Crystal Palace

So, funny story about the first time I came here. The husband suggested we visit Crystal Palace one wintry Saturday, usually we'd do a quick bit of research before setting off on a spontaneous adventure, but at the time we lived down the road from there, so we just jumped on a bus.

I knew The Crystal Palace was a huge glass structure that originally housed The Great Exhibition in the late 19th century, so needless to say I was excited to see it, having seen many films and TV programmes filmed there, (or so I thought). We get off the bus just before Crystal Palace Park and walk up the hill heading in that direction. On the corner we see this. and I joked to the Mr "Imagine if that was The Crystal Palace".

So we look for where we think this huge glass structure should be and cant see anything, so I get out my trusty Google Maps and put in Crystal Palace and follow the directions, still a 5/10 minute walk away. Fab, it must be further into the high street.

Well we walked through the high street, passing some lovely vintage stores and cafes and arrived at The Crystal Palace...an Indian Restaurant. Turns out that in 1936 the Palace burnt down! How we didn't know this bit of information, I have no idea, but we enjoyed some lovely cake and hot chocolate at a fab cafe (they also had a GF option!) and then made our way back to Crystal Palace Park to have a wander.

It was definitely not a wasted visit, and has made it into my nooks and crannies blog post for a reason. There's a free museum in the park about the actual original Crystal Palace with a miniature construction of it, and lots of old pictures. The park itself also holds some fun little gems, like the gorgeous structural remains of the Palace, random dinosaur statues and a hedge maze.

Centre of the hedge maze

#crystalpalace #toddlerfriendly #nooksandcrannies #history