First Trip to London

St. Albans Festival - Street Fair

My first weekend since arriving in the UK had arrived.  My parents had sent me a guide book to London a couple of months back and I have formed a long list of places I want to go see in London while I am here.  That being said today it was more like information overload.  I decided that today I would go see Buckingham Palace, and see where it went from there.

I ate a full breakfast at the hotel and then began the 15 minute walk to the Train Station in St. Albans.  Shortly after I left the hotel I saw a street fair setup as part of the St. Albans Festival that is going on through next weekend.  Once I arrived at the Train Station I purchased an All Day pass for 12 pounds.  This allows me to use the Trains, Tube, Underground, and Buses in all zones.  The station staff was very helpful making sure I got on the right train.  As a tip they said to make sure to ask about the return train, as not all of them heading north stop at St. Albans.

St. Pancras Station Mall

I got on the train which was quite full with all the people heading into Wimbledon.  The train takes you into St. Pancras station which is quite large.  It even has a full sized mall in it as you head towards the Underground station of Kings Cross.  In addition this is also where a large number of Eurostar trains to the rest of Europe are caught.  I made a note of this for a longer weekend.

Green Park

I had planned to take the Victoria line and get off at Victoria station for the palace.  On the train in though a couple suggested that it would be better to get off at the Green Park station and walk through Green Park to the palace.  As it turns out I would have had to do this anyways, ans the Victoria Line was closed between King's Cross and Green Park.  So I took the Piccadilly Line instead. 


Canada Gate



There is quite a bit of construction going on the Underground for the upcoming 2012 Olympics.  At the Green Park station they are adding lifts (Elevators) to provide handicap access to all levels, and adding a ramped entrance from the park.  I crossed Piccadilly street and headed into the park.  It is a beautiful park, and I especially loved the huge trees.  You really get a sense of the history by how manicured these large parks are in England.  The trees are all very old and you can feel the hand of history in the large number of gardeners that have tamed them.





Buckingham Palace

I followed the streaming crowd figuring they knew the way to the palace.  There are lawn chairs setup in the park.  At first I couldn't figure out if they were for an event or not, but as it turns out they are for rent. As you continue through the park you come out at the palace by the Canada Gate, which is a large and very ornate set of gates covered in gold decorations.  You don't get to go through the gates, but walking around them I came into the square in front of Buckingham Palace.  There is a large fountain in the middle of the square called the Victoria Memorial.  I spent some time at the gates to the palace waiting to see one of the Royal family, but it was not to be.

Queen Victoria Memorial



Now came decision time, I could continue down the mall with the others or up Buckingham Palace street.  I decided that on my first of many days in London that I would just follow my feet.  More of a scouting mission then anything else.  So I headed up Buckingham Palace road.



Queen's Gallery Entrance

Along the way I came to the Queen's Gallery and stopped inside.  The gift shop alone was impressive with it's statues and carvings along the ceiling.  You can purchase a combined ticket which gives you access to the gallery and the Royal Mews which is one of the oldest and finest working stables still in existence.  Here is where they store the various carriages including the one used in the recent Royal Wedding.



Leaving the Royal Mews and continued to follow the wall around the outside of the palace gardens.  This wall is topped with iron spikes and a barbed wire outward leaning fence.  Near the SW corner of the wall I came across Grosvenor Gardens.  It is a very small park that contains the memorial to the Rifle Brigade and a random statue of a lion chasing a kudu. 



Lion chasing Kudu



Off in the distance I could see a cross sticking up above the skyline so I headed in that direction.  This took me down Kings Road which is quite pretty with parks lining one side for as far as I could see.  I came across the church on my right which turned out to be St. Peter's Church on Eaton Square.



Protest against Syria

I spent a couple of hours walking around this area between St. Peter's Church and Bargrave Square.  What fascinated me about this area was the large number of embassies located here.  Many located here for hundreds of years.  As I have said before I love history, and walking through theses streets so close to the palace I could feel it.  The US has only had a place of prominence in world politics for less then a hundred years, while England and British Empire for much longer.  I could imagine dignitaries and rulers coming to visit the palace in past times.   



 



Wellington Arch

After wandering the streets, I headed around Bargrave Square.  On one side there was a protest going on across from the Syrian Embassy by what appeared to be Syrians living in the UK.  They were quite vocal and there was a large number of police nearby.  Each corner of the park in the middle of the square has statues to historical figures including Christopher Columbus and Simon Bolivar.

  

From the square a short walk up Grosvenor Crescent took me to the intersection of the Buckingham Palace Gardens and Hyde Park.  In the middle of this large round about is Hyde Park Corner that includes several memorials including the Wellington Arch, Australian War Memorial, Royal Artillery Memorial, and the Machine Gun Corps.  



Across the street from Hyde Park Corner is the Wellington Museum located in Apsley House the former residence of the Dukes of Wellington.  This is also one of the entrances to Hyde Park.  When I saw the map to Hyde Park I realized I would need to dedicate one day to this park alone.  It is quite large and features several different attractions.  I ate a late lunch in the park and realizing I was dehydrated, a large amount of water as well.

Something for Olga?

 

From Hyde Park I decided to head to Mayfair.  On the map there were a couple of other small parks I wanted to check out.  I left the park heading up Park Lane.  Almost immediately I was distracted by a statue of a hand pushing an old car.  I crossed Park Lane there and passed The Dorchester heading into Mayfair.



  

Church of Immaculate Conception

Farm Street

 There was definitely a different feel in Mayfair.  The building looked different, still old but there seemed to be a lot more businesses located in the buildings.  As I wandered through these streets, I spied a park entrance and headed toward it.  It was a small secluded park surrounded by buildings.  It is very hidden and is called St George's Hanover Square.  The most fascinating feature is a small Church called The Church of Immaculate Conception Farm Street.  I didn't take any photographs of the inside, as it is a working church and several people were worshipping at the high altar.  The high altar was quite stunning, especially with the large ornate stained glass window behind it.  If you are curious definitely head over to the link above to see it.  Definitely worth checking out if you come to London.

 



Force of Nature II

 I sat for some time in this church, it was very quiet and peaceful.  When I left it was starting to get late in the day so I decided to head towards Berkeley Square and from there back to Green Park station completing a large loop on my wanderings.  Berkeley Square was quite nice as well and had one of my favorite sculptures so far named Force of Nature II.  After leaving the square I stopped and got a frozen drink at Eat.  I thought Portland was big on the whole organic thing, but I saw several restaurants including Eat that specialized in Organic/Free Range food.  More then I have ever seen in Oregon.



Dancers in St. Albans

 I took the train from Green Park Station back to St. Pancras and from there back to St. Albans.  On the walk back to my hotel I walked through Maltings which is a mall located in St. Albans, and in the central courtyard they had various dancing groups putting on performances, mostly of traditional dances from various countries.

I was very worn out from the days walking, but very excited by everything I saw.  There wasn't enough room on this post for all the pictures that I took.  If you are interested you can find them all here.  It also shows you a map of the locations where the pictures were taken.