Camping in Kensington

So, for the past month, Adrian and I have been living in a neighborhood which has been described by most of our friends here as “posh a li cious,” in a Victorian flat with a porter…sounds great, huh? Unfortunately, our furniture has yet to arrive, so we have been surrounded by all this poshness with only an air mattress, four plates and cups and some other bare cooking accoutrements (having only 1 pot has definitely trained me to do the dishes on a regular basis!) However, even though our nightly TV entertainment has thus far been confined to watching re-runs of Desperate Housewives from my computer, propped up on two storage boxes left by the prior tenants, I am still completely in love with our neighborhood…here are just a couple of things that are so great about camping in Kensington.

1. The Whole Foods Store. It is distinctly American, and you can spot the American ex-pats by their crocs, and by the fact that they never bring their own cloth shopping bags. I love to shop there because it has all the accoutrements of the Columbus Circle location, but none of the crowds or pushy New Yorkers…oh, and they have a whole room devoted to the smelliest cheese you’ve ever laid your nose on.

2. My terrace. Sure, it’s only about 10 feet off the ground and about the size of a postage stamp, but I still feel like a queen. I have a rose bush too! And it’s not dead yet!

3. The Cornish pasty shop in the Tube Station. Here, when someone says they just bought a delicious pasty, they are not referring to the stickers strippers wear to cover their naughty bits. They are pies! And so yummy. They bring the pot pie to a new, savory level, and are only about 2.50.

4. Running in Hyde Park. Every day (or rather, every day I get my sorry self out of the house in time) I go running in Hyde Park…and a typical run in the park will take me past Kensington Palace, the basin (a beautiful little pond with swans), the Prince Albert Memorial, and the Serpentine. And this is on a short run!

5. Kensington Palace. Kensington Palace is just 4 short blocks from my flat. This was the palace Princess Di called “home” while she was alive (her memorial fountain is in Hyde Park, close by), and was also Queen Victoria’s childhood palace. It was built by William III and Mary II (know William and Mary? That was them) in the 1600’s,and there is a big statue commemorating big W right inside the front gates. They have a café which serves high tea, something I am looking forward to.