OCSC offered a day tour to tour Kensington Palace and the surrounding area. The plan was to visit the palace in the morning, take a walking tour of the Kensington area and then have afternoon tea at the Orangery which is on the Palace grounds. Our tour began at the palace which much like Buckingham Palace offered a few special exhibitions to include a good sized collection of Princess Diana's dresses. I really enjoyed this. I recognized many of her dresses including the short black Versace and the long velvet black dress she wore when she danced with John Travolta at the White House. 
In addition to the dresses there was a large exhibit on debutants which was kind of fun. We got to practice walking a straight line with books on our head and practice our waltz steps. The palace itself was beautiful. William and Mary moved to Kensington because the smog in London was hard on William's lungs. Apparently the country estate in Kensington suited them. We had a laugh at this as it is now completely surrounded by an enormous city! 
After our morning at the palace we met our tour guide and had a really interesting tour of the city of Kensington. We learned all about fan lights. Apparently each home had a different pattern above the door so that when the ladies sent messages to one another, their servants who could most likely not read could match a picture the lady would draw to match the fan light over her friend's door. 
We discovered many notable people lived in Kensington and wandered by their homes to include the home of T.S. Eliot, Virginia Wolfe and Winston Churchill. Kensington is a very wealthy posh area and many of the stable areas are now really posh apartment homes. 
After our walk we ended up at the Orangery and had a really lovely afternoon tea. The orangery cake was my very favorite.
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