My, its been a busy few days. Friday was spent in my room preparing for a phone interview for a summer internship (unpaid, alas), which I pretty much have landed. Now I have to find a community college that offers a corresponding online course so that I can follow government regulations and get credit for the internship, which is slightly more difficult to do when one is in London. But that is boring information compared to the rest of my weekend!
Before the pictures start, I must give advance warning for the deterioration of the quality of my photos. Over the weekend, my flash decided it didn't want to work anymore, which means that I have to hold very still to take photos with poor lighting, which is difficult to do as it basically means that I have to stop breathing. The end result is that some of the photos in my album are blurrier than I would like, but alas, que sera sera.
Saturday Emily and I went to St. George's Gardens, a small park near the Russel Square tube station, where there was a local celebration of St. George's Day taking place. We got some free cake and sat in the sun and did some reading while we waited for the main attraction: the Punch and Judy show. For those of you not acquainted with Punch and Judy, they are a kind of puppet that has been around for centuries in England, and the shows often require the mainly-child audience to shout warnings and directions to the puppets.
Judy takes a stick to Punch's head:
The characters get progressively zanier as the show progresses. My personal favorite, the Demon from Pantomime Land, is below. A very close second is the Australian Crocodile Dundee (you may be thinking I'm making this up......)
Sunday was a gorgeous day, and I got on the District Line for the hour-long tube ride to get to Kew Gardens, located on the very outskirts of the city. This huge park was basically designed for people to take it easy and enjoy nature; I found myself very envious of the locals who could buy a season pass and pop over whenever they wanted. One can stick to the asphalt path, or one can go off exploring. "Grass Paths" (essentially straight areas of grass that are free from trees or other foilage) criss cross the park, and there are dozens of small glenns and randomly scattered benches that allow the visitor to find a secluded area in the park and curl up with a good book or take a nap in the sun. Given how large the Gardens were, however, I couldn't indulge in this luxury, as I was anxious to see as much of it as I could. I saw about 90% of the park, sadly not being able to go to the roof of the famous Palm House as it closed before I could get to it (a full two hours before the rest of the Gardens closed, oddly enough.
A sampling of the flowers:
One of the more charming secluded spots:
And the park was not without its wildlife:
Monday was devoted to a geek pilgrimage to Cardiff, Wales. For those who don't know, I'm a big fan of the British sci-fi show Doctor Who, based around a time-traveling alien who travels in a ship disguised as a 1960s police telephone box. The show started in the '60s and ran for roughly 20 years, with 8 different actors playing the Doctor over the show's progression. A few years ago, the show was reborn.
What does this have to do with Cardiff, Wales? First, several episodes have been set in Cardiff. More importantly, there is a exhibition currently going on in Cardiff with props and costumes from the new generation from the show. Quite conveniently, the exhibition is located right next to prime shooting locations for the show. After a two hour train ride to the city, I had fun in Cardiff, though do to rain I didn't explore as much as I would have liked.
Nearly everything in Wales is translated into both Welsh and English.
This giant waterfall fountain is actually the secret headquarters of Torchwood, an organization that stars in a spin-off show of Doctor Who.
Tuesday I went to the London Transport Museum, which documents public transportation in London from the 1800s. Everything from horse-drawn trams to underground rail-cars were on display in the museum. It was definitely a fun exhibit.
After the museum, I wandered about Covent Garden a bit, having not been in the area before (I always overshoot it for Leicester Square). Grabbing a pasty from the West Cornwall Pasty Company (a favorite of mine), I saw myself down on the edge of a small square where street performers rent space to entertain the shoppers and watched a comedic duo perform juggling tricks. By far, the highlight of the show was the six or seven-year-old boy from the audience they picked to help with a couple of the tricks...who only spoke French. He was absolutely adorable, and which made it that much more entertaining when the entertainers stumbled through their halting French to get him to do what they wanted. They had some surprising success.
Wednesday I went to Westminster Abbey. Sadly, no photos allowed, or I would show you the magnificent architecture and sculptures inside. The Abbey had one of the better audio guides I've had, and not just because Jeremy Irons provided the narration. It also had a video screen with clips of areas that were not open to the public so that you could get an idea of what the inside looked like.
Alright, we've got a lot of albums, starting with:
St. George's Day Celebrations
Kew Gardens 1
Kew Gardens 2
Cardiff
London Transport Museum
Those of you who aren't into Sci-Fi may want to skip Cardiff, as it is mostly exhibition photos.
Sadly, I need to start studying today...curse that final!
Cheerio!
It's so awesome that you're going to places like these and experiencing so much! (Must've had a great mum who trained you right - heh.) When I was 5 or 6 and visiting London, I saw one of those very same Punch and Judy shows but I was too little and it freaked me out with all the smacking and yelling. I would love to see one again now! The photos are awesome, by the way, flash or not....
ReplyDeleteThanks!!!