London/Glasgow Travelogue: Day 2

Walked through Kensington gardens. Very pretty.

Interesting tidbit: Londoners don't pay attention to signs. There is very limited cycling allowed in the gardens, yet everyone cycles everywhere. And it's a great place for it - long paths. Also - London does not wake up as early as we do in the US. It was a struggle to find coffee at 6:00 AM - thank you McDonald's! Even the coffeehouses don't open until 7:00. The streets were deserted early, and the park as well, although a few runners were out.

The gardens are very pretty even though largely barely-kept grass, barely mowed. There are pretty flower walks. I'll try to get a picture or two in here later today or tomorrow.

Of more interest, I was the first one in the memorial fountain for Diana, Princess of Wales. It is beautifully done - streams of water running both directions from a low bubbly fount at the top which is fed directly by groundwater. In the fifteen minutes I was there, many people came in, so that the grounds were nearly full as I left. It's amazing what one woman can do - both because of and in spite of the man she married. Her accomplishments, surely, were based on her own strengths even if her title helped make her the world's darling. I imagine she would have hated Blair's support for Bush's war.

Well, off to write some more, and maybe nap.