The Secret Garden

London has been going through a tumultous few days so what better time was it for Erin and me to have a day of fun in the city.   A friend had told me about a roof garden in Kensington which I had never heard of.  It is on the the top of what was the department store Derry and Toms in Kensington.  It is open to the public but not that often.  They hire it out for weddings etc.  But if you ever get the chance I would recommend it.  Here are some pictures.  Apologies for the quality but they were taken by my phone.  The  flamingos are real

                                                    Erin looking strangely laid back

It is a little oasis of calm in the city and it has flamingos and ducks.  Just amazing.
We went for a lovely meal at the restaurant in the same building, where I had the curious feeling of being invisible.  I have obviously been for meals out with my attractive daughter before but seldom have I seen such obvious fauning by the waiting staff over her.  Seriously, who was paying the bill here - that's what they should always remember.
As we left the building with the restaurant and roof garden in I joked to the receptionist that we liked it so much we might have Erin's wedding there.  She immediately responded with a "It's much cheaper than you might imagine, I could give you a brochure!"  I quickly informed her that Erin didn't actually have a boyfriend at the moment.
After that we decided to go to Kensington Palace.  Linda told me that it was the one place in London that Christine's girls had wanted to revisit.  It is have set it up as an enchanted palace and it is absolutely brilliant.  Also not very busy at all. I supposethe advantage of having riots in London that an awful lot of people were avoiding it. So it was us and the overseas visitors.   See, every cloud does have a silver lining.  In the grounds they had hung red balls where people had put their secrets or wishes (secret garden again).  Some were really sweet:  I wish I had a dog, I really believe in dragons.  Others were a little inappropriate: Never stay in a loveless marriage.  But the effect was enchanting.

We finished the day with a stroll around the 3 nearby royal parks.  We had tea by the serpentine.

                                                      A heron just near the cafe

We had been thinking of going for a swim in it but it wasn't quite warm enough and besides Erin is scared of geese and might have had one as a swimming companion!   We finished in St James's Park as I had told her about a photo in the paper of one of the pelicans eating a pigeon.  By the time we got there the pelicans must have been sated with pigeons as they were just sleeping.

Still a day of fun indeed and good to go into London, a city I love, and find that it is still the city I love and the lawlessness is just caused by a minority.