Our last day in London and with no underground trains working due to a 24 hour strike protesting against the proposal of a 24 hour service, we decided on a walking day! It is really fantastic to see London on foot and there are so many landmarks that you see when walking that would otherwise go unnoticed.
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| Famous folk lived all over London - only spot them when you walk! |
We set out down Edgeware Road all the way to Marble Arch at the
beginning of Oxford Street. We noticed the crowds and number on buses
were greater than usual and were glad to be walking in the glorious
sunshine and pleasant 22 C clear sky weather.
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| Annika wearing her Oxford Street tee shirt in Oxford Street! |
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| Bentleys for sale |
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| Monopoly Board walk |
From there we criss-crossed along and even under the road passing
Hyde Park, down Park Lane and through Green Park to Buckingham Palace.
When we got to The Mall we headed up the shady wide paths to Trafalgar
Square and on to Embankment. Tim remarked that our orientation skills
were great now and that we know our way around London really well, which
we do!
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| A few buses...spares I think waiting for the extra pasengers |
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| View from the riverbed |
The Thames was still at low tide, which was our intention, and in order
to access the mudflats we needed to cross to Southbank using the
Hungerford Bridge.
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| Looking for treasures |
We found a gate blocking the steps down to the riverbed with a sign
prohibiting access. However, opposite that was another gate without a
sign, so much to Annika's dismay, I suggested we hop over the gate there
and go down the steps which we did.
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| Luke filled his pockets with as much as possible! |
Down on the sand, all was quiet, and we had our picnic there while
Luke, in full investigating mode, explored the rocks for treasures. We
did spot another beachcomber and he volunteered that he was looking for
pieces of pottery with figures on them and that people regularly find
all sorts of treasures on the mudflats of the ancient river including
fossilised wolves' teeth, pottery and artifacts left from ancient
civilisations which have dotted these shores for centuries or even
millienia!
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| Picnic time! |
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| St Paul's and other icons |
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| Imagine what is buried here - History over the many years of the River Thames |
Annika was pretty keen to move on, fearing we were doing something
contraband so I went with her up another set of steps and the boys
wandered along the riverbed for another 500 m or so. It turned out that there were sand
sculptors, a bagpiper and other beachcombers a bit further along and a
set of legitimate steps for the public to use. AND when we retraced our
steps we found there were others picnicking where we had. What trend
setters we are!!!
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| Sand sculpture |
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| Heads down! |
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| "Are we going yet?" |
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| City scape at low tide |
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| Steps for public access near Oxo Tower |
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| Sand sculptor on riverbed of Thames at lowtide, Southbank |
Back along Southbank there was lots to see: a second hand book fair, skateboarding ramps and graffiti-ed walls and daring boarders and also a selection of buskers. Never a boring moment in London!
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| Skateboarders, ramp and graffiti. |
At this stage we made the decision to walk home, knowing that our total walk would be at least 16 kms but even Luke was keen to walk. Given this decision and perhaps it was a part of the motivation was a stop at Maccas for ice creams and toilets instead of using the money for the bus!
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| The Hungerford Bridge |
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| Another one for the Monopoly Board! |
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| Captain James Cook |
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| Green Park in afternoon shade |
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| Park Lane....Monopoly walking tour of London! |
As we were walking, we realised that even if we had taken the bus, we would have been home only 5 minutes earlier and it would have been hot and stuffy and we wouldn't have had a seat anyhow. It was far better to be in the fresh air. We more or less walked home on the same route we had come with a brief stop at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park. Luke's little 7 year old legs managed marvellously without complaint for the whole journey.
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| Speakers' Corner Hyde Park |
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| Marble Arch |
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| Didn't have time to stop, but maybe next time! |
We are pretty much packed up before our move tomorrow but took a bit of time out from packing to watch a Grand Designs episode about building in small spaces in London. It is pretty exciting to see places now so familiar to us there on the television!
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| Middle Eastern treats for dessert |
Love a walking tour, a much better way to see everything. Love Grand Designs too!! :) Can't wait to see what's up next on your adventure! :)
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