Sunday, February 17, 2013
Wow! Another fabulous
day!
We woke about 7 a.m. to a fairly overcast day. Robert had checked the weather report, and we
had decided to go out to Hampton Court because there was supposed to be blue
sky. So, undaunted, we headed downstairs
to get some breakfast at the local bakery, Gail’s, on the corner of Oakley
Street. Well – being a cupcake aficionado,
I can honestly say I haven’t had such a good cupcake in a very long time! Robert had coffee and croissant; I had the
cupcake and hot chocolate.
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| Hampton Court |
Then, we
decided to head out to Hampton Court, which required both a bus and a train
journey! So – 211 bus over to Waterloo
Station, and then we bought a zone 1-6 all-day transit card for a very
reasonable amount, and headed on to a Southwest train. We stopped at lots of places, but eventually
reached Hampton Court; probably took about 35-40 minutes or so. Once out of the train, just a right turn and
over the bridge, and voila! There was
Hampton Court! We have both been there
before – R thinking this was his third visit, probably my fourth, but much has
changed in the years since our last visit.
First of all, it has become quite a family attraction. There are people everywhere to answer
questions and guide you, and many of them are dressed up in Henry VIII
clothing! As visitors, one can even
check out a long green or red cape to wear for your visit! How fun!
Many of the staff are continually playing their “roles”, be it in
clerical garb from Cardinal Wolsey’s time, or ladies-in-waiting for one of
Henry’s numerous wives. We followed
several of the suggested tours – first through Henry VIII’s rooms, then William
III’s rooms, and finally, through some of Cardinal Wolsey’s rooms – before he
lost the palace to Henry VIII, his king … which wasn’t all he would lose, but
that’s yet another story!
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| Daffodils |
Being Sunday, the Royal Chapel was closed for a bit, but we
were finally able to go in and see a reproduction of Henry VIII’s crown; very
impressive!
Decided at that point that we needed a bit of lunch, so
headed to the Tiltout café. We split a
very good ham and cheese baguette, and then headed back to tour the various
grounds. Absolutely gorgeous! Lots of water, water features and interesting
plantings. And, the very best part of
all – we found some daffodils, so Robert now declares that this is an official
trip – he has seen his daffs! (Other
than me!)
Headed back to the train about 2-ish, arriving back in
London and catching the 211 bus just outside of Waterloo station, arriving back
at the flat about 3.
Rested for a short time, then decided to 1) look for the
closest post office so that we can mail some books home tomorrow, and 2) find
an Indian restaurant for dinner. So…took
the 11 bus toward World’s End and found the post office. Got off at World’s End only to find it was a
20 minute+ wait for the next bus that we needed … and it is COLD outside! Decided to walk up to Earl’s Court Station
and look for an Indian restaurant called Masala. Well, we found it, and honestly, we weren’t
too impressed. So, we instead went into
Earl’s Court Station to get transit passes for tomorrow, and then looked for a
nicer looking Indian restaurant.
Well, we didn’t have far to look, and we found Masala Zone. Just
incredible would be the only way to describe it! It is part of a very small chain – 7 restaurants,
and then some VERY upscale Indian dining options. The dining room was bright and airy with
lovely murals on the walls. The menu was
interesting – the food is mostly from Goa.
Our waiter was great, and explained the various options we had. So, going totally on faith, we started with a
“grazing platter.” This contained three
different starters for two people – samosa, a sort of dumpling filled with
yoghurt (that you need to put entirely in your mouth, or you will have quite a
mess to clean up!) and a stack of hard rice with all sorts of good things in
it. Everything was excellent, but we
both most liked the hard rice – if we could have licked the plate, we probably
would have!
Then, we both ordered Grand Thali, Robert with prawns and me
with chicken. We each got a large platter
with our chosen curry main dish, plus canapé, two vegetables, a bowl of rice,
chickpeas and potatoes, another mound of rice, na’an and papadum with two kinds
of chutney! It was an AMAZING
combination! We would very heartily
recommend Masala Zone for anyone who
enjoys really good Indian food! We may
even head back there tomorrow night…although Robert a bit worried about what
kinds of weird dreams we’ll have tonight, that’s for sure! (Note
from Robert: I think there is something psychedelic in Indian spices!)
So…headed home, two buses worth, and we pulled up just a
block from our door! Have to admit that
this is a very handy place to travel to and from! Not sure exactly what we’ll do tomorrow, but
definitely a post office stop is indicated!
Until then, lots of love!
m
xxx
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