Kensington Palace 5 February 2017

I didn't think I was being affected by the weather or the season but I was wrong. This is my second winter here. Last year everything was new and charming, now things have settled down into my new normal and the constant greyness is getting me down. I don't mind the cold, but on sunny days life is immediately happier and brighter - though the ratio of grey days to sunny days is about 5:2 if we're lucky and you can bet those two days happen during the week. I find too it's affecting my desire to get out and about - it's somehow just easier to stay home and read, which is good until you realise the only person you've spoken to in 2 days is the cashier at the supermarket, and will your voice work on Monday morning?

So on this grey and chilly day I thought I'd get some more use out of the Historic Royal Palaces Card and Kensington Palace was the destination. Still the residence of many of the royal family, the State Rooms are open to the public. I walked towards Hyde Park through the streets of Bayswater.

Into Kensington Gardens which is the other side of Hyde Park.

This is a memorial to John Hanning Speke, one of those men in the great tradition of British Explorers who discovered Lake Victoria and the source of the Nile.

Grey!

This bronze statue is called "Physical Energy" by the English Artist George Frederic Watts. The first bronze casting was made in 1902 and stands below Rhodes Memorial on Devil's Peak in Cape Town - I've been there often and didn't know this! This statue in Kensington Gardens is the second casting made in 1905. A third version was cast in 1959 and is situated in Harare. A strong African connection.