a walk in the park
Was out like a light last night around 11:00PM, and only woke up at 06:45AM this morning. Guess I’m not jetlagged anymore, yay! Still feel a little more weary than usual when evening comes though, and now, though it’s only 8:40PM I’m already feeling sleepy.
Today’s itinerary – the parks. Armed with a printout of the London Guide to Sightseeing from www.londontourist.org, I attempted Walk Two (part two) which started at Buckingham Palace.
I was in luck today – it was a nice, sunny day out for a change, and there was a change of guard ceremony as well. I wasn’t exactly early, having arrived around 10:30AM. There was already a crowd standing at the gates waiting for the ceremony to take place, and even at the Queen Victoria Memorial throngs of people were crowded on its steps. By the time I decided to join the group at the gates after taking some photos, I was standing row-ish behind a few people which didn’t exactly give me a good view of anything.
Throughout half of the ceremony I did the usual thing anyone with a digital camera would do – stick my hand up with my camera and shoot blindly. I took a few half-decent shots of the guards, though I still couldn’t see anything at all except for what I captured on my camera. Couldn’t stand on tiptoe for long either, my calf muscles were getting all cramped up in protest from yesterday’s long session and the cold. Ah, but today must really, really be my lucky day – halfway through the ceremony the kids who were in front of me right up at the gates decided to leave, so I had front-row seats, so to speak! Amusingly enough, the band played songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber which was rather entertaining. The whole ceremony adds up to about and hour’s worth. Only a slight disappointment that they weren’t in their bright red uniforms now that it’s winter…
After that I headed back towards Green Park, cut across and picked up a couple of shot glasses from the Hard Rock Shop. The restaurant itself looked like any other restaurant from the outside, unlike the semi-bling style of KL’s version.
Went to Hyde Park for almost a good couple of hours, stopping halfway near Speaker’s Corner to eat my packed ham and lettuce bagel sandwich for lunch. Wandered about slowly for a long time, soaking in the sunshine and taking photos of whatever was around me – the greenery, the birds, the people. It was a little surreal, ambling down the paths with Jack Johnson keeping me company this time around. Somehow I much preferred this scenery compared to yesterday’s hustle and bustle.
From then on it was pretty much a tourist sight-seeing session for me. Walked across to the Albert Memorial in front of the Albert Hall, and on to the Science Museum. That place is huge! I couldn’t finish seeing all they had to offer, there were just too many exhibits to cover. I saw what I could before I looked at the time and decided to make one last stop before I called it a day.
Walked to the next building – the Natural History Museum. Again, loads of exhibits to see and learn. If I were a kid on a field trip, I would’ve got lost in those museums. I didn’t stay too long in the last museum though, my legs were screaming for rest by that time. I decided to skip Victoria And Albert Museum and save it for another day, probably when I come back to check out Kensington Palace. It was 4:30PM by the time I boarded the tube back towards Hammersmith.
Hmmm… at the rate I’m going… I might see more sights that the average Londoner!
Today’s itinerary – the parks. Armed with a printout of the London Guide to Sightseeing from www.londontourist.org, I attempted Walk Two (part two) which started at Buckingham Palace.
I was in luck today – it was a nice, sunny day out for a change, and there was a change of guard ceremony as well. I wasn’t exactly early, having arrived around 10:30AM. There was already a crowd standing at the gates waiting for the ceremony to take place, and even at the Queen Victoria Memorial throngs of people were crowded on its steps. By the time I decided to join the group at the gates after taking some photos, I was standing row-ish behind a few people which didn’t exactly give me a good view of anything.
Throughout half of the ceremony I did the usual thing anyone with a digital camera would do – stick my hand up with my camera and shoot blindly. I took a few half-decent shots of the guards, though I still couldn’t see anything at all except for what I captured on my camera. Couldn’t stand on tiptoe for long either, my calf muscles were getting all cramped up in protest from yesterday’s long session and the cold. Ah, but today must really, really be my lucky day – halfway through the ceremony the kids who were in front of me right up at the gates decided to leave, so I had front-row seats, so to speak! Amusingly enough, the band played songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber which was rather entertaining. The whole ceremony adds up to about and hour’s worth. Only a slight disappointment that they weren’t in their bright red uniforms now that it’s winter…
After that I headed back towards Green Park, cut across and picked up a couple of shot glasses from the Hard Rock Shop. The restaurant itself looked like any other restaurant from the outside, unlike the semi-bling style of KL’s version.
Went to Hyde Park for almost a good couple of hours, stopping halfway near Speaker’s Corner to eat my packed ham and lettuce bagel sandwich for lunch. Wandered about slowly for a long time, soaking in the sunshine and taking photos of whatever was around me – the greenery, the birds, the people. It was a little surreal, ambling down the paths with Jack Johnson keeping me company this time around. Somehow I much preferred this scenery compared to yesterday’s hustle and bustle.
From then on it was pretty much a tourist sight-seeing session for me. Walked across to the Albert Memorial in front of the Albert Hall, and on to the Science Museum. That place is huge! I couldn’t finish seeing all they had to offer, there were just too many exhibits to cover. I saw what I could before I looked at the time and decided to make one last stop before I called it a day.Walked to the next building – the Natural History Museum. Again, loads of exhibits to see and learn. If I were a kid on a field trip, I would’ve got lost in those museums. I didn’t stay too long in the last museum though, my legs were screaming for rest by that time. I decided to skip Victoria And Albert Museum and save it for another day, probably when I come back to check out Kensington Palace. It was 4:30PM by the time I boarded the tube back towards Hammersmith.
Hmmm… at the rate I’m going… I might see more sights that the average Londoner!
posted by may at 10:18 pm
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