Travelog for: Elisabeth

Well I am certainly impressed.

Lord Nelson's statue atop 'Nelson's Column' to commemmorate the Battle of Trafalgar.  Lots and lots of people throng here.

So we decided to do a release.

Ishtar was left snuggled up with one of the four mighty lion statues that surround Nelson's Column.  A fine place to be released into the wild!

When I got to The National Gallery (bottom pic) a few moments later, I looked back and Ishtar had gone.  Good Luck Ishtar - enjoy your journey!

Leicester Square:  at the heart of the West End/ TheatreLand.

This is where the public flock to see celebrities attend film premieres, and the starting point for many people's experience of London theatre (the 'cheap' ticket booth is here!). 

Surrounded by four cinemas, bars and restaurants, in the very centre of Leicester Square there is a small park, that now is home to a charming statue of Charlie Chaplin.

The Swiss centre (has a great clock) is at the far side of the Square in my pic.

A short walk from Leicester Square and you arrive at Covent Garden.

Covent Garden was a wholesale fruit, flower and vegetable market until the early 1970s.  Now it attracts visitors who enjoy the great shopping, eating, drinking and entertainment on offer, as well as those who love culture - it is the home of the Royal Opera House.

Not great pics, but there were so many tourists and not much elbow room for a small pink hippo to get busy with the camera ...

You can just see a street entertainer trying to ride the most HUGE unicycle ever!  And the last pic is a 'living statue' (there were several, this one was the best and the scariest!)

ChinaTown is in the Soho area of London (around Gerrard Street) and is characterised by Chinese restaurants and businesses - not many people live here.

It's a really unexpected sight, the street decorations are lovely and very colourful!

We stopped to eat at a little Italian in Soho.

The food was delicious and so much of it!  Even this very hungry hippo was beaten by the calzone!

I honestly can say that it did look better than this in the flesh.  A little less like roadkill I mean. 

It's a good job that presentation isn't everything ... 

So we continued our tour of the capital, a tad weary after far too much carbohydrate at one sitting ...

We decided to head off for coffee in Bloomsbury, and set off walking at a brisk pace.

This is Soho Square, with a conveniently placed bicycle to make a quick getaway should one need it!

Neil wanted to take Isobel to see The Reading Room at The British Museum, so that's where we headed off next.

Unfortunately the Reading Room was closed, awaiting the arrival of China's historic Terracotta Army later this year.  Ho hum. 

I hope they like reading when they get here, that's all I can say!

So here's the outside of The British Museum, beautiful building huh?    And me looking for good spots to release a couple of my fellow ToyVoyagers.

And the inside - how amazing the roof looks on a sunny day!

We continued our journey through Bloomsbury (has many artistic and literary connections - Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, even Bob marley for six months!), having a coffee and taking in the sights, like Russell Square.

You can't go to London and not see St. Paul's Cathedral.

Apparently it's the fifth St. Paul's Cathedral on the site.  Designed by Sir Christopher Wren who is also buried here.  His epitaph:
"Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice"
(Reader, if you seek a monument, look around you)

Prince Charles and Lady Di were married at St. Paul's (breaking with tradition - most Royals favour Westminster Abbey) and lots of important events are held here.

Here it is looking particularly impressive in the afternoon sun.  And I look pretty good too! 

Getting tired now.  But up to Piccadilly Circus to take in some bustle and noise. 

The Street Entertainment a little more disappointing here.  Here we have a fine example of a rare native English species, the 'Half-Man, Half-Robot'.  Found only where tourists part easily with their sterling, the Half-Man, Half-Robot will only do his 'Robot-Thang' if you ply him with a steady flow of loose change.  Luckily for me, and him I suppose, some people seemed to like throwing coins at men who paint themselves silver then jerk about for a bit.

The next pic shows the famous lit-up signs of Piccadilly, and the last pic shows the statue of 'Eros' (apparently it's not really Eros,  LoveGod, but the 'Angel of Christian Charity' - a monument to Lord Shaftesbury). 

And then we're off to Harrods ('Rods' to those in the know) before they shut up shop for the night!

HARRODS!  The Corner Shop of the Rich and Famous.

Harrods is fabulous.  Very expensive, very posh.  Prides itself on customer service and once turned Jason Donovan of 'Neighbours' fame away for wearing ripped jeans. 

We didn't go in because
(a) it was very very busy
(b) we could probably only have afforded a carrier bag anyway.

After all the hustle and bustle of city streets, tourist attractions and posh shopping, I felt the need for some peace and quiet.

So, in spite of our weary feet and tired legs (we'd been walking most of the day and had probably covered at least seven or eight miles) we opted for a stroll through London's Parks again, and headed for Hyde Park.

Good choice!

It was still a beautiful warm day despite being late afternoon now, and many people were out enjoying the Spring weather, especially by, or on, The Serpentine (big lake). 

I also met an English squirrel. And here's the photographic evidence!

Still in Hyde Park, I went to see The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.

It cost £3.5million and is an oval stone fountain that is turbulent in parts and calm in others.  It's meant to represent Princess Diana's life.

I'm not sure what I think about it.  You have a look and make your own mind up.

Here is the famous statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens - the place he was meant to have lived before he went off to live in NeverLand.

The Round Pond in Kensington Gardens and my new friend, Swan.

Swan-Fact of the Day:  all swans, including my new friend here, belong to the Queen (yes, that's right, my grandmama) under an ancient charter and are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Anyone killing or injuring swans faces a £5,000 fine or six months in prison.  Ha!