Saturdays are, in my opinion, too few and far between to not make full use of them. As usual, by the weekend I'm feeling stir-crazy and in need of new surroundings. I spent the majority of Saturday afternoon and evening wandering along the Thames. The main purpose of my journey was to take some 35mm shots of the London Eye, Parliament, and the river. Success! (Photos coming soon.) It was an overcast, but warm day in London. The sun failed to make an appearance, but I did see some friendly seagulls. The tide was in today as well, so the river was especially brown and murky. No matter, I still enjoyed the walk around the river.
After snapping a sufficient amount of photos of the London Eye and its immediate surroundings, I decided to wander to St. Paul's Cathedral to check out the action of "Occupy London". It's about a 20 minute walk along the river from Parliament to St. Paul's, so I decided to stroll rather than take the underground. Walking along the North side of the Thames is so pleasant! There is so much to look at, and the whole road is lined with lovely trees. The route to St. Paul's is dotted with random statues, parks, and gardens. I snapped lots of "Hipstamatic" photos with the good ol' iPhone.
When I finally made it to the "Occupy London" camp in front of St. Paul's Cathedral it was dark (the sun set around 4:30). There weren't as many people or tents as I had expected, though they have been there for several weeks now. Many of the original protestors have spread to other nearby parks. Still, there was quite a large amount of young protestors, picket signs in hand, pacing around and applauding those with microphones or megaphones. Most seem to be young people, students perhaps, protesting the impending increases in tuition; others are simply sharing their anti-capitalist ideas. It was surprisingly well organised, and not nearly as disruptive as I had imagined it to be. It may have been worse a few weeks ago, but now it seems quite docile. Here are some photos of the (attempt at) revolution.
All the walking and revolution made me incredibly hungry for change (and Wagamama). I met up with Jessica in Putney for some delightful asian cuisine. Feeling short of satisfied, we decided a nice walk to Putney Pies for dessert was in order. Though the place was crowded, the owner got us a table right away. "Putney Mud Pie" for Jessica, "Autumn Fruit Cumble with Vanilla Custard" for me. Lip-smacking good. Bellies full, we mozzied back home. Quite a delightful Saturday, if you ask me.
