Another day out + policmen!

 Fancy coming with me for a day out?  Well hop on the bus and we'll go to London.

  Last time I went to London we passed of a field of poppies but I didn't have my camera to hand in time.  Yesterday I went again, with my husband this time, and this time I had my camera at the ready even though I didn't expect the poppies to be still in bloom but there they were still reminding me of an Oriental carpet spread over the fields.

 As you can see although the sky wasn't clear blue it was at least not raining and the sun did poke through between the clouds.

 We took the bus to Oxford Street - slowed by a couple of policemen on horseback which I tried to get a photo of without success - but eventually arriving in time to have lunch together before parting to go our separate ways before meeting up for a cup of tea later.  I am going to break my neck one of these days with my habit of looking up at the buildings above the shop fronts but I am always taken by the wonderful stone carvings and the architecture which isn't apparent at street level.  This is Selfridges.

After lunch I took the bus from Marble Arch ( this time it was policemen on bicycles dashing past - maybe it's easier to get through on a bike?!) to Exhibition Road near the Albert Hall and walked through the park noticing the carving on the gate post...

 ..and the ironwork details on the gate - love the little dandelion growing bravely in the paving there!

 There was a lot going on in the park - marquees being put up and taken down as well as a huge arena being built for something called Russia.Sochi.Park which is to be held from 26th July to 12 August and looks interesting.  Further along there was another big marquee in which is staged a production of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe which again looked interesting!

However it was still possible to forget all that in the peace and calm of the gardens which were looking lovely in the afternoon sunshine and more colourful than last time when it was cloudy see here.

There is also plenty of grass space for running about on and I noticed a group of small children all in day-glo vests and obviously from a nearby school being ushered into the Gardens and onto an area of grass where they were being encouraged to run about under the close eye of several teachers!

I came out onto Kensington High Street and again noticed the differing architecture and the workmanship which our ancestors used to put into buildings.  I love all the little balconies on this building - imagine having an appartment in the rooftop with that lovely stone balcony  seen on the left of the photo or any of the wrought iron ones would do too! (If you click on the photos they should enlarge and you will be able to see what I mean)

More stone carving - the mind boggles at the craftsmanship and will people in future times will be able to say the same about modern buildings although I know not all of them are ugly nor plain.  This one looks as if there should be a statue of some sort in the alcove doesn't it?

I wonder how many people popping in for a pizza in Pizza Hut on the ground floor notice the wonderful facade above them?

Or look up at this ornate building with not only stone carving above the windows but mosaic designs below and the red tiles below the window are also carved and not just left plain - it's as though nothing was too much trouble and speed of building wasn't the main criteria obviously!

We took the bus back to Hammersmith this time (you may remember I walked last time) as it was raining by now but we had been lucky with the weather all day.  However the traffic out of London was horrific (possibly due to the M4 closure? - or maybe just the rain?) and the journey took nearly 4 hours instead of the usual 2 and three quarters not helped when on the motorway all traffic was stopped by a police motorcyclist.  We had a ring side view when a taxi tried to overtake the line of stopped vehicles by driving along the hard shoulder and didn't seem to want to stop when a police motorcyclist indicated to him to pull into the stopped lane of traffic and wait alongside our coach.  The policeman wrenched open the driver's door and there was some sort of altercation before the taxi did as he was told and seconds afterwards several cars with a police escort were waved through (word has it that it was David Cameron but I don't know if that is true) but whoever it was they obviously got to their destination more quickly than we did!  We got back to two cross and hungry cats after a long but interesting day.  Next Thursday I am off to meet up with some friends but I'm hoping it won't be another trip to London just yet as it is too tiring!