Day 13
This morning, feel much fresher than
the day before, I was out the door by nine and walked through
Regent's Park to the ZSL London Zoo. Regent's Park is quite lovely,
and I hit it just at the right time of year. Tulips, my favorite
flower, are blooming everywhere. The color and design of the gardens
is superb. The zoo cost 19 pounds, which I was afraid might be
overpriced, but I was impressed with the zoo, more than I thought.
The variety of creatures is lower than
at the National Zoo or the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, but the design
of the zoo itself is much better. I think the animals probably have
the same amount of space to roam, but instead of the spread-out
nature of the other zoos, this one is compact and precise. Key
animals are exhibited. Instead of 3 tiger pens, they have one, with
two tigers. Instead of 20 foot wide walkways that stretch for miles,
they have 5-10 foot wide walkways that clearly guide you through the
park. Instead of a deep concrete trench separating you from the
tigers, it's a glass window in a concrete wall, and almost reminds of
an aquarium. I was about 4 feet from a tiger, when it decided to sit
and chill. I took a lot of pictures. Not only the tigers like
sitting right up by the glass. The penguins and otters also like to
crowd the glass. Otters are HARD to get pictures of.
The rest of the zoo, even though it was
small and had a smaller selection, was a good experience. I would
recommend it. There's a lot more trust that people won't be assholes
and climb over things/annoy the animals. Of course, that also might
be because you're on camera, all the time... say hello to CCTV!
Next, I went to Baker Street and the
Sherlock Holmes Museum. I chose, at the last minute, not to enter
the museum, and instead perused the gift shop. I'm not 6 pounds
worth of a Holmes fan. Next stop was the Wallace Museum, a family's
permanent collection they've opened to the public. Since it was
mostly art, I only looked through the armories. They have a blade
that belonged to Cosimo de Medici ^_^. After that, I went to All
Souls Church, a 19th century construction that is very
pretty and round. I sat on the porch for a few minutes, looking
around, deciding what to do next... geeking out that I am, indeed, in
LONDON!!!!!
I guess I expected more variety in
architecture when I got here, and more labeling. The English seem
hell-bent on confusing strangers. Half of the roads are unlabeled.
All the buildings are around 3-8 stories tall, and on the whole, tend
to be indistinguishable. I'm afraid I'll get run over by a car,
since I keep looking in the wrong direction, and I have trouble
passing people in the street (they seem to think you walk on the
LEFT... rubbish! I've heard a lot more than English accents... I've
hard French, French accents, Spanish, Oriental languages (I won't
presume to know which) and other European languages (I'm sorry I can
tell the difference between Lithuanian and Russian). I've talked to
folks from as far as New Zealand and Argentina and as close as London
and the Isle of Wight. I've had Crotian roommates.
The shower was cold this morning... did
not make for a happy camper.
...and I just, absent-mindedly, ate an
entire 12” pineapple pizza. Well, except for the crusts. I need
Ben to eat them... I miss him. :-(
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