Final day in London

Hello everyone for the final time from London,

Shannon took the day off work today and we set off around 8.30am. It was a gorgeous sunny day forecast to be 28 degrees. You could tell the difference the second we left the house today - the air was warm and I was very glad I decided to leave my jacket at home. Next week is low to mid 30s all week. I’m glad I’ve had the weather I did this week instead! It’s too hot over here with no cooling or fans anywhere when it's that hot.

When I was booking this trip, I had two choices:
A) Come home at 12.30pm today (Friday), land at 8.30pm Saturday and have a day before work goes back
or
B) Have an extra day here with Shannon and Alisha, leave at 12.30pm Saturday, land at 8.30pm Sunday and go back to work Monday

I went with plan B - and as much as I’m going to feel terrible come Monday (I don’t have any spare periods and also have a staff meeting - eeeek!) I’m glad I did. Every day over here is a day well spent, and the best way to get over jetlag is to hit the ground running in my opinion as you collapse in a heap come night time and sleep through.

Shannon and I caught the tube via Earl’s Court and exited at South Kensington. Here we walked past the National History Museum and the posh houses and cars of the area, before eventually passing the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall. We arrived at Kensington Palace for our booking where we received audio guides. These were great, they had just enough interesting detail provided that you gained an appreciation of the place without being overloaded with information. I hadn’t been here since January 2011 with Mum and I think the exhibitions and audio guide had been updated a lot since.

The palace itself has been a royal palace for 300-400 years. In more recent years Charles and Diana lived here, and in fact there were lots of flowers and cards on the gate as July 1 would have been Diana’s birthday. Today Kate and Wills live somewhere nearby in private apartments.

The audioguide took us on a tour through four different sections. First we went to the public rooms where George II and Queen Caroline lived in the early 1700s. Then we went to the section that the jointly crowned protestant William III and Mary II lived in. These two were jointly crowned when the government invited them to take the place instead of the Catholic King James II (who was weirdly Mary's father!). William and Mary were clearly very in love, you could tell by some of the quotes we read. Originally they lived in Hampton Court Palace, but the government weren't pleased as they said they were too far away to conduct business easily. So they purchased Kensington palace in 1689 and had Christopher Wren rebuild and extend the house.

We then went through a photographic exhibition that had lots of beautiful photos of the royal family. I particularly enjoyed photos of Will and Kate's three children, and a never before seen photo of the Queen and Prince Philip, I loved the way she was looking at him. I really enjoyed some of the tapestries and sculptures in the palace, and then some jewellery of Queen Victoria's that we saw on display in the next section.

The final section was about Queen Victoria, who was born in Kensington Palace. Her father died when she was just one year old after catching a chill on a walk (imagine!). She later became queen when she was 18 because her three uncles died with no legitimate children to take the throne. I have a lot of respect for Queen Victoria, much like I do for Queen Elizabeth. She was a strong woman ruling during a time where women couldn't do too much. She loved hard and was devastated when her husband Albert died, living the rest of her life in mourning. She was queen for a very long time. We saw the room where they had their first dance. She later moved to the unfinished at the time Buckingham Palace as she partly viewed Kensington Palace as a place of restriction due to John Conroy and her Mother not having her best interests at heart as the future heir.

We then enjoyed the gardens, and admired the flowers and the Diana statue in the Sunken Garden that was unveiled last year on what would have been her 60th birthday.

After visiting the palace, Shannon and I walked to Paddington station, grabbing some Pret for lunch on the way. We went to the station especially to catch the new Elizabeth line train one station to Tottenham Court Road and back again. "Why?" you may ask? Shannon is a tunnelling engineer, and I love the transport in London, so we both wanted to nerd out a bit. The new Elizabeth line only opened on May 24th this year, after being constructed for around ten years. I remember it going on while I lived here, as many plague victims' remains and much more were found during the tunnelling process. The new line is purple - my favourite colour, and the interior was very spacious, cool, clean and bright. It was much quieter and smoother than the original tube lines too. The seats have red, blue and black through them as well as purple, to honour the other lines that the Elizabeth line passes through. Many of the train line seating here has different coloured patterns to pay homage to other lines they cross, it's all very well thought out.

We then headed back to Hyde Park later on to meet my friend Sonal, who I met on a walking tour in Latvia in October 2015. We all walked around in the sun and heat aimlessly, and ended up sitting by The Serpentine watching the swans and enjoying an ice cream and a cider for a while. I had a lucky close encounter when Sonal asked to take a photo together and I sidestepped slightly, and two seconds later a bird pooed 2 cm away from my foot. We continued to wander and eventually ended up at Harrod's where we said goodbye to Sonal. It was so lovely to see her and catch up!! Shannon and I had a look around at the toys department and the chocolate department and then caught the tube back, my final journey on the tube.

Tonight we are going to the movies to see the new 'Thor' movie before I then head to the airport early tomorrow morning. I am not looking forward to the long flight home, or to teaching on Monday when my head thinks it's night time. But it's all self inflicted and worth it!!

So what can I say. This trip has been truly soul restoring. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I have lost my love for Melbourne a bit in the last two years, and lots of people at home are feeling the same. Rob, my family, friends and the football are the reasons I enjoy home, however, most things at home don't seem as good or as fun anymore due to the pandemic having spoiled a lot. Work has also been really hard. The issues presenting themselves are so intense, and the additional expectations placed on students and teachers due to remote learning feel ginormous and unsustainable. It's been fabulous to be away from it all and feel properly free of the weight of it all for the first time in nearly three years.

We in Australia seem to be six months behind England etc, so I sincerely hope by the time we reach Summer this year in Australia we are up to where the UK are - continue to vaccinate and then live life with Covid, doing what you feel comfortable doing. It has been so refreshing here not being required to do a single test, wear a mask anywhere, be asked any questions etc about Covid. It's made me feel like everything might just be OK to return to normal at home eventually, and made me feel more like my pre 2020 self. Singapore and Sri Lanka earlier in the year were fabulous, but Covid was very much still in the forefront on those trips. Unfortunately my hip pain sustained due to lockdown inactivity is here to stay so I will likely always feel some degree of resentment about that, but I am so glad I was able to visit a few favourite places and see some favourite people that I have missed very much. I am hoping as a result I go back home feeling more like myself and more energised, being a better partner, family member, friend and teacher as a result. London as my 2015 second home will always have a special place in my heart, and I am so grateful I could come back and stay with Shannon and Alisha.

The next time I write, Rob and I will be married. We are going on our honeymoon to the Maldives in January next year which will be wonderful.

Final note, I don't believe in heaven etc but I really hope that somehow Nan was watching over this trip enjoying all the special places I visited and revisited throughout my time here. I hope she could see it all through my eyes and is happy I made it back.

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox