Joy of Life Fountain in Hyde Park. I have a post with this fountain but we took the picture before the fountain had been turned on. With the water spraying upward the figures really do seem to be dancing with joy.
Apsley Arch We are not sure who these mounted uniformed men are.
Some in a dull brown uniform and some in navy blue. Our guess is military of some sort.
Certainly not the fancy uniformed Horse Guard we are used to seeing.
Joshua Reynolds holding paint brushes stands in the courtyard of the building.
Special exhibit advertised with Grant Wood painting.
Grant Wood (February 13, 1891 – February 12, 1942) is Iowa’s most famous artist and his painting American Gothic is one of America’s most famous paintings.
Food market - booths selling food ready to eat.
The British Museum
This is as close as we got. I was so worn out from walking that we took a picture of the lion
guarding the door and decided to go inside another day.
Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, built predominantly by James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Museum.
I am getting a little weary of the fact that every time I google some place the first page is covered with
advertisements and information about hotels near the location. I am not a Wiki fan but too often
Wiki seems to be the only source of information that I want to have.
Russell Square quickly became one of London’s most desirable places of residence, home to the highest of high society. It is the prime setting for the events of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, which is set at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. “But the tide of fashion has rolled westward,” wrote Charles Knight in 1843, “and left Russell Square to be inhabited by the aristocracy of the City and the Inns of Court.” Knight added that “the scientific section of London literary men” had been attracted here too, by the square’s proximity to the London University and the British Museum.
In 1852 the trustees of the British Museum proposed to extend the building north-eastward – a plan that would have involved buying and demolishing a number of houses in Montague Street and at the south-west corner of Russell Square. In the end they decided to create more internal space by filling in the central quadrangle, while at the same time moving the natural history collection to a new home in South Kensington.
This fountain interested me. It is flat and has no outer rim to keep the water in. The edge of the
fountain is a grate where the water runs back into the system to be recycled.
By the time that we reached the British Museum, I was hungry and tired.
We walked past the museum and walked only about ten minutes more to a fairly large outdoor mall.
One of the anchors is a Waitrose supermarket. While we were living in Paris during the winter of
2016, we went to London. We stayed in a hotel not far from the shopping center. On a day to day basis, we shop at the mini marts in our neighborhood. It was amazing to walk into a huge store with shopping carts and aisles and aisles of food. The store even sold some household items like plastic dishes and tumblers. Next time we go there I am taking the bus while the Professor walks.
Frozen popsicles
The mini grocery stores in our neighborhood have small freezers and remarkably few frozen desserts
We actually bought some Waitrose brand ice cream cones. Needless to say, it was a challenge
getting some of them home without melting. When we ate some in the evening, they were a little misshapen but the flavor was great.
A few of the items on sale this week.
I really wanted the chocolate frosting cake with that looked like two boxes.
Just outside the store is a small area to sit and eat the quick lunch that you have just purchased at
the store. A sandwich, some potato chips/crisps on OFFER and water. Oh and for dessert, ice cream cones. A litre of water from Waitrose was 49 pence.
A litre of Evian was 90 pence.
The view of the store from our comfortable dining area.
Cartwright Gardens
The curved row of buildings where we stayed in a room at Room to Let
Saint Pancras Station
We sat in the front seat of the double decker bus and had a good view of the traffic. Crowded and slow. And we watched the bus take corners. They are so large that they pull into the adjoining lane to go around the corner then go back to the 'bus only' lane next to the sidewalk. Traffic either coming or going stops while the bus corners. And the city is full of buses. Stopping at lights or bus stops can be interesting too. If it was another bus in front of us, from where we were sitting it looked as if there were only inches between the two buses.
Taxis are the only other vehicle that drives in the 'bus only' lane.They far outnumber the buses.
They are everywhere and now they are not only black but frequently are bright colors with
advertisements on the side. You can see a black taxi just in front of us. To its left is a bicycle powered
rickshaw.
A rare sight in London. A man in a kilt waiting for the bus to pass so that he can
hail a taxi.
A much quieter street than the ones above. The row of moving vehicles in front of us are all
taxis, including the red one. Taking the bus can often be a more interesting way to travel
than the Tube.
