I spent yesterday with a dear friend and her little one. I was photographing them as well as catching up, as usual.
We are spoilt for choice when it comes to parks in London. We chose Hyde Park for convenience and it's equidistance from both our abodes.
Although the rest of Europe is basking in some kind of heat wave, London is at the tail end of it right now, so it wasn't too hot at a comfortable 22 °C.
Hyde Park was established by King Henry VIII (Henry the eighth) by appropriation from Westminster Abbey as a hunting ground. It has a long and rich history if you care to read about it.
We were only at one side of the park, so the following photos reflect that.
There are many spots to grab coffee in the park, including The Lodge Cafe.
There are several monuments interestingly in the Greco-Roman style, much like the Neo-Roman renaissance era styling of all the pillars.
A highlight of the park is The Serpentine, which is an artificial lake constructed in 1730 by Queen Caroline
Aves and mammals alike enjoy the largest water body in the park. There's swimming, canoeing and boating available on the lake. Dogs are also allowed to, and very often do, jump into the water to cool off or annoy the swans and ducks. While the ducks and geese are often timid and make a dash for it, swans would usually stand their ground and often fight back if provoked.
Being a very old park, there are some ancient trees in there. There's a hilarious up-side-down tree that forms a huge tent-like structure in summer when the leaves are lush and green.
The park is friendly to cyclists and skaters, even though there are some paths where those are prohibited. Those paths are clearly marked as such.
Most of the park is very clean and well kept. I credit this to it being mainly a royal park and being on the affluent part of town.
Another thing I like about Hyde Park is that even though a lot of the grass is mown, quite a bit of it is left to grow wild, so there are sections that have a more natural feel.
Peace and Love ✌🏿
Adé
All copy and photos are original content by me.
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