Sunday 5 August 2007

Summer has definately arrived (for like, a day). Visits to Westminster Abbey, Regents Park and London Zoo

Firstly - photos: are here.

Friday 3rd August

Didn’t leave work til 6pm – definitely not enough hours in the day. Dragged my feet home, cooked dinner, had a glass of red and my head hit the pillow at 9pm. Was very tired! Had met up with an old friend from uni the night before which may have contributed to my tiredness as well. I’ve tracked down a couple of people on Facebook, and am meeting up with another friend from high school next week, both of which have been over here in London for a few years now. Highly recommend signing up to facebook!!

Saturday 4th August

Woke up at 7am (grrr). Did all my normal Saturday morning stuff (washing etc). Called my Dad. Decided to head off into London. Ran into a friend in Brixton. Tubes shut. Got the bus into Victoria together. Then went off on my own. Walked up the Birdcage and cut across to Westminster Abbey. Basically this place is full of loads of famous / royal dead people – and really – that’s it. The tombstones and sarcophaguses are detailed and extravagant but well it just goes on and on.

From memory – I found St Paul’s Cathedral much more enjoyable when I saw it in 2004 – I plan to go back there for a visit post renovations. Anyway, a few tombstones of note: Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Dad also kept telling me that Sir Winston Churchill’s tombstone was there as well – so was keeping an eye out for it – but seriously there’s thousands of tombstones there. As I was about to leave – there it was – Churchill’s tombstone – the very last one – it seemed to have made it all worth it. Dad – I took that photo for you if you’re reading this (you’re not actually allowed to take photos in this place). Westminster Abbey: DONE.

I then went outside, found a patch of grass and sat in the shade for a bit to figure out what I was doing next. That’s the cool thing about being a solo traveler (has its advantages and disadvantages) – is that you go where you want to go, when you want, for as little or long as you want. It would be nice to have a travel partner but if you want to stop for a rest, go into a weird shop or whatever, you can. I’ve seen a few tourists yelling / arguing with each other a few times now and glad I’m not in their shoes.

So anyway, I walked through St James’s park. There were pelicans in a pond. I wasn’t expecting to see pelicans this far from the ocean. There was also cool plant figurines of people on bikes. I walked over to Trafalgar Square, decided I’d had enough and found a bus to take me home. I actually got to take some really good photos from the top of the double decker bus as you’ll see.

Sunday 5th August

Today I slept in (hoorah!). I had quite a hard time trying to decide what to do today, but it all became crystal clear as soon as I looked at my London wall map – Regents Park and London Zoo. I packed a lunch of fruit salad and bussed and tubed it over to Regents Park. It was another hot gorgeous day – I actually wouldn’t have minded going for a swim. In the park there were people sunbathing in bikinis (even though there was no where to swim).

Anyway, Regent’s Park is massive, green and beautiful. I went to Queen Mary’s Rose Garden which is just gorgeous – I’ve never seen so many roses in my life before. There was a beautiful pond with giant fish in it. I found a shady tree and ate my fruit salad for lunch. I then trekked off to the opposite end of the park to London Zoo (it’s part of the park). I saw gorillas, a sleepy tiger (hey tiger, vake uuuup), two lions who happened to mate (yes I took pictures – but they’re tasteful!), giraffes, bears etc etc etc. I liked the gorillas and lions the best. The giraffes were pretty cool too – very pretty. Tip: do not buy the map when you buy your ticket – it’s a waste of money – there’s signs everywhere on where to go inside the zoo.

After the zoo, I came out at a weird exit which was actually quite close to Camden Town (10 minute walk). My feet were starting to drag and I looked up and recognized this pub that I’d been to before – the Dublin Castle – so stopped in for 2 drinks and kicked my feet up on a stool. My plan was to get the tube from Camden Town so I could get on the Northern Line and jump off at Stockwell and get the bus from Stockwell to Brixton. Camden Town tube was in exit only mode – so I had to walk what seemed like ages to the next tube station instead. Eventually made my way home – there was some sort of festival going on in Brixton and police everywhere watching by – but I just wanted to get home, have some dinner, relax etc.

Anyhoo, I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this but I’ve got a couple of small trips planned. On Sunday 19th August, I’m going to Cardiff (Wales) for the day. And there’s a long weekend at the end of this month, so I’m off to the Lakes District and Liverpool from 24th – 27th August – hoorah! Hope to plan a few more holidays when I get paid properly next in September (ah contracting..). Hope everyone is well - Manda :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Re: Lions mating. Wow! She's definitely "lying back and thinking of England"!!! I thought male lions were real studs!