Nightsky’s new London trip part 5 – The parks and their views

[Nightsky]

Hyde Park:

Hyde Park is London's most famous park, but not the largest, if you thought that. Hyde Park is connected with Kensington Gardens to the west. Even if there are special animals and flowers that you don't see in Swedish parks, the park itself is not so special, considering it is one of the world's most famous parks. Grass, trees, birds and an partly elliptical lake are nice things in the park. Hyde Park is famous for its Speakers Corner.


Hyde Park with the lake "Serpentine" and the Hilton Hotel in the background. We weather was pretty nice, so we tried to sit down in one of the many sun chairs. Then a park guard came and wanted us to pay £1.5 per hour. Then we thought that it is not so bad sitting in the grass or on a bench after all.


The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain is designed to represent Diana's life. The architect Karthryn Gustafson explain whys: "There are all sorts of fun things in the fountain that are turbulent and cascading down, and champagne bubbles, and total calm, and playful".


Marble Arch. Originally built as the grand entrance of Buckingham Palace, it has been removed to the northeastern entrance of Hyde Park in a very trafficated
intersection.


This bridge is the border to Kensington Gardens. The tall highrise is the 29-story Knightsbridge Barracks (94m) from 1970.

Kensington Gardens:

Kensington Gardens has more beautiful monuments than Hyde Park, and an even more beautiful and nice vegatation.


The Albert Memorial. This beautiful Victorian granite monument, just opposite from Royal Albert Hall, was dedicated to prince Albert and is probably the most impressive monument in the whole London. In the middle is a statue of Albert seated in a Gothic shrine. It also includes 169 carved figures, and separate groups representing the Continents, Industrial Arts and Sciences.

We sat in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park hours before we had to go to the airport and leave London. We had a picnic under this monument. The weather was partly cloudly, and partly sunny, like it use to be in London.


Greenwich Park. The most beautiful park in London, I think. The views, after walking up that hill, are amazing. Greenwich is famous because it is the center of the world's time zones (you can actually see it in the park). More about Greenwich Park in the Greenwich section.

Regents Park:


One of the most beautiful and famous parks in London. It is situated a bit in the outskirts, bordering Primrose Hill, Camdentown and Marylebone. It is also close to Madame Tussauds and Baker Street.


British Telecom Tower as seen from Regents Park.


A luxorious residential complex with expensive cars at the entrance to Regents Park.

Primrose Hill:




I was surprised by the great views from Primrose Hill. You can see the whole London skyline with almost all tall buildings from there.
Unfortunately it was starting to get dark and grey just when we reached the top of the hill.
More skyline views from Primrose Hill can be seen in the skyline section.

Green Park and St James Park:




Green Park, a very beautiful park right in the center, just next to Buckingham Palace.


St James Park. A park that is bordering Green Park. This photo was taken in April 1999
(and not on the '05 journey), that is why the trees have no leaves.

If you want to see more views from the parks, click on the skyline section.

Hamsted Heth:


Hamsted Heth is located in the northern suburb of Hamsted near Camden.
I have heard that the views should be very good in the parks so me, my
girlfriend and our room mates from Mexico and Brazil were heading for a
picnic there. Hamsted is located very high compared to the rest of London
and is very hilly, so when arriving by the tube we had to take a fast elevator
several meters up. We found this spot with help from a man. However, I could
only see the skyline of Canary Wharf and City in the distance. More of the views
can be found in the skyline section.

But the nature was very nice and much wilder than and in the other London parks.
Hamsted feels very hilly and Continental. It was very hot this day, a nice summer day.