Photo-A-Day #1210

Today I started off on a mission to go and pick up a few things around the city. That was after I completed my demonstration for a client You know the real reason I am over here in London. But since I don’t talk about that I will have to find something else to talk about.

After the demo I went back to the hotel and assembled my gear for a nice light pack to bring with me. I also tossed my last Book Crossing book into my bag. I had all the cameras and other items. I was off.

First I traveled to the Fulham Broadway Station because that was the closest station to Warrs Harley Davidson. At Warrs I picked up a couple of pins. It took me a good long time to find the place too. I walked in 4 of the wrong directions until I found the place. So, that was fun. I did notice something interesting the T-shirts int he clearance rack were all 2XX and higher. Those are all usually missing from the racks int he US. Better start doing some crunches. I did get to see Chelsea Stadium on my unusually long walk, though. When I was done with that I walked back to the station which was also a mall and movie theater with a food court. They have Krispy Kreme Donuts here. Oh, Oh. Movies were about $12 US, ouch. I did have lunch here and then continued on to my next stop which was Harrods.

I went to Harrods to find Eva a Paddington Bear. I wanted to get her an authentic Paddington Bear and not some tourist trap knock off. It was very important. So I went into Harrods. Immediately a security guard tells me that I have to take my backpack and put it in my hands, it cannot be on my back. Why? I have no clue. So I put it into my hand and trek through the building. I was annoyed because there were no signs and no explanation of why. I also saw many people with bags and backpacks on their backs. So I put it on one shoulder. The pack is heavy if you carry it around a mega huge store for a while. I got Paddington and then picked up the 50th anniversary book and CD. I knew those would be great gifts for Eva. Then I started looking for something for Allison. The store is huge and you need a map to get around, unfortunately maps are not in abundance. I did find the Crepe and Cafe place and had a delicious Crepe with Strawberry topping and strawberry ice cream. That was my good experience with Harrods.

I made my way back downstairs and was again told by a security guard that I had to hold the bag in my hand. I didn’t question it, I’m not in my own country so I was polite. But I was annoyed. Couple that with the fact that there was a small continent full of people in the place I was getting anxious and claustrophobic. I assume the reason I had to not have it on my back was so that I wouldn’t bump someone else or the merchandise. Fine, but the bag in my hand with the straps all hanging down was much more dangerous than it would have ever been on my back. So I tried to find an exit quick. Well, quickly finding an exit in this store is not possible so I got more and more annoyed and finally made it outside. I then took Paddington to various places along my route back to the hotel. I wanted to get back and quick. I was done with being out and about in a sea of humanity. I wanted some alone time to get my sanity back.

Along the way back to my Tube Station I stopped off at Piccadilly Circus Station, Paddington Station and the Warwick Avenue Station for Little Venice. In Little Venice I found out that it was part of the Borough of Paddington. So I walked around and took some more photos. I got back to my hotel and met up with some of my co-workers as they returned from their demos. We talked a bit and then set to meet at 7:00 in the concierge lounge of the hotel.

At 7:00 I went upstairs but I was not feeling up to going back out for the night. I had much work to get done and I was tired from all my walking earlier in the day. So I had a quiet meal with another co-worker who wasn’t up for going out either. Tomorrow I’m going to run all over the place and get a bunch of Paddington Photos for a little book for Eva. I’ll hit many of the places I’ve been before and have a quick loop mapped out so I can do that, get back to the hotel and shower before my flight home.

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Photo-A-Day #1209

Today I got up and headed out with my friend Bill. We were going to take the Big Bus Company Tour. We bought our tickets at the front desk of the hotel, then we went over to the Kilburn park Underground station. We got some day tickets for the ‘Tube’ and shot over to Piccadilly Circus. There we picked up a tour bus and took that through the city to the Tower of London. Along the way we took a ton of shots from the top of the back of the bus.

I took well over 200-300 photos today. I have no clue how many. Tonight I will upload them all to Flickr as Private and then go through and pick out the ones I don’t want. These will be pretty raw and I won’t be straightening them or cropping them so they will be SOOTC Straight Out Of The Camera or SOTC Straight Off The Card. I will run them through Photoshop to make them smaller and more easily uploaded however.

The day was a really fun one. The bus tour was well worth the price and then when we got to the Tower of London (which is a giant fortress and not one big giant tower, it actually has 20 towers) we decided to walk over Tower bridge and then back to the Tower of London to take the tour. That too was well worth the price of admission. We took the guided tour lead by one of the Beefeaters. It was great and we learned so much about the history of the Tower(s). Once we were finished with that the group gave us a call and we set up a meeting spot in front of Buckingham Palace. We were to meet them on the Monument that is in front of the Palace. Not the best idea as this is were I got separated from the group on Monday. But no worries the group did show up for us, just very late.

We walked from the Palace to Wesminster Abbey and took a ton of photos there and of Parliament and the Big Ben Clock Tower. Not Big Ben mind you because that is the 13 ton bell inside the tower and not the clock.

From there we walked up to Covent Gardens. There we had dinner at Chez Girard. The food was decent and we (Bill and I) were famished because we never stopped for lunch during the day. You can see our adventures on the London Flickr Set. I’ll get as many up as I can as fast as I can too.

Tomorrow I find a Harley Shop and pick up something for Allison and Eva. I’ve got Eva’s gift picked out in my head, I just have to find it. I think I’ll hit Harrod’s to look, they might have what I am looking for. Oh and I have to work tomorrow as well so I should get some sleep, again it is nearing the hour of midnight here in London.

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