We started our day early to visit the Royal Parks. From our hostel, we walked down Nottinghill to Kensington Gardens where Princess Diana used to live. Saw many swans, ducks, pigeons, crows at the Round Pond in front of her palace. Third picture on the first row shows the Albert Memorial at Kensington Gardens. Looks like some Thailand temple.
We crossed the Serpentine to Hyde Park, where the famous Speaker's Corner is. It wasn't Sunday hence didn't get to see any animated speakers. Saw a cygnet! Not very ugly ma... dunno why they make him the ugly duckling. Loved the roses and statues at Hyde Park.
St James's Park is the prettiest of all the parks I visited. Last six photos show the beautiful lake at St James's. Spotted a squirrel scurrying for food from visitors.
How can you not fall in love with the London Royal Parks. Be sure to spend some time at the parks if you do visit London. Its another sight of London that you definitely not want to miss.I miss the serenity and flowers already...
We visited the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Along the way, we passed by the Wellington Arch, which resembles the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Wellington is England's national hero because he defeated French Napolean. As you will get to see, everything is Europe is pretty much the same and is somehow related to Napolean. Hur..
Didn't manage to see the changing of guards but we did catch the changing of the HORSE guards at the horse guards parade along Whitehall.
As you would have noticed, I am all covered up in my windbreaker in all the pictures so far. That is because, London rained endlessly that day. It started off with the usual downcasted sky, followed by drizzles when we left the hostel. The wind made me tremble. As we trotted to central London, the weather only got worse. Drizzle turned into rain. My shoes and socks were soaked through and through. My camera was kept in a zip lock to prevent it from getting too much rain. Didn't really help as I can't resist taking photos and exposing it to the cruel rain. I didn't care that I looked stupid in the hood anymore. It was more important to stay dry and warm or I will die.
We continued walking in the wind and rain, drenched and miserable. From Whitehall, we came to Trafalgar Sqaure, where the Africans were having a carnival. Found our way to Leicester Square to get tickets for a musical that night ( more on how to get cheap good tic later), Chinatown, SOHO and ended up at Covent Gardens.
I couldn't take it any more and decided to take a break at Covent Gardens where there is shelter. Found the heavenly hot air vent behind a cafe!!! I enjoyed the warmth and the luxury of shelter in the rain. Buskers provided good music and entertainment while I dry my numb and cold feet feet.
I was so reluctant to leave my holy heater. But we had to catch a musical back in Cambridge Theatre, Leicester Sqaure. CHICAGO!!! Sleazy, sexual, sinuous, sophisticated, slinky, sultry CHICAGO!!! I was very excited to watch this musical mainly because of the cell block tango and the Roxy solo.
But it was a disappointment. Cell block tango was done on stools instead of bars. And there was no tango. No flashy red ROXY set during the solo. No surprises no thrills. The theatre was small and sets and stage space were every limited. Actors however did their part with energy and singing was not too bad. But still a disappointment!!! I flew across the globe to watch it and it turned out to be mediocre. Argh... was not going to give up on just one musical. More coming up in the next few episodes!!!
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