A beached whale beside the Thames
More of the whale....
The Tower Bridge opening to let a ship through
Row-boats on the Thames
Julia on one of the many bridges over the Thames
One of the many buskers at the Thames Festival
4 signs warning about pedestrian congestion, which was very prevalent
Cars made out of beer and coke cans
Shaun on Millenium Bridge with St Pauls in the background
Guy falling off his stilts at the start of the Thames Festival Parade
Cute strawberry-kids in the parade
Huge float of 'Ganesh'
Fireworks over the Thames
Old rugby balls for sale at Notting Hill Markets - only $72 each!!
Crowds on Portobello Rd, Notting Hill
Stalls on Portobello Rd
Giant pumpkins and zucchini and other miscellaneous vegetables
"Winnie-the-Pooh" Russian dolls - with a pot of hunny in the middle!
Julia and the watch-maker
The angry grey cat has found a friend....he still doesn't look too happy about it thoughThe past few weekends have been choc-a-block with sports, from 8 games a weekend of world cup rugby, to twenty-twenty world cup cricket, to the final series of both the Nrl and Super League, so understandably it has been quite difficult to manage any sight-seeing adventures. However due to demand we have squeezed a couple in.
Two weeks ago we braved the cold to head along to the Thames Festival. A weekend long event of performers, music, food, beer, wine and market stalls set along side the Thames. We went for the sunday part as it ended with a parade and fireworks over the Thames. The atmosphere was very lively and it had certainly attracted the crowds, at some points the congestion of the human traffic flow was worse than Auckland on a Friday afternoon. There were plenty of street performers, from Michael Jackson to Gandalf to a man who looked over a hundred but was playing his harmonica with the zest of a ten year old(and incidently was raking in the cash). The stalls comprised of everything from knick knacks to jewellery to a shop where everything was made from beer or coke cans(one of the few professions that require you to drink before you can get any work done!). Food stalls were providing all sorts from gourmet salads to jerk chicken and there was music for most tastes- as long as you like jazz. We spent the afternoon navigating through crowds and stolling across bridges and even just made it across the Tower Bridge before it was drawn to let a boat pass underneath and then headed off in search off dinner. Which I must add is not the easiest thing to find at 6pm on a Sunday in central London. With this in mind we set our sights low and went looking for a BK or Maccas. After wandering the streets for a good 45 minutes we gave up on the prospect of dinner and headed back to get a good viewing spot at the start of the Parade.
The Parade kicked off at a quarter to eight and with over 3000 participants was quite enjoyable. There was everything from a Giant Happy Buddha to Ganesh to a guy on stilts(who was trying so hard to look impressive he ended up falling off and being unable to get back up, and had to carry his stilts for I presume the rest of the parade), to a bunch of ragged, homeless looking guys who had been given drums to whack. All in all a thoroughly entertaining parade.
Once completed we headed up on to Blackfriars Bridge to get a good viewing spot for the fireworks. As we were at the begining of the parade, and the firewoks weren't due to start until its completion, we had a bit of time to kill. However by the time this realization kicked in the crowds were so dense that you felt to leave your spot would result in coming back to find the only standing room left would be behind a tree or Andre the Giant. So we stayed and waited and waited, passing the time by listening to an annoying bunch of American teenagers behind us and looking round at Big Ben(which seemed to stop moving at all after a while). The start time of 9.45pm passed and the crowd began to get restless and the Americans managed to get more annoying when from the barges below came a BANG and some smoke drifted lazily into the air. This was followed by another pause and just enough time for one of those intelligent Americans to ask "was that it?" and finally they began. However them starting just seemed to fuel the bunch behind us saying things like "these are crap have you been to (so and so) on the fouth of july" and "the timing seems to be off" when after a few baleful stares by onlookers and the onset of some much bigger,brighter and louder fireworks finally shut them up. It turned out to be an amazing 20 minute display of some of the most magnificant fireworks you can imagine, coupled with the background of the London Eye, Big Ben and the Thames it finished off a great day and more than substituted for an empty stomach and the company.
