Wednesday, August 29, 2012

My (almost) Tour of the Olympic Village and the Zoo

On Monday, I attempted to participate in a London Walks tour of the Olympic Village. But what I didn't realize was just how far out there the Olympic Village was. And by the time I made it through my two Tube journeys, the tour group had left without me. I was a bit disappointed, of course, but decided to venture out on my own and see what I could find. Well, turns out you can't see much! The park was closed for the Paralympics preparations, and even if it were open, you need a ticket to get in. Ooopsies. Still, I managed to get a couple neat photos:

Love this billboard!

Walking up toward the gates



All the venues...that I almost got to see :)



Determined to still make a day of it, I hopped back on the Tube and headed to Embankment, a Tube stop along the river Thames. There's a gorgeous garden/park area there called the Victoria Embankment Gardens, and I had a nice walk around then headed up the hill into the city. It was funny because I accidently ended up right in front of this hotel that we had all gathered at during our People to People trip! When I was here in July, I really had no idea where I was. I just knew we were somewhere in London. I still don't really know where I am half the time, but I'm getting a better feel for the area now. It actually surprises me how close all the different neighborhoods are and how easily you can wind up in a new area of the city without even really trying. Eventually, I ended up in Trafalgar Square where I enjoyed a fabulous 99 (aka Mr. Whippy ice cream) and took some photos.

Victoria Embankment Gardens

The 900th statue of Robert Burns that I've seen throughout my UK travels. :)



Trafalgar Square

Next I decided to wander across a bridge--I have no idea which one I was on!--and have a look at the Southbank area. Everyone kept telling me how fabulous it is over there, so I thought I should check it out. The Southbank is packed full of cool restaurants/bars, activities, a huge theatre, awesome giant lounge chairs and neat places to sit and relax, not to mention the spectacular view along the river Thames. 
The London Eye in the background

The London Eye 
Houses of Parliament and Big Ben


These giant swings look like so much fun!

This is the London Wonderground, which is a fun amusement center/venue/watering hole that's set up at Southbank May through September.

Inside the London Wonderground

I love the 1930's circus feel. 




Boot Dogs!

Some kind of children's show along the Southbank

Southbank walkway
Along Southbank

Aren't these the coolest chairs?!


Looking back at Southbank from the bridge

I woke up Tuesday to the gorgeous London sunshine and decided it was definitely a day to be outside. A quick look through my Rick Steves' London book told me that London has a pretty awesome zoo. Although it's pricey at 23 pounds, I decided to go for it, and made the long trek out there to the northeast side of Regents park where the zoo is located. There was a really long queue to get into the zoo; it must have taken me at least 25 minutes to get in. So clearly the cost of admission doesn't deter many tourists from a visit. Once inside, I actually kind of forgot that I was in the middle of a city. The grounds are beautiful and there were so many animals to check out. I wanted to get my money's worth, so I made sure to see some of the animal shows, and although they are intended for children, I found myself laughing along in delight with the rest of the kids. :)  And because I'm a huge dork, I'm totally going to post pics on here of my favorite animals. Here comes an excessive amount of animal shots!


Tiny owl at the animal performance show

Tiny owl mid-flight

Love the little owl! P.S. We learned that owls are definitely not smart! Look how small his head is! 

The London Zoo has three amazing gorillas.


There are lots of weird little monkeys featured at the zoo. There's even an open area part where you walk through and the monkeys run around in the trees all around you, no glass, no cages. Very cool.

I also stopped by Penguin Beach for their afternoon feeding. So cute and funny! 



Nom nom nom 
Isn't she pretty? Go AMHS Lions! 
Weird aardvark  
Is it a rodent? Is it a pig?

Porcupines

Meerkats! Love those big fat bellies! They totally remind me of my dog! 

They were playing and chewing on each other, but would get all spooked at loud noises and sit right up to check things out.

What's up?

I love how he's sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him!


Giraffes!!!

These two were BFF and excluded the third one. It was kind of sad, really.


The poor lonely third giraffe

Huge tortoise! Love him! 
See the tortoise move...he doesn't go very far:



I really did enjoy my day out of the city, in the sunshine, hanging with my new animal friends!






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