guess the tourist destination (second clue)
here's another clue for yesterday's tourist shot. sharon guessed it right yesterday, but some may still not have seen her answer ...
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here's another clue for yesterday's tourist shot. sharon guessed it right yesterday, but some may still not have seen her answer ...
further than i usually walk
i got up early a couple of weeks ago and arrived a few hours early for a meeting so i could walk further east than i usually do. here is the proof.
tourists
london is great
tate modern
tate modern is getting ready for an exciting weekend of long weekend activities. looks like a lorra lorra fun.
we'll not be going unfortunately, but you should. you know, if you're in the area.
how to stay cool in hot weather
i first spotted these chaps walking behind some people in the park (who also seemed to be marching)
this is just an everyday occurance in london
these have got to be the most impractical hats and clothing ever. especially in the 27 degree heat of yesterday
the bloke in the middle looked particularly funny
as you can see here
i wondered if they were actually clowns in disguise
and when they arrive at their destination they'll whip their hats and capes off to reveal comedy clown clothes
not that they weren't amusing as they were
and they got a great camera based reception as they arrived at the main road
so there we are. a nice photo story for ya.
misty hyde park again
yesterday was even more stunning that the day before
a few other photograghers were out too. i was glad i'd walked the route the day before else i wouldn't have known where i was going for all the fog. (not quite) a real pea souper.
hyde park in the morning
there's a geocache in that there bandstand
cross bones graveyard
work colleague harry recommended i track down the cross bones graveyard about a year ago.
i finally got there yesterday
it's quite a place. in fact it's just a fence. what lies behind is a building site at the moment.
london at its best
this chap in the parker was acting very randomly by the horse guard near, er, horseguard's parade. the poor guard was looking a bit freaked out.
luckily mr parker had brought a selection of old lady shopping trollies with him. it took me back to my younger days when i would do something like this for hours on end for no apparent reason. oh happy days.
guess the landmark
i think this is probably quite easy, but can you guess the london landmark ?
bank holiday activities
i googled for 'bank holiday activities' and the second suggestion was back to funkypancake. what are the chances of that ?
anyway, jane and i used our home-alone bank holiday saturday to go up to london to visit the photography exhibition at Tate Britain then go on a guided tour of the houses of parliament.
i go in to the houses of parliament for meetings quite regularly but it was excellent to do the tourist thing and understand some of the history of the place. it was also very cool to be able to stand (we weren't allowed to sit) in both the house of lords and house of commons in amongst the famous seats.
probably not one for little kids, but if you're having a grown up day out in london, definitely worth an hour of your time.
boring photos of the london eye
click for big
grass walls on the southbank
the southbank is so cool at the moment. there's the gormley statues and the national theatre has grass growing up the side, making a nice green on the usual grey wall
enjoying the view
(i wasn't sure which one of these i liked best ! once again, i'm greatful for any advice - i think the one with the bike in feels nicer but i don't know why !
china town
unberleevably, i wandered through china town for the first time last week. i don't normally do west to east at that latitude. or perhaps i just didn't notice before as it wasn't covered in paper balloons.
so here's a photo with a random posing tourist for your enlightenment just in case you've never been either.
spring has sprung
spring sprung this week. on thursday people were sitting out having their lunch all over london and it was great. here are two people eating noodles with st paul's in the background
guess the thing
answer:
a great day out in london
i took the girls up to london a few days ago.
we went on the london eye
admired (and got drawn on) by street performers
then we got the tourist boat
which dropped us off a greenwich
then we walked under the thames before getting the driverless DLR and tube back to the train station.
much fun was had by all !
the old curiosity shop immortalised by charles dickens
this little shop is still a little shop. less curious (if you're curious) though. unless you find shoes curious
family trip to london
things didn't quite go to plan with our family trip to london yesterday. we initially tried to go to kinetica (as recommended here) but it wasn't open when we were there.
so we regrouped in Spitz for a while (and played snap/tetris) before going over to our main destination
unfortunately that was shut (although their website didn't mention it when i checked the night before)
so instead we went to the museum of london which was fun.
then back to the train for our journey home. i think we had a good day, even though things didn't quite go to plan.
trafalgar square
of course you guessed it right again (although it was America which won the race to win-ness this time).
guess the landmark
you did well at the last one (especially you australians who were awake when the post went live at 4am UK time!).
so, what is this ?
bethnal green
the first time i went to bethnal green was 8th june 2005. here's a photo of the tube station
canal
i often forget london has a really nice canal running through it. occasionally i stumble upon it when out on manoeuvres, such as this occasion when i'd just been to an art gallery preview
london viewed from windsor park
click for a big version and you can see BT Tower, the Gherkin and Canary Wharf on the horizon.
open garden weekend
if you are up in london this weekend you should go and look at some gardens. there's plenty open as it's the open garden weekend
i walk past this place on the work in the morning and i was delighted to see that they've completely filled the square with a giant marquee. so, even though you'll be allowed in the square, you won't see much except a giant tent.
some of the places look interesting, but we've got a busy weekend so won't be able to go unfortunately. maybe next year.
holland park
have you ever been to Holland Park ? it's not too far from Olympia and is really lovely. i walked through it as a short cut to get to a meeting and was really pleased i did.
can you believe this is right in the centre of london ?
and the sun shone
after weeks of not seeing the sky, it was finally back this afternoon. london looks so good in the sun.
city gent
i'm sure i remember coming to london when i was young and seeing some city gents in their bowler hats, but since then i've only seen one chap wearing a bowler and he was a nutty chap standing on a street corner, shouting religious words to anyone who would listen, after a hard day in the office. but he did look like a genuine bowler wearer.
perhaps when i get to heaven i'll meet him and tell him i remember him well.
however, yesterday, i spotted this chap with a bowler hat coming out of the Financial Times building. he even put his bowler on for a moment but then whipped it off as he ran for his cab.
from the quality of this shot you can tell i've been on a photography course can't you !
island hopping in central london
i discovered an island yesterday. i suspect someone found it before me (and put this sign up) but i thought i'd go exploring and consider if it was the kind of place i'd like to live
it contained one small mountain and a number of trees
looking the other way it was clear to see that it was a long thin island separated from the main land by two busy roads. it was nice to see a bollard was already nesting here so i felt quite at home
the view westwards was a little disappointing. instead of a vast expanse of sea, all i could see was a BMW garage and a bendy bus
on the way back i spotted this treasure map. the photos above were taken at location 6 - the strangely unmarked island.
norman is an island apparently.
controlling london
can you spot the coffee cup ?
st george's gardens
st george's gardens is a funny little place in the middle of london, full of dead reformers (except for the ones who got body-snatched i guess!)
despite all the great names buried in this place, there's a number of huge tombs.
this one had the identification faded away
it made me think that even if we're fantastically successful in life and get buried in a massive tomb then eventually any memory of the real us is forgotten. if it's just all about living, dying then being forgotten it all seems a bit sad !
(thankfully i belive there's more to life than that so no need to get all depressed !).
here's a picture from outside the