Kings, Queens and Halloween

This week I decided to head to Kensington Palace as the special exhibition on Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee was about to close and I was desperate to see it before it finished !

Kensington Palace is most famously known as the last place of residence of Princess Diana after she seperated from Charles and also for being the place where the incredible Queen Victoria was born and spent her childhood.

Kensington Palace and the Golden Gates

Before going to the exhibit I was never really a mass fan of Queen Vicky, I mean I was kind of indifferent - I just knew she ruled for a really long time and always wore black. However, after stepping back in time and seeing the astounding job she did as a ruler for England at such a young age, I can definitely say that she gets a tick of approval in my book for being a totally badass Queen and a remarkable woman.

a beautiful legacy

The whole palace was set out really beautifully and whilst being a historic building, many parts of the interior had been refurbished to their original glory and made it a very interesting museum to visit.








 My favourite thing about the palace were the rooms dedicated to the relationship between Victoria and Andrew. Despite being her cousin (oh lord) Victoria really loved Andrew and their love took precedenc in her life. Extracts from the diaries she kept often showed the deep affection and romance that laced the private life of the King and Queen of England. Of their marriage Victoria was so unbelieveably happy that she wrote "how is it that I have deserved so much love, so much affection? I can not get used the reality of all that I know see and hear"

 Sadly, when Albert died, this is when Queen Victoria started wearing clothes in shades that are only meant for emos and withdrew from the public eye. The shawl of lace that she is frequently shown wearing was a removed from the bottom of her wedding gown and worn to events at which if he were still alive, Albert would have been by her side.




Also, this week I celebrated Halloween for the very first time ! Just like in America, Halloween is quite big here in England and not like back home where you only get the two or three kids walking around the street at 5 oclock in the afternoon trick or treating their school uniform and a pair of devil ears.

day of the dead

Seeing as I was working till midnight, I didn't get a chance to buy a costume so I just wore what I wore to work and said my outfit was a waitress. We went clubbing in Leicester Sqaure and it was so cool to see everyone with blood dripping off their faces in their freaky outfits.




 Okay, so when we are out, Mel and I have a pechant for getting ourselves into situations which require our overwhleming supply of sarcasm and hilarious dry wit to get us out of awkward scenarios. Australian humour is quite "unique and charming" we've been told frequently. 

we ♥ free souvenirs

Therefore, I am not denying that in the past I may have shown pictures of me wearing a gold medal whilst saying I'm a winning Olympic athlete in rowing/swimming/running  or complained to the guillable English about the inefficiancy of the tube system and wished I had bought my pet kangaroo Skippy with me abroad seeing as it is a much more reliable mode of transport.
 
That said, that should help give some explantion as to how by the end of the night we were able to walk away with an army hat, two cat masks, a traditional Indian saree, two toy skulls and a union jack umbrella.