11 May (Thursday) continued.

Properly fortified by my salad, I got up and said to myself, John (my coworker) said to not miss the gold-leafed Albert statue. So I headed that way. The statue (or memorial rather) in question is directly across the street from the Royal Albert Hall, aka a very important musical venue.

Having gotten that stuff out of the way, I walked northward towards Hyde Park. I wasn't looking for anything in particular. I just wanted to walk the park. Years ago I did the same thing in New York's Central Park, and I remember not being that impressed. Granted, it was August, and it was sweltering. Which is sort of the kind of weather I found myself in, London in May. The heat was stifling, and the sun would not leave me alone. Walking alone one of the gravelled paths was not the best idea. No trees really, but I tried to walk under whatever tree I could so I could have a brief respite of shade. I figured I'd walk down one path to Kensington Palace, see if there was anything interesting there, then make a turn towards Bayswater Road, which frames the park on the north end. Huffing and puffing I get to the gate of the Palace. I saw an advert along the walk there about a Mario Testino photo exhibition of late Lady Diana in her many ball gowns. However, they're closing up for the day and tell me to come back tomorrow. I know that isn't going to work because tomorrow, I'm meeting up with my buddy Gary for the day. No Mario Testino exhibition for me on this trip. I asked which way I should go for Bayswater Road, and the guard pointed me in the right direction. At that point, heat and exhaustion have gotten the better of me and I sit down on a bench. A man in his 60s sits down next to me and starts a conversation. I learn that his lovely accent is not from London, but he is originally from Cardiff. He recommends me to see Richmond - which I could not manage to squeeze in on this trip, but maybe next time. As most people have been on this entire trip, he is surprised of my devotion to Morrissey and that I've come all this way to see him. Before we can talk any more, the gravel starts kicking up and this loud, thunderous noise is above us. What is it, but a helicopter?!?

Londoners in the park come scurrying over to the palace fence, as it's clear that the helicopter is going to land on the palace grounds. Cameras are a-clicking. The Welsh fellow are sitting there, not in awe but more of disgust of all the photograph seekers. Multiple police cars circle the helicopter; other cars empty and yellow marked guards come out and stand next to the fence, as if one of the excited bystanders would climb the fence and potentially put the helicopter's passengers in danger. Who is it? We find out it's the Duke of Kent. Whoever he is. Since I'm not English, I have no idea how important this guy is. Either way, I wasn't bothered. I bid adieu to my new Welsh friend and headed for Bayswater Road. Somewhere along the way I snapped this photo of some very pretty flowers in bloom.

I could not tell for sure from my map how far I'd have to walk to the Queensway station. I figured if I kept on Bayswater Road going east, I'd run into the station eventually. Walk walk walk. I guess I was enjoying walking along the fence of Hyde Park that I started to get a bit worried that I hadn't seen ONE familiar tube "red ring" sign yet. I had a hankering for a popsicle but they only sell lemon and strawberry here, two flavors that I don't care for. Well, it couldn't hurt to ask a ice cream man where the Queensway station was. He tells me that Queensway was way way WAY in the opposite direction, and that the closest station to his stand is Lancaster Gate. Oops. Regardless, I found out on Sunday, when we were headed for Notting Hill Gate, that Queensway wasn't even a working station because it was under construction. At least I found a tube station!

So I finally figure out where Bank is, but no one knows where the Wellington statue is. None of the personnel seemed to know what I was talking about. Eventually, they got someone who knew where this statue was and told me which exit I was supposed to get out of. (I used to think Metro [D.C. subway] station exits were confusing, as the downtown stops often have 2 exits. For example, the most popular stop is called Smithsonian, but there are two ways to leave the station - most people leave to go towards the Mall (towards the Washington Monument), but now that the Holocaust Memorial has been built, some people leave in the opposite direction. Westminster station has 6! I believe Waterloo has a ton of exits too. The only one I was worried about was the South Bank exit, because that was closest to my hotel.)

Here are a bevy of photos I took on "The Ancient City at Night" tour. I'm sorry but I don't remember what each picture is of. I know we must have stopped in front of these buildings and there's a story attached to them. At least I know these three were taken in the financial district, the Wall Street of London, if you will. Which one is the FTSE is anyone's guess.

The famous (or infamous?) London Stone. This was supposedly used by the Romans as the marking point for the center of the city. Obviously, I did not understand that the stone was INSIDE behind the grates you see in this picture I took. For more on the London Stone, read this entry on Wikipedia. As it were, it was getting dark and even if I known it was behind the grate, I doubt I could have gotten a better view of it.

London Bridge. as in "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down..." I believe this is Fish Hall on the right hand side. Fish Hall was, I believe, the original site of the Billingsgate fish market, where Michael Caine, George Orwell, and the twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray once worked as porters.

(3e)

posted 12/04/06
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