Dinner at Kensington Palace

Finally back in London, after being blocked out last month due to the ca-t"ash"-tro-phe, I'm back and enjoying the beautiful spring weather that London is blessing us with this week. We started our visit this time with a couple of really exciting events hosted by an investors' company who is holding a conference here in the city. The first night we were invited to dinner at Kensington Palace, a royal residence which has been inhabited through they years by many monarchs, and more recently by Charles and Diana with their sons.

We were treated to a royal welcome and toured the current exhibit, called The Enchanted Palace.

Passing through some of the royal gardens,

we made our way to the pre-dinner reception

with many delicious options for nibbling.

An elegant dinner was hosted in the nearby Orangery,

an adjacent 18th century structure which served as a greenhouse to hold the citrus trees during the winter. The food and the decor were equally lovely.

The surprise treat of this evening was a performance of Bond, an Australian/British group, which someone in our group compared to a classical string quartet with the style of Dallas cowboy cheerleaders. Definitely a lot of leather, spandex, sequins and stilettos. They are known as the best selling string quartet of all times, with an highly entertaining style.  Their crossover classical/pop sound is very popular, and I quite enjoyed their performance. The men in the group especially appreciated their "musical giftedness." Listen to a bit and let me know what you think!