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Kensington Palace and several other royal palaces are owned by The Queen (on behalf of
We then found our way to Hyde Park for the Crowds of people were sitting on the ground under As the headliners appeared, people crowded onto We left a little early to avoid the mass exodus and Tour Home Page (Day 1) · Day 2 · Day 3 · Day 4 · Day 5 · Day 6 · Day 7 e-mail Rhonda with questions or comments
Kensington Palace and Hyde Park Concert
After saying goodbye to our tour group, we took the Tube to the Queensway Hotel on the
other side of Hyde Park, where we would stay for a night before leaving London for a week. That
morning we toured Kensington Palace which was a private home, Nottingham House, prior to
being purchased by William III and Mary II. Sir Christopher Wren oversaw the renovatations in
the late 1600's and early 1700's, building the palace up around the original house, which is no
longer recognizable. The statue of Victoria (at right) was sculpted by her youngest daughter,
Princess Louise, and sits in the east lawn overlooking Kensington Gardens.
the people), but managed by Historic Royal Palaces, an independent charity. They oversee the
preservation of the buildings and treasures, and create the displays focused on educating visitors
on the history of the royal family and their courts. We saw displays about the dress and customs
of the court, as well as a display of dresses worn by Princess Diana with pictures of the events
they were designed for. This was Princess Diana's last home, and it must have been strange for
her to be surrounded by so much royal history.
Hard Rock Calling rock concert--my mother's first
rock concert! The featured performers were Eric
Clapton, John Mayer, and Cheryl Crowe, and I'd picked
up these tickets as a surprise for her.
the hot sun listening to the warm up bands, milling
around buying hats, t-shirts, books, and other souve-
nirs, or getting something to eat and drink at the many
stands around the perimeter. We found a spot by a
road and laid out the towels and coats I'd brought with
for us to sit on; then we introduced ourselves to our
neighbors, a very nice couple that were having a day
out without their kids. Mom settled in under her
umbrella to read, watch the people and listen to the
music.
the road by us, clapping, cheering, and swaying to the
music. Between the performers the crowd would thin
out considerably, only to pack in again when the next
one started. Mom was impressed with how polite everyone was, especially one young man who, after
stepping over her legs (she was still on the ground at
this time), called back to his buddies who were
following, "Mind the lady sitting on the ground!" and
they all said "Excuse me" as they stepped carefully
over her legs and moved on. Each new band brought
a larger crush of people, weaving in and out of the
crowd to get closer to the front, until our area also
became shoulder to shoulder standing room only and
mom was standing with the rest of us.
were amazed at the number of people packed in behind
us. Every age was there and mom was surprised to find
she wasn't the only one with gray hair.
she was not familiar with their music prior to the
concert, has picked up some of their CDs since we've
been home.
Rick Steves Home Page · Pre-Tour London · Hyde Park Concert · Sommerset · Cotswolds · Stratford-upon-Avon · York · What is this?