The Albert Memorial: Asia

I took the train to London today to meet my friend Una, who lives and works in Sri Lanka. We'd decided to meet at Slightly Foxed, the second-hand/new bookshop in Gloucester Road, but Una was late, so I had loads of time to browse and buy some totally superfluous presents! Our footsteps took us in the direction of Kensington and Hyde Park, where we wandered towards the Albert Memorial. I used to hang out in the park with foreign language students, in the 1980s, apparently as part of a lesson plan! Ŵ

The light was constantly changing, but I got some shots of the Africa corner of the monument (it includes Egyptian camels, which confused me for seconds) and the Asian segement. I wanted Una to pose like the responsible adult that she is, but she insisted on pretending to climb the monument! So I've skipped those shots, and gone for this one because of the light. No filters or effects have been used.

Eventually we got too cold for walking, and had lunch at a Persian restaurant in Bayswater, then wandered up to Notting Hill, where we caught the tube to Hammersmith. There we visited Una's mother's new flat, which is in a 1930s development, beautifully renovated and 'resplendently located' as my sister TML's estate agent might have said! The Christmas decorations around Hammersmith were very tasteful! huge willow globes with LEDS in them suspended over the pavement. Slowly, as one walked and observed them, the colours changed from soft pink to violet, to blue, to green and to purple. My sort of mood lighting!

Later, we headed off to the tube and went our separate ways, she to Bethnal Green to cook a roast dinner, I to Paddington, to the little statue of the famous bear, now relocated to Platform 1, and my train to Stroud.

Two more sleeps till Christmas! I don't seem to sleep at all at present.