Our London stay is almost over. Tomorrow we'll get the train to Peterborough in Norfolk, the start of our adventures up north. We decided today would be a more leisurely day and it would not involve museums.
Before sharing the highlights, here is a pic of Geoff pretending to cook something in our handy pocket-sized kitchen. You can see how much space there is (or isn't) between the wall and the stove. That is the point of the pic. We were about to go out and I am not sure what Geoff thought posing with a saucepan and slotted spoon would add. He doesn't normally cook in his winter-weight coat, especially when our flat is centrally heated to a tropical 30 degrees C. But he is very good value and that's what counts. (Would insert heart icon here if I knew how.)
After Geoff had returned the kitchen utensils (both sunbeams) to their rightful place, we were off to Regents Park. It was a delight, not least because it has a number of dog off-leash areas and we are both feeling very dog-deprived and missing my beautiful Rebel, the Golden Retriever.
We had a lovely chat with all these dogs. The one of the left is Hugo the Bernese mountain Dog. He has to wear a muzzle in the park because otherwise he swallows tennis balls. Behind him is a Golden Retriever. On the right, just above my shapely leg, is a beautiful rescue Greyhound, originally from Ireland.
Another highlight of Regents Park is the beautiful flower gardens. There were no Bambis to distract Geoff, so he got some rather nice tulip shots.....
...including this one of a multi-headed tulip. (If you're reading Ms Melons, these were similar to the shots I attempted to send via Messenger. I'm sorry all you got was a fence post and some sky.)
It was rather lovely strolling through the park and stopping every now and then to admire both the petunias and the poultry on the pond - it reminded us a bit of Wind in the Willows.
Although slightly grey-looking, this is a genuine Australian black swan, who shares a pond with his partner and also ducks, swamp hens and geese. I commented to Geoff that given how graceful and quite beautiful swans are, it seems strange that royalty and the aristocracy used to eat them in large numbers. Geoff said "Yeah, but Henry the Eighth would eat shit with sugar on it." Coarse but undoubtedly true!
This is an English magpie. They resemble Australian magpies only in that they are black and white. They squark very unpleasantly, unlike our tuneful colonial variety. (Susie, have you re-filled all the birdbaths? love, Mum)
After leaving Regents Park we walked along the canal towpath that intersects London Zoo. We saw this very handsome warthog. We also saw African Wild Dogs in the next yard but couldn't get a pic because they hid behind a fake rock in their pretend savannah.
And that is all from me for the mo. Handing over to my Prince Charming now....
Yeah, top day in and around Regents Park and a nice change from admiring 5th century artifacts at the British Museum, particularly as they were all looted from their place of origin. Not that there's anything wrong with museums and artifacts mind. But the weather was great and we really enjoyed the day out. Anne has already given a comprehensive picture of the Regents Park flora and fauna, except that we also caught a glimpse of what was obviously a light green coloured parrot. When we encountered an archetypal twitcher (complete with binoculars) we sought his assistance and were told it was a red necked parakeet, and that they're now quite common in southern England, at least for the last 15 years or so. We all agreed it's due to climate change, although no doubt our beloved PM would beg to differ. But who knew there are parrots in the wild in England? Not us.
The canal towpath led to Camden, where the canal goes right under the main street, complete with a lock. A lunch at the fabled Camden markets followed by a bit of stall shopping and we were ready for the 253 bus back to Euston. By the way, Euston Road (which we now know well) was 100 pounds on the Monopoly board, right? Anyway, a good day was had by all, and we're about to head out to dinner, via one of our favourite watering holes from last time, The Queen's Larder.
Till tomorrow! xxx
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