Hyde Park

Today was a good day for a nice long walk.  Up until today I had never actually been in Hyde Park.  Sure, I had been on the periphery a few times and knew where it was in location to some other spots (for example my favourite department store, Harvey Nichols, is very close) but I had never actually ventured forth to explore. 

Given that I knew people rode horses in the park -- there was some benefit to reading all those cheesy historical romance novels -- I guess I should have been prepared for how big it is as you obviously need a bit of space if you are going to enjoy a decent ride.  Or at least I suppose you need some space but I don't know much about genteel horse riding being that I'm from the Wild West.  I looked it up and the combined area of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens is just under 640 acres or about 1 square mile.  

It has just about everything you can think of for a park: lakes for rowing, paths for bikes, paths for people, paths for horses, rose gardens, flower meadows, trees, ducks, statues, monuments, fountains, etc.  The Children's playground looks particularly impressive and I do wish that one of you lived here so I could borrow an appropriately aged child for the afternoon and "supervise" them on the pirate ship.

Queen Victoria's memorial to Albert is also very impressive but I think they frown upon people playing on it.  It is right across the street from Royal Albert Hall where A, N and I all agreed we really need to go to a concert.  Maybe we'll go to the Proms this summer.  We do need to go back to the Park to see the Rose Garden in bloom and tour Kensington Palace when it reopens later this month.  So much to see!  We are going to try to do or see something every two weeks (fortnightly if you are English...they actually still say that here) which is touristy or interesting.  I think it is a great goal and I don't think we can possibly run out of things.

Albert Memorial

Royal Albert Hall

I have to admit that our 5 mile walk has tired me right out!  All that fresh air, and perhaps a few too many pints watching the rugby yesterday (Go Wales!), have got me thinking a pre-dinner nap is in order!

London 2012

Something about shopping with the girls is universal.  Yesterday I met up with a couple of girls from work for a bit of shopping at a mall.  A mall the size of West Edmonton Mall but no repeat stores (http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/).  They do have them here (malls) but they tend to be way out in the suburbs.  With the exception of the absolutely cool new red Chuck Taylor's that I bought (aka Converse Runners), I would say that I actually prefer shopping on the high street.  I guess because it is different than at home.  Also because I am starting to realize that I really dislike giant crowds of people!

The best part of the trip was that the mall is next to Olympic Park!  There are a couple of viewing platforms in the mall and you can actually get a good view from the train coming into the station too.  I'm going to have to learn a few synonyms for big.  Everything here is big if you grew up in Saskatchewan but the Olympic Park sets a new standard for big. 

Most of London, myself included, are struggling to come to terms with just how we will deal with an extra million people a day trying to get around.  The transportation system here already operates at maximum capacity most of the time.  Any little hiccup causes widespread chaos in the system and once things begin to break down it doesn't matter if you are in a car or on a train.  Our Company actually has a separate committee that is charged with making sure we can still keep operating during the games.  It is a real concern that people won't be able to get to the office.  Our main office is well away from central London but the area it is in will be hosting the Canoeing events and many of the practice locations for various teams.  We do have an investment office in the City and that might be quite a challenge.  Generally, every Olympic visitor is likely going to pass through the financial district on their way to the Olympic Park.  Yikes.  My own tube station, Angel, is likely going to be impassable at certain points in the day.

Right now, I'm thinking that I should be able to get up to the office at Potters Bar in the morning (provided I leave early enough) but getting back home might be impossible later in the day.  So, I'll probably try to get down to our office in the City mid-day.  I'll finish up my day there and then probably just walk back to my flat...about 2 miles.  This will all be happening while we are trying to finalize 2nd Quarter earnings so there will be no option to just book holidays.  But I understand why people want to leave!

It will be interesting to see what happens!  Regardless, I've got all my Canadian gear ready to go and I am preparing to cheer as loud as possible.  I might even have to get a Canadian flag for my balcony. And, if any of you can get tickets you are welcome to come and sleep on my floor!

Westminster

Big. Very Big.  High.  Very High.  Those were my first thoughts as I walked into Westminster Cathedral but, as usual, first impressions of these sorts are a little hard to put into words.  Big and high don't really describe it at all.

My friends at Wikepedia tell me that the cathedral was built between 1245 and 1517 with the western towers added in the early 1700s.  Okay.  I really can't comprehend that amount of time in terms of how long ago that was and how long it took to complete.  I wonder what my brother, who manages big construction projects, would think about a 325 year project time line?  Makes my 2 year bathroom reno look pretty tame!

It is a who's who of tombs and graves.  Although, you have to look close because some have fine print noting where the person is actually buried...as in not in Westminster.  Early tourism?  I started looking a little closer when I "saw" Shakespeare's grave marker.  Which would have been cool if I hadn't already stood in another church, in Stratford-upon-Avon, and looked at a grave marker for Mr. Shakespeare!  I was rather surprised to see Chaucer's tomb...especially since that first thing that flew into my mind was the Wife of Bath's tale which, according to my high school English teacher, was pretty racy stuff for the time.  Maybe the church was more liberal back in the day.

Having spend the previous day trolling through the Tower of London (I will never tire of the Crown Jewels), and just arriving from Buckingham Palace (arriving for the changing of the Guards...by accident!), it was interesting to see all the Royal burials.  M&M, my girlfriends in from Winnipeg for a little visit, and I wondered if the Queen might end up here in the end too.  Ignorant Colonials that we are, not one of us knew where a modern monarch might be buried these days?

We also agreed that it must have been terrifying for Catherine to walk down the aisle there just last year.  I wonder how she managed to look so calm and serene!