Thursday, August 17, 2006
Walking with Ekatarina in London. Part 1
We went by train to Victoria Station with Ekatarina and Ashley.
Almost immediately one is struck by the vibrancy of life in the big city.
But amongst all the rushing and bustling there is always time to seek out the details of the interesting people and the buildings.
London is just full of interesting details - all you have to do is use your eyes. Often I turn my head upwards to see the features on buildings that are not normally seen.
The first of those buildings which entranced Ekatarina and me was The Victoria Theatre. It is a lovely building, which at the moment is staging Billy Elliott; this is the tale of a young boy with his heart set on becoming a ballet dancer despite objections from home that dancing is not manly.
I assume that the statue right at the top of the theatre was created for this production - but maybe it is there permanently. I certainly hadn't noticed it before.
The statue shows a dancer as Ekatarina sees a ballerina - pirouetting like a fairy princess.
She was quite surprised to learn that boys could be ballet dancers!
You can see what I mean about looking up to see interesting features. Look at that little dome and the statues high above the London street.
The next building we saw was Westminster Cathedral.
You can see more pictures of our visit to the cathedral on another posting on this blog site.
It isn't just the old buildings that we notice.
This collection of large new buildings are interesting and make a pattern against the blue sky.
This was taken as we walked from Westminster Cathedral to Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace - one of the most familiar buildings in London.
It is possible now to visit some of the state rooms and there were long queues of tourists waiting to do this, looking forward to telling the folks back home that they had been inside the Queen's house.
A soldier on guard.
Not a very interesting job. He stands to attention and then every quarter of an hour marches up and down.
Here is another view of Buckingham Palace taken from just inside St James's Park.
The flag flying was the Union Jack. When the Queen is at home in London the Royal Standard is flying; but in August she is on her holidays - probably at Balmoral in Scotland.
I love walking in London. There is so much to see. And I really loved sharing the experience with Ekatarina. I don't expect a 5 year old to remember very many of the details, though she has a diary full of photos just for herself. But just maybe, our trip will add to her understanding of what a pleasure it is to use your eyes wherever you are.
Now I suggest you carry on the journey in Part 2.
I didn't intend to make 2 parts, but I found suddenly hit a stumbling block so I decided to publish one part and then sort out the problem.
Almost immediately one is struck by the vibrancy of life in the big city.
But amongst all the rushing and bustling there is always time to seek out the details of the interesting people and the buildings.
London is just full of interesting details - all you have to do is use your eyes. Often I turn my head upwards to see the features on buildings that are not normally seen.
The first of those buildings which entranced Ekatarina and me was The Victoria Theatre. It is a lovely building, which at the moment is staging Billy Elliott; this is the tale of a young boy with his heart set on becoming a ballet dancer despite objections from home that dancing is not manly.
I assume that the statue right at the top of the theatre was created for this production - but maybe it is there permanently. I certainly hadn't noticed it before.
The statue shows a dancer as Ekatarina sees a ballerina - pirouetting like a fairy princess.
She was quite surprised to learn that boys could be ballet dancers!
You can see what I mean about looking up to see interesting features. Look at that little dome and the statues high above the London street.
The next building we saw was Westminster Cathedral.
You can see more pictures of our visit to the cathedral on another posting on this blog site.
It isn't just the old buildings that we notice.
This collection of large new buildings are interesting and make a pattern against the blue sky.
This was taken as we walked from Westminster Cathedral to Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace - one of the most familiar buildings in London.
It is possible now to visit some of the state rooms and there were long queues of tourists waiting to do this, looking forward to telling the folks back home that they had been inside the Queen's house.
A soldier on guard.
Not a very interesting job. He stands to attention and then every quarter of an hour marches up and down.
Here is another view of Buckingham Palace taken from just inside St James's Park.
The flag flying was the Union Jack. When the Queen is at home in London the Royal Standard is flying; but in August she is on her holidays - probably at Balmoral in Scotland.
I love walking in London. There is so much to see. And I really loved sharing the experience with Ekatarina. I don't expect a 5 year old to remember very many of the details, though she has a diary full of photos just for herself. But just maybe, our trip will add to her understanding of what a pleasure it is to use your eyes wherever you are.
Now I suggest you carry on the journey in Part 2.
I didn't intend to make 2 parts, but I found suddenly hit a stumbling block so I decided to publish one part and then sort out the problem.
