March 10th, London - Kensington Burrough. Day One

Gold leafed entrance, Kensington Palace

View across daffodil field Kensington Palace

Statue entitled Elizabeth Regina

The Queen's Swans

Rebecca overlooking the Queen's pond. 

Rebecca and I had lunch at an English pub. This man was standing in the doorway, so we asked him to join our photo. 

We left Oakland, California at 5:30 yesterday with no problem. We were absolutely delighted to find that Norwegian Airlines was a well organized fleet, with state of the art Dreamliner 787s Airplanes. Everything was first quality. They had a technology inter-system that allowed for free movies, free TV shows, free documentaries. Plus, you could order drinks and snacks from the snack bar through this system, which were immediately delivered. 

We had a HOT and GOOD dinner, chicken over angel hair pasta with vegies. We had a breakfast sandwich as well. Just professional courtesy all the way around. About an hour before we landed, we were delivered a "passport card" to fill out to enter the UK. Super easy. We had a one minute interview to get into the country, also smooth and easy. 

We took a taxi from a very interesting cab drive. He shared with us his views about similarities between the Brexit phenomena and the Trump phenomena. He also shared with us that he immigrated from Iran AS A 13 YEAR OLD ALL BY HIMSELF in 1972. He went to school, started working and has done well. He has a house and land. He has a brother in the US, both brothers have become fully successful citizens of the adopted countries. Very interesting. 

We are staying at the JW Marriott in Cromwell Road. It is a God Send. Verizon doesn't work here, but I have free wifi here, we also have complimentary happy hour that is really a full on light meal and drinks. We also get breakfast!:) 

We spent the afternoon walking, walking. Rebecca wanted to go see Freddie Mercury's original house. He was lead singer extraordinaire of Queen. From there we found an authentic English pub to try some local fare. I had fish and chips, Rebecca had a steak and ale potpie. We had fun asking a local who was in the doorway to "photo-bomb" our front door photo shot. 

We then headed to Kensington Gardens in Hyde Park. I was set on seeing the "Queen's Swans" and we did find them, we also were able to get good shots of Kensington Palace. There are several memorials to Diana throughout the park. 

We were determined to see as much as we could see today, even though running on little (airplane sleep). We prevailed. We saw a lot today and returned, thankfully, to a light dinner at the Marriott. 

Tomorrow we are going to take advantage of a "Free Tours by Foot" tour of London. 

A great first day!