I first came to London in high school with my mom, sister and grandmother. Oddly (or perhaps not so much) I don't remember much about it. We saw Mamma Mia, visited the cabinet war rooms, took a day trip to Windsor and Bath. I'm not sure exactly how else we filled up the rest of that week.
My second trip to London was during college, with my sister and grandparents. I remember so much more about our cruise through the British Isles and what made up this trip. Perhaps I was more independent, or just less of an annoying teenager. One of the things that has stuck in my mind was St. James Park. I remembered the weeping willows and all the swans, loungers out available to rent so you could find a nice shady spot and relax with a book for the whole afternoon. Perfection.
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| There is such a thing as a black swan! |
Despite my fond memories of the park, I had not yet made it back there since my original visit all those years ago. This weekend, when nice weather hit and I got an itch to get out of the house, I knew that was where we should go.
Unlike Kensington Gardens, it would be quite a long walk for us & Belle, so we braved the tube. The gardens themselves were as lovely as I remembered, as long as you could picture how it was in the full color of summer, versus the dull/dead look of winter. They had some winter flowers planted, the grass was nice and green, and you had plenty of waterfowl to look at. These mesmorised Belle - so we wisely kept her on the leash the whole trip, just in case she decided she wanted to make a friend.
In the middle of the park is a bridge - you look to one direction and see the London Eye peeking behind the building where they have the horses guard. To the other direction, Buckingham Palace. So picturesque with the water setting the foreground, therefore lots of people like myself getting snap happy.
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| View of Buckingham Palace |
We walked around and admired the geese, swans, pelicans, and other water fowl, as well as lots and lots of squirrels. After a lap around the gardens, we headed over to Buckingham Palace. I mean, if you're that close, you have to stop by to visit the Queen, right?
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| One of three pelicans showing off that day |
We strolled over, snapped a few pictures to add onto the many I have taken before, showed off Belle's tricks to interested kids and as the afternoon was nearly over, called it a day.
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| Knocking at the Queen's gates |
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