Lindsay is still formatting photos for me (bless her!), so I’m going to share some snaps I took today in the High Street Kensington area. I absolutely love to get off the main thoroughfares and just “poke” around to see what I can find. There’s a tiny alleyway called Kensington Church Walk that you’d miss if you sneezed, but it is well worth finding. It’s right off the main High Street and meanders back in such a way that all the busy hustle and bustle of the busy street is completely hushed. Around the first corner you find this beautiful church:
There is a beautiful gated garden all around this church with a quiet, shaded courtyard filled with roses. I didn’t manage to snap that, as there was a police van temporarily parked in front of the gate–rats. So I wended my way around the church and up a tiny alley filled with shops. At the end was this adorable house, the upper balcony just packed with flowers:
I turned to the left and followed the street down to the next alleyway, where I discovered a hidden garden (public access, but you’d never know it was there unless you stumbled upon it like I did!):
I finally turned down a “Mews” (which is where stables of horses and carriages were kept in prior centuries):
It really was a delightful way to eat up an hour’s time before lunch today. I had hoped to stumble into an antique bookstore that used to be here, but I never found it. I lunched on caprese salad and mushroom soup instead, then headed back to our hotel. Lovely!
Historical Fashion Tours with Sense & Sensibility 
Sounds lovely! It’s one of my absolute favorite things to do – my sister and I wandered all over Paris’ side streets when we were there (we love aimless wandering, for all the reasons you mentioned!), and when I was staying in Kensington once, I stumbled upon a block with the same name as my street at home, so of course I needed pictures!
LikeLike
Jennie,
Alas, I’m on a library computer with limited time left before the end of my session, so I haven’t had a chance to look through all the lovely pictures on your blog (which I just discovered). I just wanted to recommend a site to visit in London. It’s called Dennis Severs’ House, and I visited it while I was in Britain last summer at the urging of a friend. I’m so glad I did! It is a really unique recreation of past ways of living, and I wish I had more time to properly describe it – but for now, here’s the website: http://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk
Have fun!
LikeLike
Sounds fun, Elizabeth! Too bad we leave London this morning. Maybe next time!
LikeLike
It’s absolutely adorable! It looks like it would feel like walking right into the past.
LikeLike
Oh – I’m sorry I didn’t make the suggestion sooner! But it sounds as though you’ve had a beautiful trip, and I look forward to looking through all these lovely pictures you’ve posted.
LikeLike