London ... The Royal Parks

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Most travelers to London are diligent about visiting the high-profile sites.

They return home with photos of themselves in front of Big Ben and Tower Bridge, and they likely have a little video of the "Changing of the Guard" at Buckingham Palace.

If they are smart, they had lunch at Covent Garden and ventured out to Greenwich, Richmond and/or Windsor.

What makes me sad is that in their zeal to see the historic sights, many visitors miss my favorite part of London ... The Royal Parks.

The Royal Parks are 8 gigantic islands of green in a sea of gray pavement.

The Royal Parks are located in both Central London and in the surburbs.

They are not owned by the City of London nor by the Government of the United Kingdom. They are owned by the Monarch, and the public is allowed to use them (and I quote) "by the grace and favor of the Sovereign."

So a special thanks to Elizabeth II for allowing us to use the parks.

Several of the Royal Parks connect with each other, creating large continuous green spaces. For example, in Central London, you can travel the approximately 3.5 miles from Big Ben (at Parliament Square) to Kensington Place without ever leaving a Royal Park (you travel from St. James Park, through Green Park, through Hyde Park to Kensington Garden).

During the Olympics many of the Royal Parks were used as event venues (Equestrian was at Greenwich Great Park, Road Cycling was staged from Richmond Park and the Triathlons were held in Hyde Park). In addition, giant video screens were erected in each park so that people without tickets could watch Olympic events in a public venue. Genius!

The Royal Parks are certainly not the only parks and green spaces in the city, but they are the biggest, and they make largest impact on the quality of life of both residents and visitors to London.

I have attached a load of photos.

Enjoy.

More mañana.

JJF

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Photos

Kensington Garden, London
Great Lawn to Kensington Palace in background.

Hyde Park, London
Horse trails (yeah horse trails), bike trails and running/walking trails. Something for everyone.

St. James Park
Note Big Ben and Victoria Tower in the background

Comments

[Emily]

Love your blog!
Hi Jeff, Still enjoying your blog. You have inspired me to visit London and Paris in November! I will definitely check out Regents Park when I am there and I am wondering how you arranged for all the people to leave London in time for your visit there?

[JJF Travel Blog 2013A]

Royal Parks
Emily, Thank you for your nice comments. I believe your comment about getting everyone to leave London has to do with the fact that there are not a lot of people in my photos. This has been pointed out by other bloggers. A couple of things play into the lack of people, especially in the photos in the Royal Parks. First, the Royal Parks are so big, that some sections are relatively secluded. Second, I often wait for a long time for people to clear out of the frame of my photo so that I can get the photo I want. Finally, I was on vacation, so I was talking my photos on a week day, in the middle of the day, when Londoners are not in the parks (because they are working). On the weekends, the parks are a lot busier.

[JJF Travel Blog 2013A]

Royal Parks
Emily, Thank you for your nice comments. I believe your comment about getting everyone to leave London has to do with the fact that there are not a lot of people in my photos. This has been pointed out by other bloggers. A couple of things play into the lack of people, especially in the photos in the Royal Parks. First, the Royal Parks are so big, that some sections are relatively secluded. Second, I often wait for a long time for people to clear out of the frame of my photo so that I can get the photo I want. Finally, I was on vacation, so I was talking my photos on a week day, in the middle of the day, when Londoners are not in the parks (because they are working). On the weekends, the parks are a lot busier.

[Julie]

Couldn't agree more!
Jeff - I found the parks in London to be a delightful and unexpected and glorious surprise. I did not expect them to be a large or beautiful or numerous. Glad you had a great trip.