I was in London on the weekend. The idea had been to go to Winter Wonderland ......
There had been a problem getting to my usual London drop off point, apparently they were cutting down trees in Park Lane just outside Hyde Park where my coach usually loosens me into the world, so the driver had to take a different route and decanted us somewhere near Shepherds Bush. I vaguely remembered that Shepherds Bush wasn't all that far from Hyde Park, and decided to walk there. After about an hour of getting lost all over the place, I finally arrived at the end of Hyde Park that is opposite the Winter Wonderland side, and had to walk all across the park to get to my final destination.
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| Serpentine lake at the end opposite Winter Wonderland |
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| Lots of cover for the ducks! |
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| Reminder of la Bourboule - genista in bloom! |
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| My favorite bench at the Serpentine! |
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| Leaves evenly distributed on the lawn |
Hyde Park was absolutely beautiful! It was one of those clear crisp days, not too cold so I didn't need a heavy coat, but seasonally chilly enough for pre-Christmas - just perfect! There were huge numbers of people, lovers holding hands and kissing on benches, couples with children in prams, three generation families having an outing - exactly what a Saturday afternoon in the park should be like.
All the same, there were a lot more people than usual ....
I found out why when I finally arrived at the gates of Winter Wonderland - there were long queues! Usually I go in the middle of the day, during the week, but Saturday late afternoon is obviously the most popular time to go. There were guards everywhere stopping people sneaking in - there is no entrance fee so this was purely a crowd control measure - and we had to queue in an orderly fashion at one gate only. We stood there in a line six abreast and 100 feet long, and every ten minutes or so a guard allowed a contingent of us to enter the fair.
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| View of Winter Wonderland across the Serpentine |
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| Too scary for me! |
I passionately hate queuing, and only waited because (a) I was close to the front (having inadvertently managed to maneuver myself there in the general confusion), and (b) I wanted to buy marzipan (there is a stand that sells a very superior sort). After twenty minutes I was gestured in, only to be confronted by people in luminescent yellow vests shouting, "Keep to the left, keep to the left!" I suppose it was necessary to control the masses somehow, but it left me rather sad all the same. If too many people want to do the same thing the experience gets ruined for everyone!
I bought a dozen marzipan tarts and fled from the scene. Lots of others did the same, and I got swept along in the wrong direction, and it was dark, and I got hopelessly lost again. Eventually I got sick of the whole thing and decided to flag a taxi, but no such luck, no taxis anywhere. I did see a Bicycle-rickshaw, and decided to try one.
My rickshaw peddaller was French, and maneuvered the rickshaw as though he had learned it in the Paris traffic. I mainly held on tight and hoped for the best. Regent Street was closed for traffic and thronged with pedestrians, but my chauffeur braved the crowds and pushed on through. I felt like some medieval potentate riding roughshod through the downtrodden masses, and very very guilty. I tried several times to steer my sociopathic driver into little side streets, but there was no stopping him. I felt a bit better when I saw dozens of other rickshaws doing the same thing under the benevolent gaze of several policemen - was my peddaller just normal, then? All the same I was very relieved when I was finally put down outside my club, and resolved to just buy a map and walk next time. I am so glad my parents weren't dictators or royals or billionaires, chauffeured about in limousines - I couldn't handle this kind of moral stress on a daily basis.
Later that day I walked back to the bust stop through another park, and saw a very nice lit from the inside glass tree, and actually managed to photograph it reasonably well by placing my camera on a fence to keep it still. Hope you like the picture!
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| Glass tree |
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| Countess Dracula dress in Vivienne Westwood store window |
