A Walk in the Park.

 
We had a fantastic day in London, made better by the beautiful weather and the sun shining after a week of grey cloud and mist.

We left home at 9.30 and had a really good run down to Hyde Park where we parked the car. There was no shortage of parking spaces which surprised me. I'm always amazed at how easily we park here, considering it's central London.

We had some of our picnic and then sauntered along the Serpentine, parts of which were still frozen over. As it was such a lovely day, we headed for Speakers Corner and listened to a couple of men spouting off. It's a great place with a really good atmosphere and I find it brilliant that you can go there and say what you want, even if you run the risk of getting heckled! I treated the children and myself to a hot chocolate and then we wandered down Park Lane trying to work out how much the apartments were overlooking the park! Outside the Grosvenor House hotel was a huge Newcastle United coach and Keith was trying to work out why it was there as they're playing West Bromwich tomorrow at home...

At Hyde Park Corner we admired the Queen Elizabeth Gate and then followed signs to Buckingham Palace taking in the Wellington Arch (and very cheap bottled water!) on the way. There was no traffic at all on the approach road and when we got to the bottom we stumbled onto a film shoot! There was a lot of people milling about and we waited ages for something to happen! When it did, it was very exciting to hear the Director shout, "Action" and see the crowd of "supporting artists" cheer and wave flags. I was amazed at the cameras and equipment. No wonder these films cost so much to make. We still have no idea what it was and didn't see anyone famous, but it was still great to see, nonetheless!

After a quick peek at Buckingham Palace, we walked back through Hyde Park to the car and then a very easy and quick journey home. Our feet were aching and we all had a warm soup glow but we thoroughly enjoyed our day in London!