The British Library, London

Before you strain your neck to see what the tall structure standing in front of you is, the gate told it all.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

While all the Houses, Restaturants and shops are busy playing Let it snow for 2 days now, here are those first set of snaps.


Prettier and merrier....




Enjoyed those fresh days.....

Weekend Travel

Some quick set of snaps from the weekend traveling.

Reading riverside walk.....


Wellington Street, London



British Museum, London


Greenwich, London

Yipeee.......

This year was really low on travel compared to any of the previous ones. Innumerable travel plans got washed away with the torrent. The only one that materialized was a visit to Lepakshi.

But still a few months ago, I remember publishing a post, 'London walking Tours - wish list'.

And the Travel goddess seems to have granted my wish, after going through my Blog Post.
I am at London and would be here for a longer part of Winter. A quick set of snaps goes here. More posts and photos soon....

This time it was via Frankfurt ................

A view of London City...

I was trying to spot landmarks while the Plane was descending at Heathrow. River Thames, London Eye and Tower Bridge visible here.

All these photos from my iPhone... I never knew Photo quality was this good.

London walking Tours & wish list

While I went through my photo and blog archive, I remembered what I had missed. After compiling all UK posts, I still had this pending.

When its places like Winchester, Bath, Stratford-up-Avon, Portsmouth and many others, its easy to customize your walking tour on the fly or even driver around. But, a place like London would require some planning.

People largely look out for detailed walk map,s and using a paid walking tour is still a rarity. The preference is to cover the places of interest at their own pace. Having 'my' time to walk, watch, visit, hallucinate, photograph, eat, rest and people-watch is what was important to me.

After searching for weeks, I finally landed up at this. The londontourist.org is one such place which had walking tour maps with detailed explanation.

WALK ONE - Bridges of London walk

I did all these plus a couple of Bridges, as detailed here.


I did a combination of the below 2 walks on day 1 and day 2.



Apart from these I had the map page from the Telephone directory which the Hotel gave me. Of all the maps the one in the Telephone Directory is the best to refer.

I still have these on my wish list. Am sure will tick this away on my next visit.

London wish list :

# National gallery
# The British museum
# Greenwich
# West End - Oxford street, Regent street, Bond street and Covent Garden
# Hampstead, Marylebone(on a Sunday) and Richmond
# The main stream entertainment hub - Leicester Square and Knights bridge for Harvey Nicolas and Harrods (I didn't buy a thing for me last time).

That is all I have. :-)

Crib : Its already half year down and I haven't even traveled half of what I had the previous year by this time. With three golden opportunities flushed deep down the drain ...........

Art on the Street

I was going through my archive this week only to compile this post.

Art on the street, near St. Paul's Cathedral, London.

How beautifully he painted on the street. I am not even half good as him even on paper.


Street Music in front of Tate Modern, London.


Sand Art near Waterloo Station, London.


The cellar at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.


This is my all time favorite, from V&A Museum, London - The Fashion Machine.


Poetry on the Street, Bath.

I remember seeing a few other things in Portsmouth, Oxford and Stratford, but regret now for not clicking it.

On the anvil

Eagerly awaiting the posts, a friend told me the Norwegian Proverb,'The lazier a man is, the more he plans to do tomorrow'.

I have the following posts pending.

1] London walk 1 and 2
2] Shravanabelagola
3] Melukote
4] Mysore Dasara 2008
5] Delhi
6] Agra
7] Jaipur

But, its just been work, work, work, rain, rain, rain otherwise sleep, sleep, sleep.'Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired', well that's not the case. But still 'indolence' is a better word, it turns laziness classy. Since there is no more travel till 2009, its going to be posts, posts and posts.

Day 2 : continued....

Continued from Day 2

Royal College of Organists - 

Royal College of Music -

Imperial College of Science and Technology -

Entered the Exhibition road walking past the Kensington Tube Station, which exits right beside the Science Museum.

Science Museum – In spite of enjoying every aspect of this, I still wished I had visited this as a kid.

Natural History Museum - The Victorian's love for Science and Nature has been celebrated here. I am sure I would have enjoyed this more as a kid.

Volcano, Earthquake, Metal, Mineral, Gems, Mammals, Birds the list is exhaustive. The most crowded was the Dinosaurs section. An admirable collection and display.

Admirable architecture ...

The famous Giant Sequoia from California.

I loved this Marble Sculpture of Charles Darwin.


The cafe, which was a trendy place to hang out.

Victoria & Albert Museum – On entering, I were equipped with excellent floor map with description.

From Exhibition road.


From Cromwell road.

V&A is spread across seven levels. British Galleries, Ceramics, Glass, Ironwork, Jewellery, Metal ware, Musical Instruments, Paintings, Photography, Portrait, Miniatures, Prints, Sacred Silver and Stained Glass, Tapestry and Textile were among my favourites.

Some splendid design of furniture and interiors were captured.

