Hue-ing Hyde and Ostentatious Oxford St

Yesterday was one of Britain's 8 sunny days and I took full advantage with a walk through the eastern side of Hyde Park, Oxford Street, and much more!

Because I know that my blogger babble gets tiresome, I am going to try something new with this post.  Let me know how you like it.

This is the general route I took yesterday ... thank goodness for screenshots!

View from 1st floor, 14 Queen's Gate

NUMBER 1: 14 Queen's Gate

This is where I live, literally half a block from Hyde Park.
As you can see, it really was super sunny outside, and I will take any opportunity to wear my shades!


I was out for 3 or so hours, and therefore have lots to show you ....

Queen's Gate

Every journey through Hyde Park begins and ends through this gate: Queen's Gate!

Albert Memorial

NUMBER 2: Albert Memorial

I won't elaborate too much here (see my Discovering Hyde Park post for more details about the Albert Memorial), but thought that it would be helpful to number a landmark I've mentioned before to better situate you.

Also, I couldn't pass up this AMAZING cloud-scape behind the Albert Memorial.  You can also see the Royal Albert Hall in the background.










NUMBER 3: South side of the Serpentine

I'm going to classify the Serpentine as a lake, but it has a current, which doesn't make sense to me .... in any case, it's a popular spot for boating, feeding the birds, etc.  You can also see that the trees in Hyde Park are starting to turn beautiful shades of orange, red, and yellow for autumn!

Hue-ing Hyde Park

Bridge over Serpentine

The bridge you see here is THE road for cars through the Park.  Hyde is amazingly quiet amongst the bustling streets of London.  I've never been to Central Park in NYC, but I imagine it has a similar feel.


NUMBER 4: Head of the Serpentine

The Serpentine

It is hard to tell if this is the head or the tail of the Serpentine,  but I'll call it the head because I think the Serpentine looks a bit like a tadpole or a whale.  Around this area there were a few cafes, lots of benches to picnic or just read a book.

The Serpentine is a man-made lake/pond/whatever constructed for Queen Caroline, wife of King George II, in 1730.  Since then, it has been an iconic feature of Hyde Park and was certainly an attraction during the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Crystal Fields, Hyde Park

NUMBER 5: (Crystal Palace) Grounds

Clearly the Crystal Palace, which used to house Albert's Great Exhibition of 1851, is long gone, but I took a photograph of the area it covered on the east end of the Park.  The Palace was HUGE: 1851 feet long,  just a bit longer than 6 American football fields!  I have cleverly named this area Crystal Fields.

I know what you're thinking: man, I wish my lawn was so green!

Marble Arch

NUMBER 6: Marble Arch

To be perfectly honest, this is a complete shot in the dark.  I think Marble Arch used to be one of the grand entrances to Hyde Park, but no longer fills that capacity.  Today Ring Road loops around it, effectively cutting if off from Hyde, a common type of alteration to London (especially along Regents Street near Piccadilly Circus).

You may remember me saying that I go to the Western Marble Arch Synagogue.  Well, if you walk through the archway, cross the street, continue for a block or two, WMAS is on the right.  When it's nice outside, it's quite a pleasant walk to shul.

From here, I walked under the Arch and turned right to experience the shopping scene on Oxford Street.

NUMBER 7: Oxford Street

Oxford St from Marble Arch

Oxford Street is lined with shops, and is almost always a crowded part of town.  As you travel east along Oxford, the price tags get more and more expensive until they disappear altogether.  As they say, if you have to ask the price of an untagged item, you probably can't afford it.  That didn't stop me from looking at all the window displays!






NUMBER 8: Pedestrian Walk from Oxford to Brook Street

While London is full of busy streets lined with even busier sidewalks, there are also lots of small, quiet pedestrian routes that magically transport you to a small town in the countryside (this picture actually reminds me of my visit to Hull).  They are truly incredible.  I took this path south from Oxford to New Bond Street and Brook Street.

Pedestrian only shopping walk

The award for most outrageous storefront went to the MASSIVE Victoria's Secret on the corner of New Bond and Brook.  Instead of what you'd expect to see - the PINK display and various colorful sets of lady's undergarments - the mannequins were wearing the outfits from previous years' Victoria's Secret New York fashion shows.  I'm talking about the whole super sparkly, feathered and tasselled sha-bang.

Dartmouth House, Charles St

NUMBER 9: Dartmouth House, Charles Street

On account of the sun beginning to set around 4:15pm (yeah, we're pretty far north here), I turned westward, around Berkeley Square (built by some guy named Lord Berkeley in the 17th or 18th century), to head home.  This area is a pretty ritzy part of town.  How do I know?  It couldn't have been the Rolls Royce-Bugatti and Bentley car dealerships all in a row.  That was an awesome line of stores to walk past, but also sad because, as I say about all expensive cars stuck in traffic (or, in this case, behind glass): so many ponies and nowhere to go!



That was quite the tangent: my apologies.  Pictured is a really cool building I saw on Charles Street.  The Dartmouth House was probably originally a private residence, but it looks like it's a hotel now.  I'm not sure.


NUMBER 10: Hue-ing Ivy on Curzon St

Curzon St

I have nothing interesting to say about this house other than I liked how the ivy is changing color.  Also, you don't see much ivy on buildings here -- I suspect it's a British we-must-have-everything-just-so thing.
















NUMBER 11: Hyde Park Rose Garden

On the return trek through Hyde Park, I skirted the southern border of the park, parallel to Carriage Drive (legible on the map), and found myself in a rose garden!  Unfortunately this is the tail-end of rose season, so there were only a few to see, but there was definitely a sweet-smelling residue in the air.

Archer Fountain, Hyde Rose Garden

Trellised Walkway, Hyde Rose Garden

Thanks for walking with me!