Summer in London - Day 4

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Day 4 - Out and About

It was up early in the morning today so Michelle and Anne could walk with Tony to the office, having a quick breakfast along the way. Anne and Michelle seem to be doing fine with jet lag, but Tony was up a lot overnight. Still 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.

It was less than 2 miles to the office and a nice way to wake up, especially given how foggy and cold it was outside. Even at 730 AM, there are a lot of people out and about. Tony thinks that Google has the best walking routes configured, because each time they went off the prescribed path, they ran into rundown or smelly areas of town.

Michelle and Anne took the Underground across the city to the Portobello Road Market. The website said it was open but all the vendors seemed to think it was a good day to take off. Maybe they were resting from the World Cup game last night. The stall marks were all there, but no stalls. The street was still a nice walk and they plan to come back another day. Michelle found a dress and sweater in a shop along the way that she liked.

They decided to try another market and see if they had better luck. Piccadilly Market is about 3.5 miles from Portobello Road and Anne reminded Michelle how she wanted to walk more in London. The trip took them by Notting Hill, through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park and down Piccadilly Road to the market in the courtyard of a small church.

The Market was mostly craftsmen with a few other vendors. Anne seriously considered some unframed oils and an original Beatles record of Abbey Road with a silhouette of the Beatles cut out. In the end they simply enjoyed looking around and walked away with nothing.

From there they headed to pick up a few needs for the flat and then home for lunch, another 2 miles of walking. After lunch and some downtime they followed the river to the Tate Modern to take a look at some of the Modern Art exhibits. Anne enjoyed the exhibits but Michelle moved between unimpressed to vaguely disturbed. She takes after her father in this regard. They got some chocolate at the end to make up for it.

After picking up the makings of dinner on the way home they spent the rest of the evening watching the World Cup game between England and Belgium like the majority of London.

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Photos

Painted Toes?
We passed by a store on Portobello Road that had custom painted high tops from many different fandoms.

Morning Snack
Gelato and Vegan Gelato. Ok, so Vegan Gelato is not reeeaaally Gelato, but it had no milk and tasted yummy.

Whoa!
A large floating Art piece in the middle of the Serpentine. Apparently it's a thing.

Pick a stamp
A vendor was selling old stamps at the Piccadilly Market.

Water dancing around the Bard
We found a statue of William Shakespeare in Leicester Square. It was recently cleaned and updated with dancing fountains around it.

The Empire has Fallen
When the Empire has fallen, a storm trooper has to take work wherever he can find it.

The Top of the Tate
The Tate Modern has a viewing platform on the 10th floor. You can walk all the way around to get great views of the London skyline. So many building cranes!

Art and a Treat
Viewing art is hard work, especially modern art. It deserves a chocolate reward.

Art Shot!
The underside of the train bridge out of Black Friars Station. Anne was not the only one taking pictures here.

Comments

[Mike Soliman]

Floating Art
Apparently the real world needs a graphics card upgrade. Looks like a rendering error. ;) I'm loving these updates. Thanks for sharing!