British Isle Cruise--Day 4

July 29, 2015—Day 4, London

Yay—I slept in until a little after 5:00am, a much more reasonable time to wake up.  We had a continental breakfast in the hotel’s breakfast room at 7:30 when they opened and lingered for a while just talking.  Afterward, as we were discussing what to do, my mom admitted that she wasn’t feeling well.  I think the jet lag, the lack of good sleep, and the cold weather had gotten to her, so we decided to just take a day off after all the activity of the past few days and just relax around the hotel. 

Letting my mom sleep undisturbed, my dad and I ventured out to Hyde Park, which was just across the street from our hotel, for a late morning walk.  Hyde Park originally started out as a deer park for Henry VIII way back in the 1600s and is now a large public park with man-made ponds, a man-made river (which splits the park in half with a west side and an east side), lots of trees, grass, pathways going in different directions, statues and monuments, and a lot of wildlife.  There were birds of all kinds, including pigeons, geese, ducks, swans, and some birds that looked a lot like large parakeets (not sure what they were, but they were pretty).  I’ve been to several cities where pigeons would land on people and eat out of their hands.  This is the first time I saw swans and geese eating out of people’s hands!

Our hotel sits about 2/3 of the way west of the park’s river and we walked east to the river then south, and finally made our way back to the park entrance near our hotel.  The weather wasn’t quite as windy or as cold, so we had an enjoyable walk.  The sun was even out which was a nice change.

We went back to check on my mom, and just relax in the hotel.  I curled up with a good book (it was really my kindle, but saying I curled up with my kindle just doesn’t sound as good) and munched on some snacks I had packed for the flight and never gotten around to eating.  It was actually nice to spend some quiet time after such a hectic travel schedule.

Later that afternoon, my dad and I again ventured out for another walk around Hyde Park, this time going west.  Within minutes, we were at Kensington Palace.  I knew the palace was along the park, but didn’t realize it was quite so close to us.  The gardens were beautiful.  I know my mom would have enjoyed it as well, but she needed the rest and we’re hoping her sore throat doesn’t morph into a full-blown cold (getting sick is never fun, but getting sick while on a vacation is somehow worse). 

After visiting Kensington Palace and walking around the park, we made our way back to the hotel.  My mom was feeling a little better, but instead of going out to eat, my dad and I went out for take out food and brought it back to the hotel, then the three of us went down to the breakfast room and ate our dinner at the tables there.  After dinner, we spent some time just talking about anything that came to mind (including politics…yikes!) until it was time to call it a day.

My dad and I had explored the entire west side of Hyde Park and had enjoyed spending time just wandering around.  My mom had gotten some much needed rest.  And we all enjoyed spending time together—I call that a very successful day.