The Queen's Bumbling Apprentices

Thursday October 27th
In Which we Watch the Queen's Bumbling Apprentices

On our first full day in London we had planned to have a low key time wandering the extensive gardens that were right on our doorstep. For anyone who had not been to London it is hard to convey just how huge Hyde Park actually is. Hyde Park itself covers a massive 350 glorious acres and forms part of a chain of parks that make a continuous green belt from Bayswater right through to Buckingham Palace.

One of my favourite aspects of Hyde Park is the large number of squirrels that are continually scurrying around, looking for articles of food. For Londoners, Hyde Park is also a favourite spot for walking and playing with their dog. On any given day you are likely to find hundreds of dogs (mostly well behaved) running about and having fun.

I was very pleased that the weather had improved drastically and we mostly had a blue sky overhead.

Many of the trees had taken on the majestic colours of late autumn and the lawns were liberally covered with a carpet of fallen foliage. It really made for a lovely introduction to this huge city.

We did not have to walk far before Maggie spied the first squirrel. It was a really curious little fellow that ran straight up to me and looked like it was about to climb up on my shoulder. I persuaded it to return to its tree and we continued our walk.

A little further on we noticed a small group of very young, uniformed horsemen doing exercises. The eldest looked about 16, but they were all fully adorned with polished silver breastplates, fancy uniforms and spiked helmets. The serjeant looked about 20 and was barking instructions at the nervous novices, trying to teach them how to look like they knew what they were doing. There was a lot of horses jumping and rearing and sometimes a little cohesion.

I wondered just effective such a group of horsemen would be as a fighting force. I guess they could wave their swords in the air and shout "Boo", if nothing else. After about 30 minutes the serjeant had tired of the process and ordered them to return to barracks.

It had been a wonderful free entertainment in the Royal Park for us.

We continued our walk along the Serpentine, the long waterway that cuts down the centre of the park. Alongside the water there is a lovely coffee shop called the Lido. It was a perfect place to enjoy a coffee while watching the actions of the people passing by.

At the end of Hyde Park we turned left and walked for about 2 km to the famous Victoria and Albert Museum. I was pleased to find that the admission was free and we spent the next couple of hours wandering its huge halls and admiring the exhibits.

In the evening we walked about 1 km along Bayswater Rd to Notting Hill and enjoyed a nice meal in a French Restaurant. By this time Maggie was beginning to flag and wanted to get back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.Read more