I usually have a couple of themes of interest that I am on the look out for in any trip. One of them for this trip was Princess Diana. It was one of those "you'll always remember where you were" days for me the day when the news broke that Princess Diana was dead. It seemed like an ordinary Sunday that 31st of August 1997. Laura was 2, almost 3 and Susan was 7; both were happily playing at home. That day I hadn't spoken to anyone and I hadn't turned on TV or heard any news. I headed into Williams Stationery to pick up our Sunday copy of the New York Times. The headline took me aback: Diana killed in car accident in Paris. An unaccustomed feeling of emotion as tears suddenly filled my eyes (little did I know that sudden tears would become a regular feature of my life with our own tragedy in the years to come.) Never quite did I forget the scenes in the days to come of the outpouring of emotion for the Princess. And so with this trip a hotel near Kensington Palace and Gardens was chosen so that we would be sure to see the palace gate where all the flowers were left; to be able to follow a part of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk; and to see the Diana Memorial Fountain.
Photos: marker for the many mile long Princess Diana Walk through London; approaching the Diana Memorial fountain; children frolic in the memorial fountain.
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I have taken the almost identical trip, but as the daughter, not the mom. Also we didn't have your bonus of having Tony to show you around.
ReplyDeleteI go back and forth about whether it is harder to travel to places where Erin has been (thus feeling comforted that she had the experience, but missing things that are only memories now) and where she never got to go (no sudden deja vu, but also a profound sense of the unfairness of her missing such events).
I am glad you took Laura on your luggage tags, and I think traveling without the pendant was a safe call.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane, and welcome back.
VB