After the quickest ever processing for us through any airport border gate, including in Australia, the Gatwick Express train delivered us at 120kph through gloomy but green southern London so that we arrived at the old but venerable London Victoria rail station a full hour before my self-imposed deadline.
The 90-minute pre-arranged slot for meeting the agent at the property near Hyde Park was from 4:30pm to 6:00pm and we rolled up at the front door, relaxing luxuriously in a Black Cab, at 4:25pm. As it happened, the accommodation agent was also just arriving and we met on the doorstep, as she (a Spanish lass called Jessica) realized that we, with our two suitcases, were probably the new tenants. Soon afterward we were being shown around the small apartment, in the back portion of an Edwardian building which presented quite a pleasant face to the street.
It's been quite a few years since we were in London and it was great to be back. Even though the sky was overcast, the streets around us were humming with activity and vitality. Dinner that first evening was at a relaxing nearby pub, only a few minutes stroll from the apartment, where we sat indoors at a table looking straight out through a big window onto the busy street, with every race on earth moving past on foot, in cars and on bicycles.
Wednesday morning. This morning was museum day with Mary visiting the V&A while I achieved a long term ambition to grace the halls of the Natural History Museum. These two are adjacent, just south of Hyde Park (while our apartment is on the opposite edge of the park) and so we set off on foot through the park, with umbrellas on board, but didn't get far before we were pulling out the cameras and soaking up the ambience. So here's a pictorial of the remainder of the day and the next. London is seriously impressive.
Mary, closest to the camera, approaching the wildfowl venue Round Pond, near Kensington Palace.
Queen Victoria's statue in front of Kensington Palace, where she was living when told she was to be queen. Note the ability to use a mobile phone or tablet to deliver a spoken commentary on Queen Victoria, while standing at the site, or anywhere else for that matter. You can hear the commentary on your mobile device (or possibly a desktop computer) at this link.
The amazing Albert Memorial on the left and the Royal Albert Hall opposite.
A seriously ornate but effective gilt fence separates the general public from the artistic treasures of the Albert Memorial.
Here a couple of north American tourists pause on their rented bicycles, very popular and available in untended racks in many places in central London, to take pictures of the memorial.
On the way to the museums, just strolling along London streets, south of Hyde Park.
The imposing entrance hall of the Natural History Museum. That's a white marble statue of Charles Darwin gazing down on the scene.
Life size model of a blue whale in the mammal section. Amazing! As were the models of a huge variety of marine mammals which were suspended from the ceiling in realistic poses.
Kids posing for a picture with Darwin's statue (Natural History Museum).
Kids even younger, part of a small school group, listening attentively to a museum staffer explaining the dinosaur whose skeleton dwarfs all of them in the entrance hall.
As earlier arranged, Mary and I were reunited on a nearby public bench in the street after two hours of individual perusal of our respective interests (no photos allowed in the V&A). Here we ate our cut lunch and then decided to continue walking toward the SE corner of Hyde Park (called Hyde Park Corner) to visit Apsley, the home of the first Duke of Wellington, the victor in the Battle of Waterloo, as he was in other battles against Napoleon.
The large dining room inside Apsley, where Field Marshall Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington held annual dinners with his fellow Army officers to commemorate their achievements on the battlefield.
By now our legs were beginning to ache with all of the walking and standing around on hard surfaces, and rain was threatening so we turned our attention to heading for our apartment near the diagonally opposite side of Hyde Park, probably two to three kilometres away.
Map of Hyde Park showing the main features, but not showing the myriad foot and cycle trails criss-crossing the space, which has groves of large trees interspersed with wide open grassed spaces.
Mary, at the eastern end of The Serpentine, a body of water deliberately created around 300 years ago for the benefit of Londoners. Note she's made some purchases at the V&A Museum shop.
One of the graceful residents of The Serpentine posing for the camera. There are also many Canada geese in residence and two of these can be seen on the water's edge in the background of this pic.
The next day we'd allocated to visiting Buckingham Palace to view the guard change and to generally meander around central London. Sunny skies greeted us and we took the Tube from the nearby Bayswater Station to ease the strain on our aching limbs, alighting, after a change of trains, at Green Park station and walking south to the Palace through the park. Here's another pictorial of the day's main events.
The palace hasn't changed much over the years, since I first saw it as an eight year old just before emigrating to Australia.
View looking NE from the Palace along the lake in St James' Park, toward Horse Guards.
After a long wait, the mounted part of the guard arrived right in front of us, having travelled SW down the Union flag-bedecked Mall and turned clockwise around the monument.
Afterward we sauntered NE along The Mall, away from the palace. Looking east we could clearly see the Clock Tower, while in the foreground the sunny skies had encouraged the deck chair entrepreneurs to display their wares (£1.50 per hour).
We headed for Trafalgar Square, which I don't think I've ever visited before. On the steps in front of the National Gallery we sat down with lots of others, Londoners and visitors, and ate our lunch, which we'd brought from our apartment.
Lunch time in Trafalgar Square. Mary's in the pic, as is a very large and quite new statue of a rooster.
Lunch over, pretty quickly, we split up again, Mary to visit the National Gallery, directly behind us in Trafalgar Square, while I headed off toward the Thames, just meandering wherever I felt like going, until two hours elapsed, by which time we were to meet again on the lunch steps.
Houses of Parliament and the Clock Tower (aka Big Ben) with Westminster Bridge at right.
A different perspective on the London Eye, whose entrance queue was a couple of hundred passengers long. Looking almost vertically from below.
Another view of Trafalgar Square, with a close up of the beautifully crafted and monstrous rooster.
And another, Nelson gazing south toward the seat of political power.
By way of a summary (as time precludes the inclusion of any further material), let me just say that London has been an excellent place to visit for us. There are plenty of things to see and do, but I was seriously impressed by the Natural History Museum, and just enjoyed strolling around London and bumping into unexpected landmarks and memorials, while mixing with the crowds of tourists from every possible country, mainly young people, clearly enjoying themselves. London's not a bargain destination, but well worth a visit, even a second or third.
Tomorrow we're taking the Heathrow Express from nearby Paddington Station to catch our flight home. This whole trip has been interesting and enjoyable for us and it looks like we're going to make it home safely and in two pieces, as we started.
Thanks for reading
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.
The technical stuff:
Our iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid) by the UK "3" network, including in Italy. On high ground and in town environments around Cornwall this connection proved quite good but many places, especially in valleys and in small coastal localities lack coverage so no or poor connection. In most parts of Sicily this connection has been good. As you'd expect, the cellular connection in London is excellent. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. WiFi is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our apartment where possible or on the roadside.
The cellular connection gives us both in car and on foot navigation capabilities which are essential around Sicily, where mere printed maps struggle to provide sufficient detail at a manageable size.
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