London - IV

Final set of London photos...

Still in the Kensington park area and now closer to the palace.



This is the oval lake just outside the palace...







Above 3 photos are of the palace. It's not a palace in the typical sense. But small buildings and lots of gardens... Very much the way I like things!




Aha... ICICI Bank in London!





The National Museum - an overwhelming structure. Didn't have time to go in ;(

Coz I had to get to Harrods





No, this is not some museum. Its a departmental store, a very high end luxury one at that... YOu only get the most luxurious brands here. Starting price for as simple a thing a bed linen was a few hundred pounds. And it is a huge story - 6/7 floors if i recollect properly. Just sit back and enjoy the luxury...







Incidentally, I happen to see the former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif here. Was checking out some cutlery. We made eye contact, he kinda felt that somebody recognised him. And then we went back to checking his cutlery and I went back to continue my amazement of this amazing store.



The son of the owner of this store was Dodi Al Fayed who was involved in a relationship with Princess Diana. Both of them died in a fatal car crash in Paris a few years back


My final week in London and I hadn't yet gone to London Eye. So I leave early from office a weekday and head there in the evening (that is the best time to go there i was told, bracing the cold) and I was not disappointed. Check out the snaps yourself.



London Eye was built by British Airways and is the world's largest structure of its kind. And the view from the top is simply breathtaking as you can see from below...




Big Ben






Going higher...



...and higher



and higher....









At the top...

Well, this concludes my London Album. As I said at the start, I really enjoyed living and working in this city. I had absolutely no problems during my stay inspite of the fact that this was my first time overseas...

I look forward to going back again to London as and when an opportunity arises...

London - III

Visit to Regents Park. One upon a time it was a hunting ground (yes, in middle of London) but now its a park. Unfortunately I happen to go there in the middle of winter but in summer time I am told this park blooms with all kinds of flowers - next time!











Its a huge park, walk around half its circumference took me around 40 min...



Area near my office at night... (yes even this City does not sleep)





There is history littered everywhere in the city. This is just on my way to office



Another view of London Tower Bridge



Kensington Park












Albert Memorial



Albert hall...



The next few snaps are of Princess Diana's memorial at Kensington park. Its a water flow structure - no statues, nothing flashy or gaudy but very understated, subtle - just like her









Next I move onto Kensington Palace which is unlike a typical palace...

Wimbledon

My trip to Wimbledon on a wet saturday. From what I knew about wimbledon and it being a host of major tennis event globally, I had an image of the town as a modern, developed town and it was everything but. I shall come to it at the end...



First snap, as you can see it is a very dark and there is lots of rain around. There are guided tours every hour/two of the complex and for my round, there were just 2 visitors - yours truly and a middle aged lady from somewhere in the US.





The two trophies...





There are two 'show'/'stadium' courts at Wimbledon, the No.1 court and the Centre court. Above you see two photos of the no.1 court.



This is the place where during the 'Championship' they put up the large screen and crowds gather eating the wimbledon famous strawberry cream! Wouldn't I just love to be there during the tournament... One day...!





The side courts - there are 19 in all and a couple for the members...



Yours truly giving a press briefing after a tough 5 set victory against Roger Federer! This is incidently the press briefing room where the players appear for post match interviews.



The famed Centre Court



Another view of the Centre Court, to the right is the 'Royal Box', obviously empty.



A panoramic pic of the Wimbledon complex.





The last 2 snaps give a sense of how rustic this place actually it. Wimbledon is very close to the woods (forest). In fact so close that during off season, the guys run an electric fence around both the show courts as otherwise foxes enter the complex and ruin the court.

Though it was raining and very cold, it was an afternoon spent well spent.