Long day.

Whew! I kept myself very busy today just like I had planned, which is not normally what happens. I usually make plans and they fall apart, but somehow I slodged on.

I started my day with brunch in Kensington Gardens. This was quite a treat. I had a sandwich and stuff from Pret a Mange that I had picked up in thetube station at High Street Kensington. I wasn't planning on eating first, but I was so frazzled by the time I got there I decided that I deserved it. I'd forgotten that the Circle line isn't running and there simply isn't an easy way to get to HS Kensington from the south side of town, so I had to take a slight detour through Earl's Court. The upside was I was able to see a tube station that I'd never been to. The downside was that it was rather a busy one and it required waiting a bit on exactly the right District line train lest I end up at Tower Hill (I say this because I almost got on said Tower Hill train and went clear across London in the wrong direction. Thankfully, I regrouped before I did).

Anyway, I had a paper with me, so I read and ate and enjoyed people watching for awhile and then toured the Palace. It was very enjoyable. They have a lovely exhibition of Court attire and some of Diana's dresses and the Queen's clothes, so it's not just furniture and the like. I was glad that I went.

From there I had to make my way to Buckingham Palace and that's not as easy as I thought it would be. Since HS Kensington tube is such a pain, I decided to take the bus. I had the good sense to ask which bus to take and that made this leg much more simple than it would have been had I tried it on my own. It's not nearly as close I always imagine it--I am terrible with distances. I took the bus to Victoria Station and then walked up to the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham. This is a spectacular little exhibit of royal art, furniture, jewelry and miscellaneous stuff that has been rounded up from all the palaces and is now open to the public. They were quite strict about security and made me put my bag in the cloakroom--this was the only place I've had to do that. I was also burning up and sweating and the very nice attendant asked me if I needed some water or something. It dawned on me later that he might have thought I was a bomber or something.

This is a fabulous exhibit and I highly suggest people go to it. It's also small enough that you don't get tired looking at it--I was actually a little disappointed that it ended so soon. There was also a nice exhibit of Dutch paintings that was includeded, too. I've suddenly become a fan of Rembrandt, so that was a nice touch for me.

From there I changed my original plan and decided to skip Sir John Soames and do the National Portrait Gallery instead. I didn't feel like trying to go to Holburn all the back way and such. I'm not sure it was the best idea--I was rather pictured out by the end of the museum, but I did see what I went for, which was mainly the Tudor and Jacobean paintings anyway. My feet were killing me by the time I left there, so I found a nice spot to sit and read more of my paper in Leicester Square and wait for Erin who never showed up--she must have gotten detained in Windsor.

I had hoped to see Les Mis, but there weren't any tickets at the half priced booth and I suddenly wasn't in the mood for a crowded musical, so I ended up going to see Some Girl(s) with David Schwimmer. It's a comedy, so it sounded like more of what I was in the mood for and it was. I enjoyed it. Some of the acting was a little stilted and one of the actresses had the WORST accent I've ever heard--I don't know where she was supposed to be from, but once it got rolling, it was very entertaining and I cared how it ended, which is always a good sign, I suppose.

Now I'm back in my cell contemplating tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to go to Canterbury as I had planned (see my plan falling apart?). It's supposed to rain all day and the train tickets are more expensive than I had thought they would be. I also feel yucko and just not in the mood to spend another day out on the run from dawn until dusk, so I may just do laundry, do some shopping and maybe find something free or cheap to go investigate. Not sure. I think I've done almost everything on my "must do" list that is feasible or that I still want to do, so now I've just got to make sure that I don't waste any of my precious free time that I have left. This time next week, I'll be getting back home. Tick tock!