Paul & Libby’s World of Travel

We were up a bit earlier today and departed the Allen House by mid-morning.

We headed out to the High St. Ken tube station. About halfway there, I realized that I’d left our Oyster cards at home. Ah well, that’s only a (refundable) 10 pound error for two new cards. Since we weren’t going to be in town all week, I simply topped up the cards with 15 pounds that we’ll use over the next few days.

Our destination: the London Zoo in Regent’s Park. To minimize train changes, we opted to take the Circle Line to Great Portland Street and then walked north through the park. The weather was splendid—sunny but a bit cooler. Along the Regent’s Park Broad Walk, we stopped off for lunch at the Honest Sausage, purveyors of high-quality, handmade, organic… sausage (did you expect me to say something else?). The sausage and onion relish were excellent! Or, as Emerson said, “good” (her highest form of praise).

Libby & Emerson @ Honest Sausage in Regent's Park

After lunch, we reached the zoo. It’s a bit expensive at over $30 per adult (kids under three are free). But, it was enjoyable. We visited the reptile house (of Harry Potter fame), watched monkeys and meerkats play, and saw camels and bearded pigs. Penguin Beach was especially popular with Emerson. All told, we spent a few hours at the zoo.

We left the zoo around three in the afternoon and started to head back through the park to the tube station. Along the way, I stopped to take photos of the spectacular gardens.

Regent's Park

While we were walking, Emerson fell asleep in her stroller. So rather than wake her, we opted to walk back to the Allen House! We traveled via Marylebone Rd, Gloucster Pl, Marble Arch, and then through Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens. For those of you that don’t know London, it’s a decent length walk – about 4 miles.

We stopped on High St. Ken to pick-up dinner, which we ate at the Allen House. By this time, it had started raining lightly. We’re expecting showers and much cooler weather the next couple of days. After dinner, I popped back out to get Libby dessert (a Ben’s Cookie), and I bought Emerson a new book (Peekaboo Farm). We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the flat.

Note: I’m running about a day behind on the blog due to Internet access challenges. So, for the moment, expect to see a given day’s post the following day (e.g., Monday’s recap on Tuesday).

I started the day early (up by 3am), but Libby and Emerson slept in until after 9am.

After the Allen House offices opened in the morning, I sorted out our Internet access for the week. The Allen House provides mobile WiFi hot spot devices to guests. It’s actually a pretty nice service, because I can carry the Internet around London in my pocket rather than being limited to just our flat. Unfortunately, the service (provided by Vodafone) is a bit spotty when at Allen House itself… but it’s more-or-less functional (with an emphasis on less).

We left the timeshare around 11am. Libby stopped by Ben’s Cookies for her morning coffee and cookie. We then proceeded to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. It was a gloriously sunny and warm day: wonderful for the native Londoners; less exciting for the visiting Floridians. Emerson enjoyed playing in the fields and looking at the wildlife (birds and squirrels).

Emerson in Kensington Gardens

We proceeded across the park to the north and walked along Bayswater back toward Notting Hill. We passed by the (former) Park Court Hotel, where Libby spent visits with her parents (as well as our first trip to the UK). They’re actually turning the residences-turned-hotel back into residences: The Lancasters Hyde Park. A three bedroom penthouse apartment can be yours for only 5 million British pounds (about $8 million USD).

We wandered back down Kensington Church Street, window shopping at the high-end antique dealers. We also stopped into a specialist cupcake shop. The window display of confections was simply too tempting. We left with Red Velvet and Peanut Butter cupcakes, respectively.

Back on High Street Kensington, we headed to the swoon worthy Whole Foods. We picked up a few additional supplies for meals this week. We then headed over to the Pret and West Cornwall Pasty Company to pick up a late lunch.

After lunch, Emerson played for a while and then napped for a couple of hours.

For dinner, we ordered pizza, which I picked up. I washed it down with an Innis & Gunn oak-aged beer. We passed the remainder of the evening in our flat. Emerson went to bed around 9pm. I watched fireworks (really?!?) from our windows. I can only assume they were in celebration of the US July Fourth holiday, which makes me think that the British are perhaps glad to be rid of us.

All in all, it was a relaxing day… probably not unlike a typical weekend day we might experience if we lived in Allen House on a permanent basis.