Sun, 30 Mar 2003

author Tim	location Spittalfields, London, England
posted 12:35 GMT 01/04/2003	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/England/London/Working in London 1 ( all photos )

Hyde Park and Kensington ( 38 photos )
Sunday we awoke and decided that our faithful tome Eccentric London was again the thing to read, aiming for a walk around Kensington via Hyde Park.
We got the 16 bus in to Marble Arch from just across the road from our front door(!), before walking through Hyde Park towards Kensington. This nice wander took in Speaker's Corner (complete with a pro-war Aussie rambling away much more as a tourist attraction than being taken seriously), a nice cafeteria by the Serpentine River and the Serpentine Gallery, which was displaying a modern-art exhibiton. Next was the completely over-the-top Albert Memorial, which really defies description, sticking out amid a sea of trees in a city of grey.
What amazed me was the sheer size of the park - it took a good half hour of admittedly random wandering to get across it, and there are so many different areas to see - the river, wide walks, trees, planted areas, and even keen sun-starved British on deck-chairs!
So we had a great walk around the park and Kensington in general, taking in various streets with massive four-story mansions and price-tags well into the tens of millions of pounds, some nice parklands, and of course the occasional cosy little pub.
But far and away the highlight was a place we would never have found with out the book - the extraordinary Leighton House Museum. Lord Leighton was an artist of great talent and eccentric taste, and both are displayed well in his old home. The central focus is the amazing dome room (see photo on linked page), complete with fountain.
Suprisingly for London, entry was totally free, but unfortunately no photography was permitted.

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