After three days of serious sight seeing we decided to take the morning off. Jackie did some reading and I took a serious mid morning nap! Around 11:30 we headed out for some lunch and a “softer” afternoon.
We hopped on the tube for Kensington and a tea shop I found on the internet. We wanted a fairly “local” experience and the Muffin Man was just the right place. It’s on a side street, but fairly easy to find (that is unless one misses the street and walks a few blocks before deciding they must have missed it!). We checked out the local map at a bus stop and found that our street was the very first one we crossed a few blocks earlier. One thing about London, the streets aren’t very well marked. Your best chance is to look up on the sides of buildings near an intersection. Even then it doesn’t always work out. Anyway, we had a nice lunch with some tasty Earl Grey tea and then Queen Mother’s Cake for dessert.
From there we boarded a double decker bus to the world famous Harrod’s Department Store. I think it’s the biggest store I’ve ever seen and it reminds me of Macy’s but with a wider variety of merchandise. Jackie had a terrific time looking around. I had to restrain her from buying granddaughter Sarah a $600 party dress and grandson Matthew a diamond covered model car. I couldn’t stop her at the chocolate confectionary though and she blew through a few English pounds on chocolate pretty fast. She nearly persuaded me on a few $1000 men’s suits, but I managed to hang in there. I did seriously check out a $3000 comfortable chair (on sale, mind you) for about a half hour while she looked around. Visiting this store is, seriously, an event not to be missed.
As I said, we were taking it easy today so our next stop was nearby Hyde Park. London has several wonderful parks, but I think Hyde is the best known. The weather was perfect and the park was filled with people enjoying the late afternoon. We sat on a park bench and people watched as joggers, skate boarders, and bicyclists passed by. A lot of people were out on the the grass picnic style – and I mean a lot – thousands of people enjoying the park.
We waited till around 6:30 before getting on the tube to head back out to Canary Wharf, hoping the rush hour would be backing down. No luck. We were packed in like sardines. It’s rather comical really. All these people obviously standing too close for comfort, hanging on to the rails, bouncing and swaying in rhythm…and no one talking or even acknowledging one another. No eye contact. It’s not that people aren’t courteous, they offer seats to the elderly, make room for one more “sardine” to be packed in till there’s literally not room for another person. It’s quite an experience.
Another interesting thing is what a hurry everyone is in. No one really walks – but, instead, they move at almost a jog. A sign on the escalator advises people to “stand right” so all the runners can charge by on the left. They’re in a hurry to where ever it is they are going. In similar fashion to the tube, people generally don’t acknowledge one another. If you ask someone for directions, they will politely help you out, but otherwise, people seem invisible to one another.
We’re finding it easy to get around so far as the big picture is concerned but a bit harder to find exact places because of the lack of street signs. Of course finding one’s way is half the fun!