London Pictures, Round 1

I'm trying to keep these in some kind of order.

The day I landed in London, I found my way to my house share and proceeded to wander around Islington. This is a terrifically cool neighbourhood and yes, the main reason I stayed there was that Arthur Dent is from there. I'm a geek and I'm proud of it.

My first full day in London, I took the tube in to London proper. London is made up of 33 boroughs, each one a city in and of itself. What we think of as "London" is actually the City of London and the City of Westminster. They're all connected by tube, overland and other various transit systems, as well as many roads in and out. It's difficult to navigate if you have no idea about anything, like I did. I did use Google maps, which was helpful until it tells you "Go west on Lower Sloane Street"and you really have no idea which way west is or indeed, where Lower Sloane Street is.

I digress. Once in London (Westminster), I found my way to Buckingham Palace. You enter in through a square, home of the Victoria Memorial. Queen Victoria thought very highly of herself and erected a very large monument in her honour. I did not get any good pictures today, so I will post them in the proper order.

Around the square are pillars with the names of the countries of the Commonwealth. I searched and searched for Canada. Why don't we have a pillar? This didn't seem fair. Even New Zealand had its own pillar.

We have a gate. The gate leads in to Green Park, a beautiful space. Green Park is one of the Royal Parks. These were lands owned by the Royal Family - Green Park was used primarily for hunting and duels. In total there are five parks throughout London and Westminster that are Royal Parks.

Gates of Buckingham Palace.

This is as close as I could get. In August and September, tours are available. Some people say that £33.50 is too much to pay for what amounts to ten rooms, some portraits, some hallways and the garden. I think those people forget they're in a palace. Where the Queen lives. Yeah, you're not going to walk in on HRM Queen Elizabeth II on the loo, but you're still in a palace. I'd pay that.

Sometimes I take good pictures.

This nice gentleman was keeping all the riff raff away. Well, at least on the other side of the gate.

There was no Changing of the Guard this day.  That will come in a Round Two post.

St. James Walk, between Buckingham Palace (on the left) and Green Park.

James and I walked. We walked a lot. We ended up at Harrods, half intentionally.

 

James made some new friends. This is Chester, Harrods' Christmas Bear. Many people were amused by this set up and took their own pictures.

Harrods has bears through their store to show iconic British images. As an example, the Royal Guardsmen.

 

Bobbies!

 Dudes in kilts!

Harrods Doormen!

*not a duplicate.

This gentleman is Paul. He was asking many questions about James and his travels (and the "on fire C" on James' hoodie). He then declared James to be his best friend and insisted on a picture.

Next up: Changing of the Guard.