Day 16: Catching up

Today's Music: Split Enz - Best of Split Enz, and Nada Surf - This Weight Is A Gift

I realize that I got my posts out of order, and for the life of me I can't figure out how to reorder them so they're in order. So my apologies that Days 12-14 are all mixed up.

I wanted to catch up with y'all on my weekend. Saturday was of course spent watching Tottenham beat Liverpool (Day 14), but Sunday was a really good day as well. After toying with spending the weekend in Europe, I decided that the bad weather in Western Europe didn't lend itself to a trip. The warmer climates I considered visiting (Barcelona, Cairo (Pyramids!), and Morocco) were too expensive to warrant a two-day stay. Some day, some day...

So Sunday I caught the late afternoon light that photographers love so much by walking through Kensington Gardens (just West of Hyde Park), taking snaps of everything I came across. From the beautiful autumn leaves, to pick-up football (soccer) games, to dogs that caught squirrels, to seeing the Royal Albert Hall, it was a nice walk. It's absolutely a beautiful time to be in London.

Here come a load of pics, click on them for bigger versions....

The view from just outside my hotel.
One of my favorite 'local' pubs, the Prince Albert


Strange art display outside Kensington Gardens
The first view inside the gate at Kensington Park
A pick-up game of football
More action-packed pick-up football
I love my new Nikon 70-200mm lens. It stops all action.
Playing in front of the statue.
Walking in the park
Autumn leaves on a park bench
This dog was quite proud of the squirrel he caught. His owners, however, were pretty much disgusted by it. Poor dog.
Sitting under the autumn leaves

Outside the statue of Albert.

A few close-ups of Albert's statue.

In the distance, the London Eye on the South Bank. It amazed me that it's so big you can see it from the other side of London.
Prince Albert himself
Albert and his minions
The Royal Albert Hall (remember the Beatles song... "Now I know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall")
Another of the whole of Prince Albert Hall in the sunset
The view of the Albert statue and surrounding street. The wide-angle lens I used makes it look tilted. If I had Photoshop I'd fix it, but oh well.
Another of Royal Albert Hall
The hedge dividing Kensington Gardens from Hyde Park
Some odd architectural sculpture at a local museum
Close-up of the sculpture
I don't know why, I just like pictures of doors. This one had a brick wall behind it, so it was completely useless as a door.
Just liked the ghost-like quality of this one
Autumn colors
The pond in Kensington Gardens
The beautiful sunset. And it really did look this orange.
Seagulls staking their claim on the pond
Photographers kill for this kind of light
Yeah, I know, a pidgeon. But my new lens got him superbly sharp.
Just looked like a cool bird, so what the heck
Old brick bridge
More seagulls settling in on the pond
Cool twisted tree
Another nice sunset shot of Kensington Gardens
Nice reflection
This is not an upside-down picture
My last shot of the park before dark
A better shot of my favorite local pub, the Bayswater Arms

With that I'll leave you. Just a reminder to everyone to vote tomorrow for your favorite candidate. I placed my vote absentee, and I hope you all find a chance to get out there and place your ballot. That's my political statement for the day.

And that about wraps it up for now. With the slow broadband it took nearly two hours to post this, so I'm headed to bed. 'Night...