Our First Day in London...U.K. Trip Day 2a

Day 2, Oct. 26

We slept in, well, Rachel did. I woke up early, tried to go back to sleep and failed. Too excited to slumber, I ended up reading until Rachel woke up. We made our plans for the day and consulted the concierge who explained how to get to the bus stop (which was on Cherry Lane--how perfectly appropriate!) and what subway to take once we got to Hounslow station (which appeared to be the hub of most of the bus and subway routes in the area--I called it the Underground Grand Central Station.) We gleefully hopped onto the double decker bus and told the driver where we needed to get off and asked for his help since we weren't familiar with the area (understatement of the year!). Up to the  top deck we climbed and sat in the very front of the bus which was to be our modus operandi on all the double decker buses. From our vantage point, it looked like we were going to run over people and cars. The roads were also extremely narrow and there was so much traffic that we were sure our bus was going to sideswipe another vehicle. It was quite a harrowing experience until we got used to it.To this day I am surprised that we didn't ever run over or sideswipe any one. Once at the "grand central underground station" of London, we bought the day pass that would meet our transportation needs for the day. We decided to take the Piccadilly Line and see where we might end up, knowing that Buckingham Palace was somewhere near the tube stop. We hopped on the subway, were careful to "mind the gap" and thus began our first day wandering the streets of London!




Rachel looking like a tourist...





                                                                               subway






We disembarked at Piccadilly Circus~no circus in view~and wandered down the street. Statues, red phone booths, window boxes with blooming flowers, cafes, monuments, little shops and then suddenly we were on THE mall. No, not that mall, I mean the tree-lined mall that leads to the monument to Queen Victoria, which, incidentally, stands in front of Buckingham Palace.




Personally I was a little surprised at how relatively small and almost nondescript the palace itself was. However, the enormous statue of Queen Victoria and the intricately ornate gates to the palace compound more than made up for it.
 

                   intricately ornate gate



After an appropriate amount of time spent gawking at the monument, the fountains, the palace, the guard (no, we did not try to get him to talk) and the gates, we strolled through St. James Park, marveling at the lush green grass and all the flowers that were still in full bloom at the end of October. (probably because of all the rain...sounds like a good theory to me, anyway)

There were ducks and swans and pelicans and other water fowl swimming cheerfully in the pond, smug in the knowledge that they were safe behind the little wrought iron fence (and the sign that hinted of dire consequences should anyone trespass)

                          
                                   Smug swans
                                                             
----->               -------->            ------->     --------->



 

                            Duck Keeper's Cottage--they were serious about their ducks and swans and geese...

                                                             and pelicans...

                                                              and other assorted waterfowl.
 (if anybody knows what the name of this bird is, please keep it to yourself. I don't think I could sleep at night if I knew the name of this bird...I already have nightmares about grackles...)