Royalty and Rugby

I am back to reality (work!) this week, though I thoroughly enjoyed my restful week off last week. Just 6 more weeks of teaching this school year and then the Summer holidays are here!

At the end of last week however, I enjoyed a few fun activities:
Royalty:
On Thursday I started the afternoon by antique shopping in Notting Hill! There are some fantastic shops there even when the famous Portobello Road Saturday Market is not going on. I found some fabulous glass drawer knobs from the 1920's that I intend on using to make a coat rack some day! Here is the store that I bought them from!
Needing a break after browsing, I grabbed a coffee and headed to a nearby church garden to rest and read some of Dickens' David Copperfield. Then I met a large group of people and a tour guide at Kennsington High Street for a walking tour of Kennsington Village!

It is a fabulous old village with unique streets, relaxed atmosphere and high end shopping! There are many quirky architectural designs indicative of the 17th and 18th century, as well as many old stable buildings that have been converted into high-end shops and flats. Here is Annie Russell, a hair salon which used to be an old stable! The local parish church:
You may be wondering where "royalty" falls into place. Well, Kennsington Palace is the main reason for the high standard of living and immaculate condition of this village area. This is where Princess Diana lived. There is a grand park around the palace, with beautiful sunken gardens and manicured flower beds. Unfortunately it was raining on us most of the way through the tour, but as usual, it was wonderfully enjoyable! Rugby:
On Saturday we headed "further afield" to Richmond with some of Micah's friends from work. We started out with lunch on the River Thames at Tootsies.

Then we headed to Twickenham Stadium - the largest rugby stadium in the country! It holds over 80,000 people. In fact, there was a record breaking 81,600 in attendance for the Premier Championship match that we watched!

Leicester Tigers vs. London Lions

Fabulous views from our seats, only 14 rows up!
The game was exciting and fun to watch, but the stadium was eerily quiet considering the massive amount of people present. Micah mentioned that it felt like we'd stepped back in time to the 1800's watching a proper sport of gentlemen playing an old-fashioned game with a polite crowd watching on. We mustn't get too excited now -- or heavenforbid, we just might make a crazy fool of ourselves by screaming, clapping, standing up and chanting! The scrum! Otherwise known as a nasty mess of dirty, sweaty men with the arms around each other pushing for position over the ball!

Check out how the hold guys in the air to catch the ball from a throw-in!
Here we are at half-time... along with Andres and Lucy - some great friends that we enjoy going out with from time to time.

The winners? The LONDON WASPS in a 26-16 victory!