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You want flowers...or Ostrich Feathers...this is the place to go in London. This is not a tourist destination and the locals turn out in force for house plants, trees, decorative items.
They take over the street and the sidewalks become tiny tunnels to the shops.
And every so often there are shops where there are no shops...a perfect compliment to the Underground over the Overground.
We liked it, it was the closest thing to authentic city life that we have experienced in London.
There is also a certain irony in the fact that on Sunday we did not visit a church or cathedral. I think we're good for the moment and if we get extra stars in our crown for attendance, we are good up through Christmas after all that we have visited. We decided that after flowers we would go for Royalty. Word has it that Will and Kate live in Kensington Palace over in Hyde Park so we went.
Hyde Park is lovely and the weather was lovely so we strolled the park like true Londoners. All the tourists were in Piccadilly, we were in in the park. After a short while we came upon this place.
I guess this is where Will and Kate reside. There was no name on the mailbox out front (and million dollar homes ALL have mailboxes.) but there was a man in a security box who for some inexplicable reason was wearing a lumbar support. The kind that workers at Lowes wear so they won't get a hernia. Were this sort of dignitary in the States, living at a posh residence, we'd have Navy Seal Team Six in front with Uzzi's. England is a bit more understated in these things and it's good to know that if things get frantic, no one around here is going to get a hernia.
Besides a great city park and wonderful grounds, there was a gift shop in the home of the Royal couple....it's all about the Revenue Stream.
But lunch called, and in this case lunch was called:
The Queen's Arms
You can't go wrong with a name like that and it was a slow day at the "Arms" as we locals have been calling it for years. I had some sort of fish cakes and we topped it off with a decadent cake. When I was in Liverpool, a phrase I don't believe I have ever used before, I thought I was ordering a beer but it turns out it was a Cider....not these cider tasting beers that are on the American market but a real cider that has heft but no alcohol. At least I don't think so....no matter.....I rather like these cider brews. And that complimented the luncheon.
Final stops of the day included the tourist meccas of Piccadilly and Trafalgar. Both were tourist madness with folks in search of something. Best part of it all was Trafalgar where the statue of Lord Nelson towers over the area. Nelson defeated the French and Spanish at Trafalgar near Spain and as a reward they placed his statue on a pole, way up high...so high that no one can see him. He is surrounded by lions and great words. I like it. Nearby are a few other statues but one statue on a plinth (another phrase I have never had occsion to use before) looked unmistakeably like a giant cobalt blue rooster. I went over closer to investigate.
Turns out it was a giant aquamarine rooster which weighs about 600 kilos and stands 8 ft high. So the defender of British supremacy on the high seas is now flanked by a giant blue rooster in Trafalgar. I like the British, their sense of history and humor meshes well with mine. I glanced around at the thousands of tourists who inhabited the area and realized that majority were not noticing Lord Nelson, the Lions nor the blue rooster, everyone was checking their cell phones for things to do when in reality the thing to do was to look around at the naval heroes and farm animals.
A final stoll over the Thames to see the beauty of London from the Jubille Footbridges.
The later it gets and the more you stray from the epicenter of tourism, the better I like this town.
We've got Winchester Cathedral in our sights for tomorrow, enough of this 2st Century life...back to the 12th.
Peace, Bob
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