It's London!

'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

At one time, many of the city's barristers lived nearby.  The homes and apartments are still very striking 

I couldn't resist.  Doesn't everyone have a fascination with Scotland Yard?

Christmas????  Yes, we saw many signs of Christmas already.  Here at Covent Garden Market

Real bacon for breakfast.  A Bacon Butty for Pat, and Eggs Benedict for me

On Saturday morning, we walked to Borough Market, near Tower Bridge.  A LONG walk (the Underground was closed for the weekend)

We didn't visit it this time..... The Tower of London

Because we were more focused on the market!  We shared a sandwich with greens and apple chutney (as well as the creature below).  Cracklings included!

Borough Market was enormous & extremely busy.  On a Saturday, I'm not sure how people could effectively buy groceries.  But the selection was amazing

 

Lunch on this day was a Sherry & Cheese tasting, at Neal's Yard Dairy.  Outstanding!

We smuggled home a few our favorites in our luggage

And finally, drinks at the Savoy

Great weekend!

 

Quiet times in St Petersburg

It's getting cold.  The tourists are gone.  Business travelers are noticeably less, due to various reasons both politically & economically. 

So you'll notice not many people in my pictures from this past weekend.  It's not intentional.  They just around there

The fountain near the Hermitage Museum is freezing over

I kind of like the Palace Square when it's empty

The should be removing the boats soon, before the canals start to freeze

Idiot parking!

I find the back sides of the building very interesting.  They put a lot of effort into making sure the fronts of the buildings are freshing painted.  But the back shows the reality.

I walk past the building often.  But didn't realize it was the place where Alexander Pushkin (famous Russian writer and poet) died after his dual with his wife's alleged lover.

 

 

A small chapel

I should have brought some stale bread!  The food must be running out for these birds

Yet another monument to Peter the Great....  This one is in front of the Mikhailovsky (St. Michael's) Castle, and was built towards the end of the 18th Century

The bronze reliefs on the sides depict two battles fought and won against the Finnish by Peter (the Battles of Poltava and Hango)

 

Rubbed clean for good luck

That's all for now.  Off to London this weekend, so I would expect a pub crawl post in the near future :)