KENSINGTON PALACE DIANA FASHION SHOW AND LONDON VISIT

My friend Bunny (she was born at Easter) and I took the opportunity to visit the Diana Fashion Show at Kensington Palace in London. For us it is so easy to go, it takes 2 h from Brussels to London. I know Bunny since I was a young girl from 1961 on !



Our Bed and Breakfast with the posh name of "Carlton" was directly opposite King's Cross where we arrived. We left our luggage, and off we went for our London adventure.






The Kensington Palace still with some flowers and a long letter to Diana



I had seen the palace before so I only concentrated on the fashion show



The weather was sunny and the park inviting !



Then the exhibition started with portraits of Diana from when she met Charles until they divorced.



Fashion designs of different dress models were hanging on the wall



and then came all these beautiful dresses with the description when and where she had worn the dress.



She had been a real model, tall and slim and even a potato bag would have looked very elegant on her.




This was the dress she wore when she danced with John Travolta. There were still many people in the middle of the week and nearly at the end of the exhibition.

Once finished we took a double decker bus. My friend should see London from above and not as a mole in the underground.





So we took buses from one destination to the other changed, looked around and admired the architecture which we both love.



when we were in a hurry we took the tube ! That too she had to see, because the last time she had been in London was over 50 years ago, when she came here to study !






Various buses took us to Big Ben who actually gets a facelifting which should last 4 years and during this time he will remain dumb !






From the bridge we could see the old docks which had become "Little Dubai" to me and if I can I avoid this area ! Too modern for my taste.



Sir Churchill hasn't lost a kg despite the Brexit which certainly he disapproves !



The London Eye(s) watched over the tourists



Before we continued we had a well earned drink in a Pub.

The next day we wanted to see the Queen, she was there apparently, but had no time for us. So we did like all the others we looked through the grids into the cage castle.



What is sadly funny now, is that the Queen's guards are guarded by anti terrorist guards with machine guns. Looks quite impressive !



Good old Victoria still sits at the same place and looks at the crowd.





Of course we also went to Covent garden where we had a nice cup of tea and a less nice scone. It should have been called stone.

And then it was already time to return to St. Pancras and catch the Eurostar



From the Bus I saw this funny Pub



and the hairdresser !



Before we left I had my jacket potato with cheddar cheese in the only Pub which existed already when St. Pancras wasn't famous for it's Eurostar and there was nothing around.




We were in time for the train and very happy about our excursion.

BUNRATTY

Expat tours

If you do a 7 day tour around a country of course you can't see everything in details. It just gives you an overview of things to see or to do if you want to come back later.

A very pleasant stop was Bunratty Folk Park which gave me the  taste of what village life was like back in the castle’s glory days.

Bunratty Castle and Folk Park is really worthwhile to see !  The Castle is the most complete and authentic medieval fortress in Ireland. Built in 1425 it was restored in 1954 to its former splendor and now contains mainly 15th and 16th century furnishings, tapestries, and works of art capturing the mood of those times. I couldn't take photos, the light was too bad without flash.

Bunratty Folk Park, is set on 10 ha (26 acres), and  is a stunning recreation of 19th Century Ireland and features various types of farmhouses, a church, a magical walled garden and village street complete with pub, post office and various shops.

The Bunratty Collection features over 450 items of medieval furniture and artefacts housed at Bunratty Castle.


Bunratty castle.

I climbed up a narrow circular stair, managed to do two floors and then gave up.  For me it was more interesting outside, old castle furniture and artifacts I have at home too.



Indeed when you walk through the village you are taken back in time !



I loved the blue house it looked so cheerful. But I think that life at that time was less cheerful !



Other houses and a stable block. The houses had a number and were explained in a folder.



This was a house of a rich farmer with servants.



A look in the living, bedroom and kitchen



where a lady was busy to peel apples for an apple pie !



The farmers helper's house was less luxurious, it was very small and he had to sleep on a straw bed.



There were shops and well maintained gardens



and even a post office !



We sat down and listen too the music after a walk through the main street.




I was very much impressed how the walls were built without any cement ! They just kept balance !



For children was a fairy village with a witch I had been told, but as I am afraid of witches I didn't go in there.


referring to OUR WORLD here

KILLNARY - Ireland

Expat tours


If you do a 7 day tour around a country of course you can't see everything in details. It just gives you an overview of things to see or to do if you want to come back later.

We stopped in Killarney, which won the Best Kept Town award in 2007, in a cross-border competition jointly organised by the Department of the Environment and the Northern Ireland Amenity Council. In 2011, it was named Ireland's tidiest town and the cleanest town in the country by Irish Business Against Litter. So if you are a very clean person this is the place to live !

Killarney is a town on the shores of Lough Leane in southwest Ireland’s County Kerry. It’s a stop on the Ring of Kerry scenic drive, and the start and finishing point of the 200-km Kerry Way walking trail. The town's 19th-century buildings include St. Mary’s Cathedral. Across the bridge from the cathedral is Killarney National Park. Victorian mansion Muckross House, Gardens & Traditional Farms sits in the park.

From our bus I could admire the outstanding beauty of this landscape. Now I understood why green is the symbol of Ireland indeed it's all green  (or rocky)



Even the deepest green over here is not so green as in Ireland. As a leisure painter I should know it.



As far as the eye reached every spot was beautiful and wild.



Rocks in rivers or calm little rivers



To see the most in a short time and also not to get more tired as it was already late afternoon, we rented a carriage which drove us through the park and the coachman explained what we saw.



Of course we had a lot of fun !





We also did a little walk along the mainstreet and stopped in a Pub.



I found this house so nice, I wonder if it was a restaurant



This sign I don't see very often at home !