Perfect Summer

Summer has dawned on London fiercely and brightly the past few days. The sky's been the colour of cornflowers and in Peter's words, "it's so clear it's ridiculous." The sun just beats down and everywhere there are people taking advantage of the precious rays. It's as though all the sunshine that didn't penetrate the thick clouds all winter is being spilled over the city in a single dash. I do so love the sunkissed feeling on my skin.

We took advantage of the first light (it was warm but not clear on Friday) on Saturday to go on the London eye. The view was wonderful and since we took the Discovery Flight (it's not a ride but a flight because British Airways is a partner of the Eye), a guide provided us useful nuggets of information throughout the 30 minutes.


One of the most interesting tidbits is that Westminster Bridge is painted green and the Lambeth Bridge red because the Lords wanted to cross a different bridge from the commoners to get to work at the Houses of Parliament (which, in as you are not aware) is divided the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Correspondingly, the terrace outside the Houses of Parliament are colour-coded with green and red awning so that there are separate eating areas as well. Aristocratic snobbery? You bet!

Then it was off to Hyde Park! I love the place, not just because of the flowers but because the park is really a lovely place. That said, the flowers DO drive me crazy. Wild daisies peek out all over the grass, roses of all varieties bloom left and right on bushes and vines. I stopped to smell one that was in full bloom and it was lovely. Bees buzzed around, busy with nectar collecting. On top of that, there are many many kinds of flowers I didn't recognise.




People do everything and anything at the park to take advantage of the good weather. There are people playing frisbee, playing soccer, picnicking, eating ice-cream, cycling, roller-blading, jogging, reading, sun-tanning, rowing, sleeping... There are families, friends, couples and singles. And there are really people who lie down on the grass in their bikinis. It's just like East Coast Park... minus the sand. My favourite part is that there is actually a deck-chair rental service! It's just so amusing. I've got to admit it's good business acumen!


On Sunday I went for a walk along the river. The weather was still great.

I originally only planned to catch Tower Bridge lifting, have lunch along the river then go back.

But one thing led to another and so after the lift:


...I had lunch on one of the ubiquitous benches along the river with a book. And then I strayed to the book market under Waterloo Bridge:


I was planning to get back to hall to call home but then my mum called while I was out. Serendipitious, heh. So after talking, I went on walking.

There was a spontaneous party taking place below the bridge. There was actually a bit of "beach" (it's the river back) as the tide was out.



And this is one of the ice-cream trucks that's sprung up with the good weather. This one has a really cute license plate though!



There's this really cute saxophone-playing boy outside the National Theatre. Really, he can charm the skirts of any woman! Heh.


I crossed Hungefort Footbridge:


...otherwise known as the Golden Jubilee Bridges. While on it, this little old man stopped to talk to me. He thought we've met before but we haven't. Still he was really pleasant and he left me to my shutters after we bade each other good day.

I then strayed to Trafalgar Square and there was a demonstration taking place:



After that I decided it was too good a day to be indoors and so didn't go into the National Gallery but went on to Leiscester Square/Chinatown/Covent Garden before heading back via Waterloo Bridge. I was going to go up Kingsway but the shops were mostly closed on Sunday, so I didn't.

Then when I got back, I got locked out after leaving all my barang in my room. But that's another story altogether. The lock's fixed now. Or rather, the handyman took out a strip of my doorframe, sawed off the bolt, threw out the old lock and put in a new one. He says since my floor's going to be refurbished this summer, it's ok (and easier) to hack the doorframe out. Haha.