London: Day 11

Today was another day with lots of walking. First, I took the tube to Notting Hill Gate for Portobello Road Market. Since this was the last Saturday I would be spending in London, there was no chance I was missing the market again. I found some gorgeous little antiques that I had to stuff, ever so carefully, into my already full suitcase.  I was at the market until around 1, when I headed to the hotel to drop everything off and jump back on the tube to go to the London Aquarium. 

The London Eye agan, because it truly is beautiful.

It's hard to imagine the city without it, even though it's only been there since 2000. 

How can you walk by this view and not take a picture?

Now, when it comes to aquariums, I only go to the ones that have fish. No whales, dolphins, or anything like that because I know how they exploit these animals. Just look at Sea World. Whales belong in the ocean.

Fish aren't as smart, so they can lead happy, safe lives in tanks, so as soon as I checed that this is what I'd be paying for at the aquarium, I bought my ticket. Which was a bit excessive, I must say. 21 pounds feels like a lot, but I guess it is one of the more touristy things to do, so you pay the price. 

Anyway, the fish were lovely.

You can see at the end of the shell purple tentacles, which moved, coming in and out as the animal tested the water for food. 

This was the largest tank, the shark tank, which had a very cool scupture of a huge skeleton of some sort. 

Lots of sharks, sting rays, and other fish. 

I stared at this sad-looking fish for a while. He moved his fins a bit, but didn't really swim about, just looked out at the crowd. I kind of wanted to give him a hug and take him home.

There's a seahorse on that bit of green, and also very strange worm-like creatures coming out of the sand. They looked so serious.

A very healthy looking crocodile. Quite fat, actually. 

It's a small aquarium, so I was done in about an hour. After that, I walked to St. James' park again. I have to say, of all the London parks, this is the one I love the most. Hyde Park is beautiful, but it feels a bit stuffy. St. James is just right. It doesn't hurt that there are so many animals around. 

Another view I hadn't seen the first time I was there. 

Despite the amount of people around, the park still felt calm. 

Geese with babies!

Adorable. Can you tell I miss my birds?

These two lost sight of their mother for a second and a half and started peeping like mad. She quacked at them from right outside the picture and they ran to her. 

And one of the famous telephone boxes. I hadn't taken a picture of one yet, so here it is!

Tomorrow, I am checking out of the hotel and jumping on a train to Inverness, Scotland. I could have picked Edinburgh or Glasgow, but after being in a huge city like London, I need a bit of quiet time. I love London, but I am not a huge fan of people, in general (as if you couldn't tell), so a bit of greenery and calm in the Highlands is called for. 

By 8 tomorrow, I'll be in Inverness!

London: Day 10

As much as people talk about London weather, in all the days I've been here only a couple of them have been gloomy. Today it was even warm out, with a slight breeze that made it the perfect temperature, and the perfect day to visit Kew Gardens. 

Kew Gardens is about forty minutes out of Zone 1 by tube but well worth it. 

This is the little plaza that points you to the gardens.

Thats Victoria Gate, where I entered the gardens.

The place is huge. I didn't get to see it all, because we are talking about something like 400 acres, but I did get to see some of the best parts. 

The flowers were incredible. They are obviosuly meticulosuly cared for. The smell of them makes the walk out of this world. 

So many perfect spots for picnics.

An old archway that was used for carriages and coaches in Victorian days.

The Temperate glass house, which was closed for rennovations. 

That's the other side of it.

That's the bit of the inside that was visible. It must be gorgeous.

The Pagoda, which leads to the Japanese Gateway.

And the small Japanese garden. 

Some of those gravel circles had patterns on them, lines and concentric circles.

I'm so glad I got to see this in spring. 

They are so perfect!

A small pond, which had ducks on the other side.

This was heading toward Queen Charlotte's cottage. I only saw a few people on this side, making it feel so, well, woodsy and not at all like a typical park.

They're hard to see on the picture, but those are bluebells.

The Glasshouse.

It was full of tropical plants from all over the world.

Opposite the Glasshouse was this beautiful human-made lake.

One of the geese decided those scuptures were going to waste. I got right up to her and she didn't care.

The geese below her, though, were screaming their heads off.

It would have been so calm here if there hadn't been a horde of children running around.

That's inside the Glasshouse.

And this is the Water Lily House behind the Glasshouse.

Where you can see these beauties. 

Of course, to make sure the plants stay healthy, it was boiling hot in there. I felt like I was right back in Miami. 

More beauty. Everywhere you looked there was something even prettier to see.

Next, I headed to the Princess of Wales Conservatory, where there were all kinds of exotic plants. 

Lots of desert ones. 

It really was incredible how healthy they looked. Not a single brown leaf on any of them. 

These are carnivorous plants from very hot climates. It didn't say from where, specifically. 

Those are tiny Venus flytraps! I thought they also needed lots of heat, but they are found in cooler climaes than the other carnivorous ones. 

There was an entire collection of orchids. 

And some fish, too. 

Including piranahs. I love the way he's looking at me like "what you looking at? Never seen a fish before?"

I want roses like those. They had bright yellow ones, too, and white ones. 

As I was looking at these flowers, I heard an awful sound, a mixture of a bird and a cat mewling. I walked a bit and saw what was making it.

He was out there jsut showing off and doing his mating call. He preened himself for a while as a few people took pictures of him. Definitely enjoyed the attention.

He pecked the ground for a bit and then left. 

Onwards, to amaze other people.

I spent about four hours walking around, and not all of it on even ground, so I walked back to the station around two...to find no empty seats. So I had to stand for about twenty more minutes, until I switched to another tube line. 

I hopped off the tube at Baker Street to see the Wallace Collection, which is supposed to be one of the best private collections in the city. 

There were all kinds of great paintings and sculptures, plus some amazing miniature portraits. They don't allow photos, though.

I spent a couple more hours there and then went to get some dinner. I have no idea how many miles I walked today, but they were quite a lot of them. 

In other news, I bought a suitcase to take everything I bought back home and it is bursting at the seams. I need to stop shopping...ater tomorrow's return trip to Portobello Road.