Skip to main content

A Walk In The Park

I'm a die-hard Princess Diana fan. When she died in 1997, friends were calling me up to calmly break the sad news and ask if I'm okay. I went to the British Embassy in Manila to pay my last respects and wept as Sir Elton John sang Candle In The Wind for her funeral at the Westminster Abbey, broadcast to two billion people worldwide.
My first stop in London, naturally, was Kensington Palace, the former home of Diana, Princess of Wales. As if by fate, it was once again opened to the public the day I arrived. Queen Victoria's clothes are now on exhibit.
A must have photo-op at the palace gates and a long walk at the gardens. I learned later on that the Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park combined is bigger than the Principality of Monaco. I just kept walking and walking with my travel buddy Rey up to where our feet will take us, until we finally found the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain. It was already dusk, and the sky was turning a pale shade of violet, one could only hear the water rushing down the oval-shaped fountain. At once you're filled with peace and serenity, and a gentle memory of a great woman.

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk marker.

Kensington Palace, now home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The famous gates of Kensington Palace.


Queen Victoria monument.

The round pond.



Magical moment, swans cooperating with the camera.


Buds coming out of the Magnolia trees!


Hyde Park

Ducks at the Serpentine.

Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain

It was the most serene place I've ever been to.



The Isis

Dusk in Hyde Park.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The House Of Dr. Luis Santos

Our tour of Malolos continues, from the Cojuangco ancestral house  http://myrefrigeratordoor.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-cojuangco-ancestral-house.html , our gracious host  Melecio Cojuangco  brought us to the house of Dr. Luis Santos. Mel arranged the visit with one of the heirs of Dr. Santos,  George Imperial . From the outside, one would already be in awe of the sheer size of the house. The house was built in 1933, according to the marker by the gate. Upon entering, you will marvel at the grand staircase, the expansive receiving room and the foyer filled with hard bound medical books and mementos of Dr. Santos' career as a well loved doctor in this town. The second floor was something else, as our group slowly ascended the magnificent staircase, my heart literally skipped a beat at the sight of the ceiling mural and Art Deco details. We found out later that the mural was painted by the great  Fernando Amorsolo  himself. There was a private chapel in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes

The Cojuangco Ancestral House

Our next journey takes us to a historic town in Bulacan, thirty minutes north of Manila. My road trip buddies, my college friends who all share with me the same fascination for heritage houses were privileged by an invitation from Melecio Cojuangco to visit their ancestral house in Malolos. Mel, his cousin in law Marissa Lopa, Rima Datuin and Evelyn Bautista  and I discovered each other's funny bone   because of our love for the ice cream served in a huge bowl at Peninsula Manila's lobby. One evening, to justify our appetite, we pretended it was my birthday and we had the string quartet play happy birthday for me, from then on, we became good friends. Mel's grandfather,  Jose Cojuangco  was born at the Malolos house, very near the Barasoain Church. Jose's mother traded rice from Nueva Ecija, sacks transported by boat via the river at the back of the kamalig to Binondo, Manila. Like most turn of the century houses, the Cojuangco house uses piedra china stones f

Her Name Means Peace

I started blogging five years ago after reading the book  Life On The Refrigerator Door  by  Alice Kuipers.  So touched was I from the story, I named my blog  My Refrigerator Door . Ms. Kuipers wonderfully weaved a story about a daughter and her mother who battled with breast cancer in a series of notes posted on the refrigerator door. Last Sunday, at the funeral of Tita Passy,  Paz Cojuangco-Teopaco,  I was reminded of that beautiful book. She too fought a long battle with the disease, but in her suffering, she has brought her family back together. I met the Teopacos through my good friend  Kris Aquino . In one of Kris's anniversary specials on TV, I was introduced by Kris' mother,  President Cory  to her youngest sister, Passy. After that, I got to bond with Kris's cousins, Tita Passy's daughters,  Marla  and  Rina  in a summer trip to Mindoro. Sharing the same love for sentimental music, and deep affection for Kris's son  Joshua , Rina and I became the b