Last Day in London

My London trip picture diary concludes with these photos of our last full day in London, which also happened to be my middle daughter's 12th birthday. (Yay tweens!) The day started off with a most delicious birthday celebration brunch with views at Duck and Waffle, and where it was cool to witness the London weather patterns with a passing rain shower. The day continued with a visit to the Columbia Road Flower Market (if you're in London and need to buy flowers or plants, that is THE place to go), and finished off with a visit to pet my cousin's adorable cat and to see the Old Royal Naval College (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) in Greenwich.

I'm so happy we were able to visit London before the Coronavirus exploded. All our travel plans for the spring have been canceled, and we are not planning any new trips until the virus situation resolves, which may take months. 

Wallace Collection / Tea at the Zetter Townhouse / Buckingham Palace

The picture diary of our London trip continues.

The Wallace Collection is a smaller museum, an amazing private collection that was given to the state in 1897. The highlight of the collection, and the reason we went, is the Fragonard painting the Swing, but there are countless of other amazing things in the museum. My kids enjoyed the armor section, and I loved all the pottery and the period rooms. 

A nice surprise was that I found smaller copies of the Marly Horse statues at the Wallace Collection. The originals are in the Louvre and we saw them last year in Paris. Beautiful copies of the statues were made for the Mackay Estate in Long Island in the 1800s, however the estate is long gone, and those impressive statues which were recently restored, are now at the Roslyn High School and at the Gerry Pond Park in Roslyn. 

Fragonard's Swing. My oldest daughter's favorite painting. This painting tells an interesting story. 

One of the things I really wanted to do in London was to enjoy an afternoon tea. Obviously there are tons of places to do this, but I wanted a place that had a traditional feeling and didn't cost a fortune. The Zetter Townhouse was written up in the February 2020 Vogue Magazine as one of the best places to have tea in London, and seemed to fit the bill. It was a lovely place and we had a nice indulgent experience. 

National Gallery / Royal Festival Hall / Oxford

Here's my London trip picture diary of our day at the National Gallery, London Philharmonics concert at the Royal Festival Hall and day trip to Oxford