European Exercise V: A Walk in the Park, A Nap in the Theater

Remember the "Mr. Bean" episode where Rowan Atkinson plays the fool with the Guard in the ever recognizable furry Bearskin Cap? Well, KH and I went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and did nothing of the sort. Haha. Anyway, we woke up early on Wednesday and made our way to St. James Park first. Admired the beautiful blooms, especially the tulips. Big-ass squirrels also stalk the grounds and aren't afraid of humans. Plenty of people were lounging on the benches and the grass, soaking up the relaxing atmosphere. Managed to catch sight of some mounted police too. Walked the stretch of the park to the palace where we tried to squat at a piece of real estate along the gates to watch the preparation of the Changing of the Guard. Marching. Brass band. The works. Due to the coming royal wedding, plenty of international press was present to film. Caught sight of a semi-cute Asian cameraman. ;). After the guards marched out towards the gates of Buckingham Palace, the crowd started to move. Kinda like suicidal lemmings. However it was quite futile to follow as the rest of the tourists had choked up all available space there. So we had no chance seeing of what took place there. Just saw the calvary marching in and out. Either you watch the start or the end. No two ways about it. Rested a bit after the whole thing and slowly walked back to the park. Caught sight of a beefcake jogging topless and another tanning on the grass. Huhu. Bagus kan? Took a short break snacking on some bread on the park bench.

St. James Park I

The Changing of the Guard

Buckingham Palace

Good Weather

Regaining our strength, we walked to Trafalgar Square. Saw Nelson's Column flanked by four lion statues (relatives of the HSBC Lion?). A fountain. A ship in a giant bottle. And Catwoman. Street artists are everywhere in Europe. Directly facing the square was the National Gallery. Loads of art in there, but no photography!! They even installed light sensors on the walls to detect flash. Was kinda overwhelmed by the rooms and rooms of paintings. KH did most of the exploring. I wandered around a bit and sat down sulking wondering when I could eat lunch. :P. The highlights of the place were Van Gogh's "Sunflowers", Renoir's "The Umbrellas" and Botticelli's "Venus and Mars". Only recognized those from my Encyclopedia Brittanica. When we finally left the place to find a bite to eat, we wandered from street to street. Finally decided to stop at Le Garrick, near The Strand. Nearly died of hunger. A French cafe. KH ordered the mussels, while I tried the steak. Medium rare. The chips were soaked red with blood. Huhu. Washed it all down with some 1664 beer. Not a bad lunch, but perhaps we were just hungry.

Trafalgar Square

National Gallery

The Houses of Parliament was next on our list so we made our way back to Westminster Abbey. Big Ben again, but this time in daylight. The Parliament building was very impressive and had a very ornate exterior. Don't know about the interior though. The abbey was also off limits due to the coming wedding. Many international had already started shop on the grounds and a grandstand was built outside the entrace, kinda like an F1 thing. Heh. From there, we took a bus to Regent Street and shopped for about thirty minutes. Didn't get anything. Just managed to go into H&M, Zara and Hamleys before needing to meet Matt and Jess for dinner. The Oxford Circus station was closed due to overcrowding so we had to drag our tired asses to Bond Street to catch the Tube. The lines were screwed up again, so we had to alight at Tottenham Court. We sat down at the McD there and waited for Matt to come get us. Dinner was Taiwanese food at Legend, Chinatown. Quite expensive considering the dainty portions of vegetarian fish, casket bread, stir-fried beef and xiao loong bao. EarlGrey had joined us again.

Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey

Regent Street

Another musical was lined up that night and if you remember the fiasco in my last post, we were supposed to really watch Les Misérables on that date. The longest running musical. 25 years and still going strong. So famous. And you know what, I fell asleep halfway through it. Hahaha. Was really too tired. Dozed off here and there. Missed some parts. After listening to the French concept album for so many times, somehow the songs just down't sound right in English. The high speed lyrics just sound better in French. But at least I finally know what teh story is about. Hahahaha. We were too tired to do anything else after the musical, so we just headed home after taking some customary pics at Piccadilly Circus. The neon lights were like the "Times Square" of London. Wasn't impressed. :P. EarlGrey on the other hand went to cari makan in Soho. Still had to pack as we had a flight to Barcelona to catch the next morning!!

Les Misérables

Piccadilly Circus

Comments

Gratitude said…
Was the air at St James Park still filled with the smell of sauteed onions for the hotdog buns?
+Ant+
nicky05 said…
Wah!! nice eyes candy!! haha. u just cuci mata in that area only?
shane said…
nice catch XD fr tat guy how did u manage to take frm front view? lol..
William said…
@Grat:
No wor. Haha. Only saw one food vendor.

@Nicky:
Hehe. You like ah? Though you prefer 'other' type.

@Shane:
Trade secret. :P
Twilight Man said…
I truly admire your lovely photos for its colour vibrancy. Even the grass was so green! My photos were so dark with grey skies and bald trees in freezing winter. LOL
William said…
@Twi:
I cheated a little. :P

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