Day 148 - Ham House

I was determined to get into London today and cross of as many of the sites I had not seen yet. 

I started off going to Richmond - it took me about 2 hours to get there from Farnham.  I wandered around the town abit then walked along the river to Ham House.  I use to live in the stables of Ham House, when I was a nanny in 1992/3.  At the time, the main house was being extensively renovated by the National Trust.  The house was built in the 1600s by a family who were good friends with royalty and had expensive taste in terms of interior decorating.  Luckily for us now, the families have owned it since have either been reclusive or thrifty, so have not spent money making changes.  Ham House is one of the most intact houses from the 17th century ie it still has many of the original drapes and rugs, furniture and fittings. 

I was really blown away that I lived next door to such an amazing building.  It really was lovely to see inside the house.  The only thing I was disappointed about is that I could not see the stables where I use to live. 

I then headed into London to see the National Geographic store (way too tempting, some gorgeous photography books on sale), and then Kensington Gardens.  I really wanted to see the Peter Pan statue again, and also see the Princess Diana memorial.

Princess Diana Memorial

The weather changed, the dark clouds were rolling in, so I headed for Old Street to meet a friend Nat for dinner.  Nat is an other of the crew I travelled around Indochina with 4 years ago.  She couldn't join us for dinner last, so I was really touched when she made the effor to see me this time.  We just continually talked about travel and life in general.  She has not changed either.

After dinner Nat and I went out for a drink at a pub down the road.  We were told by the publican that the pub would be closing at 10pm, which we thought was a bit strange, but suited us as we both had to catch a train.  As we were leaving the pub we saw on the tv scenes of London burning in the riots.  I was relieved to get back to Farnham later that night, and was very pleased to hear from Nat the next day that she got home safely as well.