Walking to the Imperial War Museum

The Serpentine lake becomes the Long Water and acts as a dividing line between Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park

The Italian Gardens is a 150-year-old ornamental water garden located on the north side of Kensington Gardens near Lancaster Gate. It is believed to have been created as a gift from Prince Albert to his beloved Queen Victoria.

Edward Jenner overlooks the basins. In the late 18th century he developed the

vaccine for smallpox.

The Arch is a six-metre high Roman travertine sculpture positioned on the north bank of the Long Water. It was presented by the artist Henry Moore to the nation for siting in Kensington Gardens in 1980 - two years after his eightieth-birthday exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, London.

There are only a few pelicans in Hyde Park.  This loner has its head tucked in 

to keep warm.

I remember a hedge of lilacs from when I was small.  If you crawled in under the branches

there was a quiet empty space where I could have the world to myself.

This tree has a huge covered area perfect for any imaginative child.

Road repair is taking place in many of the places where we tourists gather.  They are 

just part of the daily life in London.  There are frequent orange signs saying "Diversion".  

In the background is a monument constructed to memorialize Queen Victoria's death

in 1901.  Winged Victory tops the impressive statue.

 

Typical fence around parts of the palace grounds. 

Information about the routine changing of the guard.

Winged Victory

The street leading to the Palace is known as the Mall.

I have been so disappointed that we have seen very few young birds. It is not uncommon

to see three adults hovering over one small chick.  This nest in the middle of the river is probably

no guarantee that the offspring will be safe.

We are so accustomed to seeing so many little ducks following an adult at the garden 

at BYU.

Canadian Goose and youngster

This fragile little bird was posted on the Kensington Garden site just a few days ago.

I hope this means there are more eggs waiting to be hatched. I was delighted to see all of the

nesting water birds captured on film in the last few days on the above site.

David Lloyd George Prime Minister 1916-1922

The unmistakeable back of Winston Churchill

Today there were vehicles and works in all of the parks pruning trees and turning the 

wood into chips. This is one of them keeping Churchill company.

Just around the corner from the hospital in the background there is a museum for Florence

Nightingale,  I was convinced this must be a tribute to her.  However, it is a memorial to a woman from Jamaica named Mary Seacole 1805-1881.. Both women will always be remembered for their nursing care in the Crimean War. The UK curriculum praises her but Wikipedia cloaks her in controversy. Whatever the case may be, she was a courageous woman of mixed race who ran a business, traveled the world and dedicated her life to service to others.

Christ Church and Upton Chapel

Both churches were almost completely destroyed during the bombing of WW II.  In the 

 1950s and 1960s both Churches rebuilt their chapels but did not try to restore the places of worship

to the way they had been before the war.

An obelisk  honoring John Hanning Speke who explored the Nile

lookiing for its source

The Imperial War Museum

filled with relics and partially destroyed airplanes from both WW I and WW II.

The museum highlights the Allpress family during WW II. Sons went to serve in the war and all returned home safely.  The single women in the family were involved in safety watches at night.

One daughter worked in a dry goods store where people could buy fabric to make clothes. The slogan though was to encourage people to repair their clothing and make do.  Plants which in the prewar years manufactured clothing and shoes were now used to build armaments. A miniature model of their home was on display as well as the bomb shelter from a backyard. 

Advertising on the side of a London cab. This one is for the upcoming 

Royal Ascot Races

We walked to the museum but took the underground back to our neighborhood.

We tried a new food place with middle eastern takeout food.  We bought food to take home to eat at Taza Kebab House on Queensway Road. We had a lamb kebab and a chicken shawarma

 wrapped in pita bread and covered with the "works."