Happy (belated) birthday to the blog!

I feel bad, I forgot – I’m so terrible at remembering birthdays and anniversaries.

This probably should have been my Wednesday post but I lost track of the date. Anyway, it turns out that apart from a short break in January I have been blogging for a whole year now.  This also suggests that it’s now been a year since I had heaps of fun in Vietnam. But now I’m in London which is also an excellent destination and I intend to keep updating if only to keep a personal reminder of just what I’ve done and where I’ve been. My memory isn’t crash hot at the best of times, so I’m sure this will come in handy sometime Anyway, here’s some random pictures of stuff from here.

Big nosed ship at Hays Galleria

faces under our feet in Bloomsbury

scary balloons in Canterbury

Giraffe-snake, a rare creature only found in Camden (unsurprisingly)

motion sickness at the National Theatre

It's a busy city and river

Definite signs of Autumn in Southwark Park

Greenwich boat trip

A few weekends ago I took a river boat to Greenwich to visit the markets and the lovely park that surrounds the observatory. It was a fabulous idea that clearly many other people had, evidenced by the many tourist groups on the boat and the even greater numbers of people traipsing up the hill to the observatory. It was a good day though and sunny and warm enough to be enjoyed while the weather is still good.

Tower Bridge from the boat

current home of the Cutty Sark during its restoration following the fire

Crowds at Greenwich Park

view from the top

view from One Tree Hill (Canary Wharf skyscrapers to the right)

crowds descending the hill in the afternoon

It was a lovely day and if I didn’t have to cart all my belongings about myself I would probably have bought a few things at the market. When the boat returned to Westminster pier it was obvious that the very popular Thames festival was in full swing.  All along the south bank of the river from Westminster down to the OXO Tower was covered in market stalls and performers and packed full of people.  I’ll post those pics another time.

The tally so far…

• Squirrels: 6 (although I may have seen the one across the road twice, Regents Park, Hyde Park)
• Rats: 1 (Regents Park)
• Men in straw boater hats: 3 (Borough Market, Central line tube, Camden)
• Men in velvet top hats: 1 (Camden)
• Famous people: 1 (but I’ve seen them twice – Camden)
• Hyenas: 3 (Regents canal towpath by the Zoo)
• Invitations to take a ‘personality test’ while outside a Scientology Centre: 1 (Tottenham Court Road)

London travel tip

While enjoying those warm late summer/early autumn days in the park, it is useful to note that the small grey, brown rodents with bushy tails and cute fat cheeks stuffed with nuts are squirrels.  The other small grey, brown creatures without bushy tails are not.

Regents Park and Primrose Hill

Friday turned out to be lovely sunny, if windy, day. I decided to visit some of the local parks, but being London the local parks happen to be Regents Park and Primrose Hill. Regents Park was beautiful and it is obviously well cared for by a large team of gardeners and groundspersons.  It is a huge green space in the city and has different areas dedicated to different pursuits.  There are kids playgrounds, playing fields, wide tree lined avenues and formal gardens with the largest array of rose varieties I’ve ever seen.

tree lined avenue in Regents Park

formal rose garden

closeup of rose in garden

pond with ducks

Primrose Hill was lovely as well. It’s a smaller space but clearly popular with families (and their nannies) and of course it does boast the hill it is named after. I had to walk past London Zoo to get there. I’d like to go to the Zoo, it’s not a cheap day out but I might get around to it before the weather really turns wintry. But here’s Primrose Hill.

The hill itself - it must be the only remotely hilly thing for miles

view from the hill

Up next – a trip to Portobello Road market in Notting Hill.