My Russian Life: November 2014

If you read a lot, nothing is as great as you've imagined. Venice is - Venice is better." ~ Fran Lebowitz

It's very grey and drab here in St Petersburg, so today let's go to a happier place. They call St. Petersburg the "Venice of the North" because we have a few canals. And in a way it is (although I would give that title to Amsterdam). But it's sort of like comparing a red wine from Ohio to French Burgundy. Or calling monkfish "poor man's lobster". Nice try, but it's not REALLY the same!

So without too many comments, here's the canals of Venice, taken two weeks ago on a beautiful Friday afternoon when I was playing hooky from work :)))

From the Rialto Bridge

The building on the right was our hotel, the Westin Europe & Regina

View from the OTHER side of the Rialto Bridge. Stop Mafia!

A few blurry nighttime pictures from a gondola ride with my guy

More on Venice coming soon.........

'It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside' - Sherlock Holmes

I am a BIG Sherlock Holmes fan. Especially of the books, but also of the old movies, and definitely (I must admit) of the current BBC series. I love Benedict Cumberbatch! I'm anxiously awaiting Season 4, but I sadly will have a long wait (late 2015 or early 2016)

Anyway, onto my update on our weekend trip to London. One of the greatest cities if you ask me. And no, we didn't spend the entire weekend inside one of these

We walked around a lot. One of my 1st big walking trips since I broke my ankle.

Big Ben!

I have to say, that phone was really slimy

Lots of walks through the parks. It was perfect Autumn weather. Below is St. James Park

A scene while walking through Green Park

Buckingham Palace - we just missed the changing of the guard

That kid just wouldn't move

A great view of the city in the back, also from St. James Park

Birds

Check out those feet!

A few more shots of Westminister Hall (the Parliament building) and the Big Ben clock tower

Westminister Abbey

The Wellington Arch, in Hyde Park Corner. A victory arch to commemorate Britian's victory over Napoleon

Carnaby Street. Great for shopping and......

Near one of our favorite restaurants - Wright Brothers. A great raw bar and seafood place!

We didn't mess around. The large platter and a large bottle of Norman Cidre. That scampi was a large as my hand!

But no challenge for Pat & I

Another park. Lincoln's Inn Fields, which is said to be the largest public square in the city of London (In Holburn, in the Borough of Camden)

It was a 70F afternoon - lots of people hanging out in the park (and playing hooky I would imagine)

Blah bah blah......Conference call time!

So I amused myself taking pictures

Lincoln's Inn is one of 4 Inns of Court in London. The barristers of England and Wales must belong to one. These inns have supervisory and disciplinary responsibility over their members. They also provide libraries, dining facilities, professional accommodation, a church or chapel, and a self-contained precinct for training & practice