London Zoo

The Zoo was sort of a mixed experience for me, so I've summarised in handy pro/con form below. The rest of my shots are up on flickr at the link to the right.

Pro: generally, enjoyable way to see animals other than cats and dogs.
Con: it costs £17 to get in.

Pro: there was an extremely broad range of different species and it was hard to tear myself away from some of them.
Con: I only left myself about 2.5 hours of opening time to see the place, so I found myself rushing past the less "entertaining" animals in favour of the toucans, gorillas, penguins etc.

Pro: the animals were all interesting in their own unique ways - cute, rare, characterful, sometimes beautiful.
Con: the animals on the other side of the railings were more irritating and badly behaved than any of the zoo captives I saw. Including the hyenas.

The behaviour of my fellow spectators was really appalling. Despite the prominent signage about not feeding or disturbing the animals, and asking for quiet around nocturnal and more fragile species, the adults and children I saw in almost every section of the Zoo were loud, rude, pushy and basically just freaking annoying. Two of the worst incidents (among many) was the father encouraging his children to knock on the glass of a nocturnal marsupial in full view of about six signs asking for quiet - to make it do something other than sleep or hide, I guess - and the bevy of idiotic women who let out a chorus of screams when two okapi (similar to zebras) tried to "get busy". Of course the okapi were startled and immediately erm, disengaged and ran away. I could just imagine the animal keepers smacking their foreheads and lamenting the months they'd spent trying to make the okapi breed.

Then there was the gorilla house, where crowds of people had gathered to rap on the glass and squeal with delight at the charismatic gorillas and their wacky antics. A keeper actually had to come out and tell them all to be quiet because the female gorilla they were focused on had started running at the glass because she felt so threatened.

Still, the quieter parts of the zoo - with the less popular animals I guess - were lovely, and generally the animals seemed to have lots of space and be well cared for. And seriously, I don't blame them for charging 17 quid to get in or flogging merchandise at every turn if it means they can keep the animals well, and run education programs and breeding programs. Maybe the Saturday afternoon zoo crowd could do with some of those education programs; like ones that demonstrate how to be a good example for your kids and not to treat an animal park like a fun fair.

End self-righteous pontificating. Brandon Walsh would be proud.

These hyenas were desperately trying to get to something, presumably edible, that was hiding in the logs. They were whining and digging furiously, but no one looking on seemed to know what was under there.

The giraffes were surprisingly beautiful. I've never really thought too much about them before but they were graceful and gangly all at once, strolling about calmly together in polite indifference to the crowds of squawking people.
Meerkat doing its thing
Man draws gorilla
More gorillas
Pygmy hippo
Finally, the llama.

Regent's Park

Out of all the great things about London, I'd have to say the parks are my favourite. There are so many different kinds - tiny ones sandwiched between office buildings (filled with office workers clutching Pret sandwiches and huddling together against the cold), huge open spaces populated by joggers and dogwalkers, unkempt but charming ones like Gunnersbury Park, suburban playgrounds, etc etc.

London (and probably England) is especially good at my favourite kind of park - one with lots of different parts, hidden nooks and coves to discover, cool green pathways, and maybe a few sculptures. A good rose garden also doesn't go astray. Big open commons have their place, but it's not quite as interesting as finding a new lake or grove or roman-style refuge everytime you turn a corner.

While The Boyfriend was celebrating nothing in particular with one of his more debaucherous mates one Saturday not long ago, I took myself on an excursion to Regent's Park (and London Zoo, see next post). I'm quite annoyed with myself for not going sooner, because now we have less than five months left in this town, and I've only just found my favourite London park.







Even more magical was the trip back through the park at dusk on the way to the tube from the Zoo. This section of the park (part of Queen Mary's Gardens) has a vibe of maintained wilderness, in contrast the part I was in earler in the day. Instead of meticulously groomed lawns and avenues of carefully colour-coordinated blooms, there are paths meandering through small forests, mysterious hideouts, a waterfall and a series of lakes and ponds. Something new each time you turn a corner. There was also a Japanese-style garden hiding behind some pine trees, and a huge fragrant rose garden. The rose garden was hosting an Indian (I think) post-wedding reception so it was filled with excited children chasing each other around the place in white taffeta, women in beautiful saris, and besuited men conversing seriously while surveying the proceedings.






And the place is so immense I didn't even get to things like the open air theatre or the boating lake before I was chased back to the tube by the darkness.

I don't mean for this blog to sound like a Pollyanna tourist guide of London all the time. But Regent's Park was truly lovely, particularly because I'd forgotten what it was like (since visiting quickly once about eight years ago) and therefore was pleasantly surprised while discovering it again. Perhaps I need to start writing some cranky, sarcastic rants to balance things out. If I sit here and relive my experiences on the tube this week, or battling the crowds in Oxford Street last Saturday, or of the appalling service I got at Ping Pong in Soho recently, I'm sure I could come up with something.

The rest of my photos of the day, including of London Zoo, are up on Flickr here.

Her Majesty

Last week we met some friends for a Sunday drink on the Queen Mary, a floating bar/restaurant on the Thames with views of Westminster, the London Eye, etc. Apparently it used to be some sort of social institution but with the recent smoking ban, and an inexplicable decision to stop serving food on the deck (forcing you to eat in the gloomy, stale-smelling internal area, whatever you call that part of a ship), it's lost some of its charms. Fortunately the day was beautiful - clear and almost brutally sunny - so we enjoyed our beers on the deck, and then headed into town for lunch.

I spent some time staring directly into the sun while trying to take some shots of the view. I couldn't really see what I was producing at the time due to the glare, but this one is a pretty accurate representation.


This is The Boyfriend and friend. Maybe it was more than "a" drink.