So this is the famous
Hyde Park where opinionated people get up on a box and spout their thoughts on everyone willing to listen, among other things. It's a huge park. Immense. Gigantic. Humongous. Vince and I went crazy going around it. We were going, "Where does this frikkin' park end???"
And that's just one park of many in this city. I guess that's why London, despite it being so cosmopolitan and busy, the city smells so fresh. The trees and the parks are just everywhere. And Londoners love it. At the first sign of sun, they strip to their skivvies and lie down on the grass, basking in the rare rays.
Vince and I also rejoiced in the sun but grabe, ang lamig pa rin. Kakatawa nga kasi I wanted to have my picture taken beside a sunbather who was in a bikini while I was in my jacket, scarf, gloves and skull cap. Ganun siya kalamig! But we kinda lost our nerve kasi baka magalit yung babae (she was nearly naked, right) and you don't want to get on the nerves of these people!
Oh! This is a funny, er, what is it? A statue? A memorial? A marker? Anyway, whatever it is, it's near the huge Serpentine Lake. That lake is so nice--people were rowing boats on it. Anyway, back to the stone. On it, these words proudly announce:
"This boulder was brought here from Norway where it was worn and shaped for thousands of years by forces of nature: frost, running water, rock, sand and ice until it obtained its present shape." See that dark area that Vince is pointing at? Someone cheekily wrote, "MADE IN CHINA!" Hahahaha!
Anyway, we eventually found what I was looking for:
The Diana Memorial Fountain. Hmmm. Para siyang malaking rubber band na tinapon mo sa grass at nagkaroon siya ng tubig. Hehe. Kaya siya mahirap hanapin haha. Seriously though, I get it. After the initial disappointment, I sat down and observed it. People were having a picnic, kids were frolicking in the fountain--it was made for people, like Diana who lived for her subjects. And when I went around the fountain, some parts were serene, other parts were turbulent, other parts had the water sparkling cheerfully in the sun—just like Diana's life, I guess.
Now, eto ang memorial. This is the
Prince Albert Memorial. Unlike Diana's, Albert's is gigantic so it wasn't hard to find. Vince and I are actually very far away from it in this pic, but it looms majestically in the background. Prince Albert, by the way, is the husband of Queen Victoria, who is the longest reigning monarch of the UK (so far... Elizabeth II sits on that throne still). She was also the queen when the UK became an industrial power and a world empire. Ok, history lesson over!
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