Two Days' Tome

White swans, Palaces and Parks

Wandering through Hyde Park in the middle of the London Marathon

On our first weekend - before I started work - we though we had better tick at least one of the tourist activities off our list. Julian and Sarah's flat - where we were staying for our first 10 days - is about 10 minutes walk from Kensington Gardens - and Kensington Palace - currently famous for being the residence of Kate and Wills - or so says the Daily Mail - source of all truth.

Kensington Gardens

Hyde Park ponds

If you walk from the top end of Kensington Gardens you can walk all the way through to Hyde Park and beyond to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. This is exactly the route we took - winding our way along pretty paths lined with trees just recognising it was spring and sprouting.

The parks are full of dogs - all running around off the leash with their owners casually following behind. England seems to have a completely different attitude to dogs than Australia. People live with dogs in flats you wouldn't consider keeping animals in in Australia - and they escape to the Parks to stretch their legs - both the owners and the dogs.
Its not like Paris where dogs sit up at the table and share in cream puffs - but dogs are just an accepted part of life. I walked past a church in Dursley when we were there that had a sign out the front - 'No dogs except on a leash' - of course dogs were allowed in the church - they just had to wear their leashes. In the pubs not only does the owners' dog wander the place - knowing all the regulars and requesting the odd scratch behind the ear - but all the patrons bring their dogs with them. To my surprise the dogs have behaved far better in the pubs than the people - they don't have one to many and get a bit rowdy - they simply ask for the odd pat - and in one case - for the (rather soggy) ball to be tossed up and down the pub between our feet.

The boys

I remember visiting Hyde Park with mum and dad when we came through London in 1998. It was April and cold, and we defied the cross looks of the Londoners whilst playing bocce on their soft lawns. This visit was quite different. Whilst cold, the air was fresh and it felt like spring. The walk through the park was really delightful with bluebells and other flowers springing through the garden beds, people paddling little boats around the lake, and a feeling of a people who really know how to make the most of a find day outdoors. The parks run a deck chair hire business - where you don't have to own a smart stripy deck chair - or lug it from your little flat (which in our case would have been down 100 stairs and 10 minutes walk) to the park. They are provided for you and a little man comes around to ask you for your deck chair ticket. It is the outrageous price of $1.50 per hour (that's 1.50 pounds but my Australian laptop doesn't have a pound sign) - or $7 for the day. We didn't stop to sit on this trip - but it will make for an easy way to picnic on some future sunny day.

White swans

Another memory from the1998 triggered by this meander was seeing bluebells and deer in the wild for the first time. Mum and Dad had taken us for a walk somewhere in the English countryside - it could have been the Lake District but I can't remember exactly - and we has spied a patch of bluebells off the path with a deer in it. We broke the No 1 rule of walking in the UK and *gasp* left the path to get closer. We didn't get very close before a group came walking along the path behind us - catching us breaking the rules. Like good rule breakers we felt it wouldn't matter if we didn't get caught - so the whole family - all 5 of us - hid. We scattered and stood behind trees and shrubs until the walkers passed by and we could safely get back on the path and pretend we never left.

Bluebells

On this walk the bluebells were clearly visible from the path so there was no need for straying.

The marathon

It so happened that the weekend of this walk was the London marathon - it was going to be impossible to get public transport anywhere in the city - hence the long walk! We watched the runners - some in fancy dress - run the last kilometre past the glorious frontage of Buckingham Palace.

The last leg of the marathon

From there we continued our walk to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster. I didn't realise they were so close - my memories of London from 1998 don't include a sense of space.

We didn't go into Westminster Abbey on this visit - too hard in the midst of the marathon wending its way through the city. We did however admire the flying buttresses (after a quick lesson on what they were for the boys) and the juxta position of the two seats of power together.