn't feel crowded.

We then walked onto the Tower Bridge, visited the Tower Bridge Exhibition, then walked across the bridge and through the engine rooms before pushing on and taking the tube to Kensington Palace. This was quite disappointing (for K anyway) as it is in the throes of renovation, there was no furniture instead they had a strange exhibition of sorts set up in a few rooms that seemed more geared to little girls or fans of gloomy teenage fiction, it was very short on historical info. Then again, at least it was a change from the usual display of royal extravagance and wealth that we've seen elsewhere (well, according to M).

We wandered through Kensington Gardens to the Princess Diana memorial fountain (K's idea, not M's) and then through Hyde Park to Harrods. We found Harrods way too busy for our liking, too squashy and squeezy with tourists, so we quickly headed back to the streets to get the train to Notting Hill. Unfortunately there was drama on that line so we ended up giving up and heading back to Covent Garden to watch some street performer (from Adelaide of all places), who spent more time telling poor jokes and exhorting the crowd to give generously than actually being entertaining.