The following Saturday we caught the Tube over to have a look around the famous Notting Hill Markets, on Portobello Rd. The street was full of people, but we managed to squeeze through them to look at the stalls. The first section is mainly antique stores, with stalls outside displaying jewellery, toys, old maps, very old leather rugby balls and boxing gloves etc... Then there were food stalls overflowing with gourmet breads, meats, olives, salads, all looking very tasty. There was also a section with 'new goods', and new clothes and jewellery. They are pretty amazing markets, and it's obvious why so many tourists flock to them! We also encountered an ultra-hygeinic public toilet, which goes through a cleaning cycle after every person that goes inside it. It does make for a very long queue though...
Two weeks ago we braved the cold to head along to the Thames Festival. A weekend long event of performers, music, food, beer, wine and market stalls set along side the Thames. We went for the sunday part as it ended with a parade and fireworks over the Thames. The atmosphere was very lively and it had certainly attracted the crowds, at some points the congestion of the human traffic flow was worse than Auckland on a Friday afternoon. There were plenty of street performers, from Michael Jackson to Gandalf to a man who looked over a hundred but was playing his harmonica with the zest of a ten year old(and incidently was raking in the cash). The stalls comprised of everything from knick knacks to jewellery to a shop where everything was made from beer or coke cans(one of the few professions that require you to drink before you can get any work done!). Food stalls were providing all sorts from gourmet salads to jerk chicken and there was music for most tastes- as long as you like jazz. We spent the afternoon navigating through crowds and stolling across bridges and even just made it across the Tower Bridge before it was drawn to let a boat pass underneath and then headed off in search off dinner. Which I must add is not the easiest thing to find at 6pm on a Sunday in central London. With this in mind we set our sights low and went looking for a BK or Maccas. After wandering the streets for a good 45 minutes we gave up on the prospect of dinner and headed back to get a good viewing spot at the start of the Parade.
The Parade kicked off at a quarter to eight and with over 3000 participants was quite enjoyable. There was everything from a Giant Happy Buddha to Ganesh to a guy on stilts(who was trying so hard to look impressive he ended up falling off and being unable to get back up, and had to carry his stilts for I presume the rest of the parade), to a bunch of ragged, homeless looking guys who had been given drums to whack. All in all a thoroughly entertaining parade.
Once completed we headed up on to Blackfriars Bridge to get a good viewing spot for the fireworks. As we were at the begining of the parade, and the firewoks weren't due to start until its completion, we had a bit of time to kill. However by the time this realization kicked in the crowds were so dense that you felt to leave your spot would result in coming back to find the only standing room left would be behind a tree or Andre the Giant. So we stayed and waited and waited, passing the time by listening to an annoying bunch of American teenagers behind us and looking round at Big Ben(which seemed to stop moving at all after a while). The start time of 9.45pm passed and the crowd began to get restless and the Americans managed to get more annoying when from the barges below came a BANG and some smoke drifted lazily into the air. This was followed by another pause and just enough time for one of those intelligent Americans to ask "was that it?" and finally they began. However them starting just seemed to fuel the bunch behind us saying things like "these are crap have you been to (so and so) on the fouth of july" and "the timing seems to be off" when after a few baleful stares by onlookers and the onset of some much bigger,brighter and louder fireworks finally shut them up. It turned out to be an amazing 20 minute display of some of the most magnificant fireworks you can imagine, coupled with the background of the London Eye, Big Ben and the Thames it finished off a great day and more than substituted for an empty stomach and the company.
The following Saturday we caught the Tube over to have a look around the famous Notting Hill Markets, on Portobello Rd. The street was full of people, but we managed to squeeze through them to look at the stalls. The first section is mainly antique stores, with stalls outside displaying jewellery, toys, old maps, very old leather rugby balls and boxing gloves etc... Then there were food stalls overflowing with gourmet breads, meats, olives, salads, all looking very tasty. There was also a section with 'new goods', and new clothes and jewellery. They are pretty amazing markets, and it's obvious why so many tourists flock to them! We also encountered an ultra-hygeinic public toilet, which goes through a cleaning cycle after every person that goes inside it. It does make for a very long queue though...
