Day #6 - A Park and a T.A.R.D.I.S.

This morning started a bit earlier for me than the kids as I saw Steve off to work!  Poor guy.  But someone's got to pay for this vacation.  He has a 10 minute walk down Brompton Road to work.  That's so much better than having to take a taxi or the tube!  I saw him off and began the process of waking everyone else up.  We were slow going, and ended up not leaving the apartment until after 10:30!

We headed towards Kensington Gardens.  While that isn't too far, it was a nice walk.  Today was sunny and very pleasant, so the walk wasn't too bad.  We went past Kensington Palace, which is under renovation, and headed to the Peter Pan Park.  It's a memorial park dedicated to Princess Diana (she lived in Kensington Palace when she was married to Prince Charles), and it is one of the happiest memories Emily has from her visit 6 years ago!  She and Peter had a blast.  They tried out everything the park had to offer.  It has a wooden ship with sand all around, a small creek, a walking path that takes you on a musical journey, bridges, slides, swings, you name it!  Everyone had a blast.

Sadly, the fun had to end as I had 1:00pm tickets to the Dr. Who Experience further west of where we were.  It was 12:40 by the time we got out of the park, so we hailed a cab and he drove us over to where we needed to be.  The cabbie was very talkative, friendly and funny!

Once at the venue, we headed in for our experience.  And yes, it was 1pm and we hadn't had lunch yet.  I passed out shortbread cookies to keep the hunger at bay.  So glad I threw them in my purse before we left this morning!

The experience was really fun.  It was as if we were in the T.A.R.D.I.S. (his ship) with Matt Smith (the current doctor).  We went through with the doctor on a video screen and we had to help him get out of a bind.  They combined a bit of real hands-on button pushing, 3D video and robotics to make the experience seem real.  It was a great experience!

After we had saved the day, they had us walk through a museum  showing the various outfits of the doctors, monsters throughout the years, a replica of the inside of the last T.A.R.D.I.S., as well as the outside (a police call box).  There were displays showing how some of the robotics were done, as well as a Dalak that one could get inside and move.  Emily climbed inside and FREAKED Pete OUT!  (He hadn't seen her get in)

After waaaay to long in the gift shop, we were finally on our way.  As you can imagine, we were VERY hungry.  We stumbled across a sandwich shop named Cafe du Fred, and wasted no time as it was 3pm and we were starving.  We all had sandwiches and drinks and soon were on our way. 

Our next stop was over by the Earls Court tube stop (a quick 5 minute walk) to see a REAL POLICE CALL BOX!  Emily was so excited.  For those of you who aren't Dr. Who fans, the police call box is what Dr. Who gets around in, but in the show it's called a T.A.R.D.I.S. and is actually Dr. Who's spaceship.  Emily was thrilled, and we took many photos.  Sometimes we can be SO touristy!

After our tourist time, we headed back towards the apartment.  We were all pretty tired.  As we passed the Victoria and Albert museum, Emily and I couldn't help ourselves.  We let Andy go back to the flat alone, and the three of us went in!  The V&A is a pretty cool museum.  It houses all sorts of pop culture, including glass (there are drinking glasses that date back before Christ!), fashion, tapestries, statues, wood pieces (we saw a wood spiral staircase from the 1500s), wrought iron, and more!  It really is an eclectic place, and so close to our apartment.  They kicked us out at 5:30 (I couldn't believe the time), so Em and I decided we'd stop in again before our time in London is through.  It's nice that the museums in London are free so you can do that if you want.

We came home and rested for awhile.  We haven't walked like that in a long time!  Steve got home from work around 7:15, and we decided to head down the street for some Tapas for dinner.  Tapas is fun because there are so many options.  After a nice, filling dinner, we headed back to the flat for bedtime.  I'm really hoping we can get started a bit earlier tomorrow.  Fortunately, we won't have as much walking.  We're taking a double decker bus all around the city sightseeing.  Talk about typical tourists!