London Nov 2018 346-Edit-Edit
My annual weekend trip to London, which gives me Saturday afternoon, evening and Sunday morning out and about wandering where ever I want to go. My daughters (and a coach load of ladies) are on the trip so I do have some other commitments on Saturday evening. Travelling at the beginning of November we were earlier than previous years so, although the decorations were in place, London wasn't as colourful as previous visits. I had decided to walk across to Little Venice as it isn't far from our hotel at Marble Arch and I hadn't been before. Having walked along the canal at home all summer chasing wildlife I wasn't impressed by a canal in London, it was windy so no reflections in the water and I left fairly soon. I'd seen Paddington Rail Station on the map not far away so I headed there. I got my camera out for the first time, it was fairly quiet and there weren't any restrictions on cameras (as far as I could see) I made eye contact with quite a few of the staff and smiled and nodded, as I would back home, and got quite a pleasant reception, no worries about me and my backpack and camera. I was pleasantly surprised at how clean the station was. I did a nine mile circle taking in Hyde Park , Piccadilly, Regent Street and Oxford Street. The London to Brighton run was on the following day so Regent Street was shut with many of the cars and loads of other transport related stuff on display. It was busy and the light was going so I didn't bother taking many photos. The cars were leaving Hyde Park just down the road from our hotel at dawn on Sunday but I couldn't muster enough enthusiasm to walk down even though I was up early. I grabbed some window and people shots on Oxford Street. Some of the Christmas displays were already in place, most notably Selfridge's, some of the displays were behind temporary work barriers as a new pavement was being laid and I couldn't get to the window, I decided to go back on Sunday morning and climb over them-which I did, Oxford street was very quiet just after 8.00 am and I got my shots.
On Sunday I walked a ten mile circle out to the Thames South Bank, on to the Shard and Tower Bridge. I went across in to The City and wound my way back to Hyde Park. We had really good journeys both ways and the coach driver did the journey home without a break, he was able to get back to the depot and park up inside his 4 1/2 hours driving time which I think is a first in 16 years. I walked home from Slaithwaite and rounded my weekend mileage to twenty miles, this is the furthest I've walked since I had reconstructive surgery on my right foot at the end of February. I wasn't particularly fired up for the trip after one of the most difficult years I can remember-and that's saying something-so I struggled to find something to get enthused about which is probably why I didn't take any photos at Little Venice and very few at Regents Street.
London Nov 2018 346-Edit-Edit
My annual weekend trip to London, which gives me Saturday afternoon, evening and Sunday morning out and about wandering where ever I want to go. My daughters (and a coach load of ladies) are on the trip so I do have some other commitments on Saturday evening. Travelling at the beginning of November we were earlier than previous years so, although the decorations were in place, London wasn't as colourful as previous visits. I had decided to walk across to Little Venice as it isn't far from our hotel at Marble Arch and I hadn't been before. Having walked along the canal at home all summer chasing wildlife I wasn't impressed by a canal in London, it was windy so no reflections in the water and I left fairly soon. I'd seen Paddington Rail Station on the map not far away so I headed there. I got my camera out for the first time, it was fairly quiet and there weren't any restrictions on cameras (as far as I could see) I made eye contact with quite a few of the staff and smiled and nodded, as I would back home, and got quite a pleasant reception, no worries about me and my backpack and camera. I was pleasantly surprised at how clean the station was. I did a nine mile circle taking in Hyde Park , Piccadilly, Regent Street and Oxford Street. The London to Brighton run was on the following day so Regent Street was shut with many of the cars and loads of other transport related stuff on display. It was busy and the light was going so I didn't bother taking many photos. The cars were leaving Hyde Park just down the road from our hotel at dawn on Sunday but I couldn't muster enough enthusiasm to walk down even though I was up early. I grabbed some window and people shots on Oxford Street. Some of the Christmas displays were already in place, most notably Selfridge's, some of the displays were behind temporary work barriers as a new pavement was being laid and I couldn't get to the window, I decided to go back on Sunday morning and climb over them-which I did, Oxford street was very quiet just after 8.00 am and I got my shots.
On Sunday I walked a ten mile circle out to the Thames South Bank, on to the Shard and Tower Bridge. I went across in to The City and wound my way back to Hyde Park. We had really good journeys both ways and the coach driver did the journey home without a break, he was able to get back to the depot and park up inside his 4 1/2 hours driving time which I think is a first in 16 years. I walked home from Slaithwaite and rounded my weekend mileage to twenty miles, this is the furthest I've walked since I had reconstructive surgery on my right foot at the end of February. I wasn't particularly fired up for the trip after one of the most difficult years I can remember-and that's saying something-so I struggled to find something to get enthused about which is probably why I didn't take any photos at Little Venice and very few at Regents Street.