*Space filler*

Soo...I fail at blogging.  There are pictures from break, oh yes...about 1500.  So when I finishing trolling through them and making them beautiful for you, you may see them.

Don't hate.

Another Mushroom-Free Adventure

Although the name Portobello Road threw shivers down my spine, fungi were really the least of my concerns.  Sunday's jaunt to Portobello Road Market was very fruitful, quite literally, but it was an experience reminiscent of a weekend trip to Primark...for photographic proof, see below:

There was a car coming down the road at this point, so the street had to be (mostly) clear...and this is before we even made it to the market! Literally thousands of people were crowding the streets, but Portobello brings an odd assortment of people together.  There are the faithful Notting Hill viewers (saw it for the first time the week before!), searching for the blue door of the travel book shop from the film, there are the savvy buyers, scouring the market for the best antiques in London, and there are the locals, weaving their way through the throngs of tourists in search of cheap produce.

Antiques!  Lots of them...from iconic signs (Le  Chat Noir, Audrey Hepburn prints that I was sooo tempted to buy) to jewelry of all ages, the humongous antiques market had something for everyone.  Even for the tourists who foolishly bought souvenirs there instead of going to the pound store to get the same (read: low-) quality goods for a quarter of the price.

Every stall-keeper seemed to have a gimmick, and one woman had this beautiful (and photogenic) dog, a terrier, I think.  Others had small children, American flags, or lots of compliments for the pausing shopper.  I opted for the dog.

The incredible array of produce available!  A lot of it's locally grown, too, which makes the budding greenie in me rather happy.  Some translations for you: aubergine is eggplant, courgettes are zucchini, and sultanas are NOT raisins.  The English use the French words for everything, strangely enough.  If you're hardy enough to make it to the end of the market, that's where the produce gets cheap.  I bought a humongous bag of potatoes, a bowl of 20 bananas, and a bowl of 3 zucchini, all for 1 pound each.  Hence why I have now made banana bread twice in the past week...and there are still more in the freezer!

The jazz musicians were the best part of the market, though.  I almost broke my policy of not giving cash when I heard this one group playing on the back of a truck...they were extraordinarily talented! I think Covent Garden is still my favorite market, having now visited Camden, Spitalfields, Borough, Portobello, and Brick Lane...although you can't beat the Beigel Bake's bagels. 

Splashing in Puddles

A streak of rainy days in London...which means an excellent opportunity to capture the city's true nature.

A rain-kissed bench in the park near my flat.  Supposedly diagonal lines make strong composition, so here's to trying new techniques!

Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue. This isn't quite Hitchcock's story, but when I tried to catch some more shots of the birds closer up I got swarmed!  I think I've learned my lesson about animal pictures...

Timing is everything...  I'm extraordinarily proud that this wasn't shot in burst mode!  Wish the drop was slightly better focused, but hey, can't catch 'em all... (please ignore the Pokemon reference....)

Please forgive the lag in posts...I have some shots from Portobello Market (and Notting Hill) to upload too, but it's midterms next week, so your next taste may actually be ITALY!!!  And then off to Paris.  My life is so hard.

Wild at Woburn

Warning: Today's post is rated PG-13 for animal nudity.  Yes, you read that correctly. All you under-13s, GET OUT NOW!

Right then.

Now that we've gotten that taken care of, a bit of context: Woburn Abbey is not a church, it's an estate.  A really really big one--3000 acres of property.  The house itself is pretty amazing, what with the Chinese porcelain, the intricate murals, and the cake knives which commemorate family beheadings for treason.  Incidentally, I live on a street named after the owner's family.

Go figure.  But more interesting than the house itself is the grounds--while out exploring and failing to located the aviary, we stumbled across (err, invented our own path around the fence which blocked off) this cool cave.  From left: Dave, Karen, Laura, me, Chad...half of our Italy group!  Missing are Michael and Nate, present is Chad who is alas not joining us.

I know you were waiting for this strange component of animal nudity.  I feel guilty putting this on the internet for fear of certain types of people, but the moment was to epic to not share. The rest of the land (not covered by houses, caves, or aviaries) is composed of a giant wildlife safari, part walk-through and part drive-through.  Imagine a coachful of college students gazing at a group of giraffes when suddenly two giraffes are basically becoming one...for your viewing pleasure is the moment before, which was intended as a completely innocent giraffe shot, for the record!  (All you morbidly curious people who still don't know what I'm talking about, click on the photo and scroll down and right).  Gah.

Look, Mom, I can fly!  We did a paddleboating thing around a pond in a swan-shaped boat.  This duck decided to show off his wingspan as we powered past.

The lemur that very nearly mauled me. The lemur exhibit, believe it or not, was on the walk-through portion, and you could enter the area and get up close and personal with the lemurs.  Most of them kept their distance, choosing to spit on the unfortunate spectators from high in the trees, but this guy came careening down the walkway railing...luckily I managed to snap a shot of him before jumping back!

Adorable penguins.  For real.  I spent a good 15 minutes just watching them play. They're actually really good at the backstroke...several were floating around with bellies to the sky.

Rhinos!  They're not from Rochester and they don't play soccer (erm..football), but I was fond of them just the same.  This is from the bus, so sorry for the distance...but you can't really blame their legal department!

I really really wanted to take this timberwolf home with me...they look just like huskies, only more stately and graceful.  This guy was living quite contentedly in the same region as several other wolves and a family of black bears.

They had a show of exotic birds.  This parrot knew several tricks...I was torn about the morals of training wild birds to perform for birdseed, but I had to admit, when she waved goodbye, it was pretty darn adorable.

With that, I'm off!  Next week's post should be G again. =p

A collection of moments

Because I've been very lazy about photographing lately and need something leading up to tomorrow's jaunt at the safari park....

The iconic London Eye, a giant ferris wheel providing an excellent view of the City.  Or so they tell me...I have yet to buck up the rather substantial sum of money...waiting until my college roommate flies over here--3 weeks!

Possibly my favorite of my macro shots.  This was taken at the park that's literally 2 minutes from my flat...I think locking the door takes longer than walking there!  There's a beautiful fountain, a small cafe, and lots and lots of pigeons (evidently some bees, too =D).

A memorial to the Merchant Marine Navy...it's amazing to look at the dedications on these wreaths--the British Navy spans all cultures and even many many countries.  This is a standing memorial by the British government, a wall with all the names of men lost at sea by ship...but lately it's been personalized by family and friends.

A shot from my behind-the-scenes tour of London for the London Open House weekend.  The British government (and a few non-govt orgs) open up their doors to the public, and if you don't mind the queues, you can see some pretty amazing places.  This chandelier, however, is actually from the executive dining room at Lloyd's of London--one of the most interesting institutions in London!  But more on that another day...

The ceiling in one of the Foreign Office stairwells.  This building was originally used for foreign administration of colonies in the British Empire.  The building was almost destroyed many years ago because of the expense required to salvage it.  However, it has now been restored to its original style, frescoes and carpets alike...I certainly approve!