Got to know Photography is prohibited ONLY in the Jewellery section after this first click. After wich I had to put-in my Nikon and pull-out my Scribble-Pad and pencil. This houses every gem, every metal, every design, every Jewellery, I had in mind. :-)

The John Madejski Garden and Garden Café inside the V&A Museum.


5:30 PM and I had to exit V&A Museum.

My legs were screaming for attention by now. The spring at the Café was of some use. But, I had done a lot from morning. 3 Museums and 3 Parks!

On exiting V&A, I found a bench at the opposite square and gobbled a few bits, before which a gang of people attending a Wedding gathered for a photo session here.

Just one block South of V&A is Harrods. Walked down toward Kensington. Kensington is to Harrods and Harvey Nicholas. Harrods and Harvey Nicholas are those which every Women, and in turn every Men are kept informed about. :-)

I spent hours searching for some AFFORDABLE memorabilia, and wondering how people were buying loads of stuff. All I could finally settle for was a Clutch for an Aunt who wanted to flaunt a Harrods Clutch for long.

And for myself,  I just planned to leave a message here.

It was 7PM by now and decided to trace route back. Back to Buckingham Palace via Green Park. My final stop was at Green Park since I had not spent time there that morning.

London - Day2

I started my day at 7AM, with sufficient food and water supplies.

Buckingham Palace – It was unlike the previous evening. Some joggers and a dozen tourists around. This reminded me of my morning jog and even walk to Mysore Palace.

Green Park –

This is one of the Royal Parks of London. It lies between London's Hyde Park and St James Park. By contrast to the other royal parks, this does not have any lakes, fountains or statues, but just wooded meadows. The park is said to have originally been a swampy burial ground for Lepers from the nearby hospital at St James. The reason why it does not have flowering plants.

The Canada Gate, located on the south side of the park, the Buckingham Palace side.

Calm and serene….

Art for sale outside Green Park - I found dozens of artists unpacking and setting up shops. There were some notable pieces too.

Some times I just am careless. I crossed the road to explore Shepherd's Market and May Fair. Only to read the walking tour guide later and trace route back.

‘Shepherd Market was laid out by Edward Shepherd in early 1700s – it was the site of original May Fair. Please, do not venture this if you are taking the tour alone’, is what the guide said.

Apsley House – The Town House of Dukes of Wellington, with the best address in England – No. 1, London.

Wellington Arch or Constitutional Arch or Marble Arch - This is a triumphal arch built to commemorate Britain's victories in the Napoleonic Wars.

Hyde Park – I enter through the horrid Queen Mother Memorial Gate, designed by Prince Michael of Kent, by common assent know as the worst gates in the capital.

Speaker’s Corner is worth a visit to listen and heckle. Although Sunday morning was the right time to head there, I could not miss it this time though.

Heading diagonally down, I walked down to the Serpentine – a lake created by the damming of the Westbourne river. Row boats, Ducks, Swans are common sight here – a favorite Victorian pastime.

The Serpentine - The Serpentine and the Long Water was created in 18th century from the Westbourne stream. A walk along the Serpentine, watching the well dressed riders parading with Horses was indeed a pleasure.

The Serpentine Bridge as seen from Hyde Park. Crossing the Serpentine by bridge, I decide to head towards Kensington Gardens.

The Long Water looking north-west from the Serpentine Bridge.

Kensington Gardens - Kensington Gardens began life as a King's playground but it was three royal women who created the elegant landscape wheich we see today. Kensington Gardens history here.

Peter Pan – The bronze statue of Peter Pan. is a gift by Sir James Barrie creator of Peter Pan. This charming piece features Peter Pan standing on a pedestal covered with creepers, squirrels, rabbits and mice. 

Italian Garden Fountains – Queen Victoria commissioned the Italian Gardens and the Albert Memorial.

It was a steady down pour, but, did not have any idea to stall my walk. All these clicks are by balancing my DSLR and Umbrella. J

The downpour makes the garden more dramatic.

Albert Memorial – the largest gilded statue in the world. This was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband, Prince Albert. The memorial is 176 feet tall, and has taken over ten years to complete, and cost £120,000. At the outer corners are 4 allegorical sculptures representing Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

Albert Memorial’s ornate Gate

Opposite to it is the ‘The Royal Albert Hall’ – home to the Promenade concerts.

Queen’s Gate, Kensington Park - 

Walked along the Queen’s gate towards Kensington Palace.

The Round Pond, Kensington Gardens -

Kensington Palace – Home of Princess Margaret, and Princess Diana is said to have lived here until her death. Main attraction are the Victorian Rooms, Royal Ceremonial Dress collection, The State and Queen’s apartments and the Diana Fashion and Style exhibition.

The Orangery which was once a setting for lavish court entertainment is now a tranquil restaurant, facing the magical Sunken Garden.

Walked down towards Exhibition road, walking past the BBC Proms.

Continued here.....