Thursday, August 05, 2004
Waterway Wanderer
Today's weather was simply perfect for a walk, and too perfect for a lie-down in a park.
I decided to walk down Regent's canal. I've only ever walked from King's Cross to Camden via the canal.
As it appears increasingly likely that I shall be leaving London for gainful employment elsewhere, so too has my desire to do all the things I've never had the chance to do.
I've always wondered where the canal "starts", or more aptly, ends, and so today I turned the "wrong" way and walked resolutely with the sunshine hot on the back of my neck down the Canal.
15 minutes later I'd reached a dead end. It was rather offputting. I discovered that the canal appeared to emanate from the base of a hill, upon which a rather appalling estate (named, rather redundantly, Half Moon Crescent estate) set in slightly less appalling Islington.
Lesson for the day - it only takes 15 minutes to walk to islington from King's Cross, via canal.
Somewhat disappointed, I turned around and decided to find out where the canal "started". I'd never done any reading around the subject, and I didn't have the benefit of the map below. (I walked all the orange areas today)
some 3 hours later, I'd walked past some rather bored gazelles bound in by a high chain-link fence (?? eh? a ZOO? complete with giraffe house?! There's only 1 zoo in all of london, to my knowledge, and that must be the...
...Regents Park zoo, which in all my seven years in london, I've never been able to track down.
The zoo is bisected down the middle by the london canal.
I'd also walked past the most beautifully serene stretches of canal imaginable (green, green and more green, and the only noises the occasional birdcall), a mother duck and her seven ducklings swimming in tight formation.
Did you know that the ducklings don't care about the order of the line, so long's it's straight. If the lead duckling falls to curiosity and wanders out of line, he after rest of the group.
I discovered Little Venice, much to my surprise (never been) where I sat down for a cheese and onion toastie lunch. It's a quaint little place, what with all the barges, geese, and flowers.
I ended my walk at Paddington, which is just a stone's throw from Little Venice and an utter contrast - sleek, shiny skyscrapers and hard right angles dominate the bay. There's also an amazing amphitheatre there built of white stone and grass. While here and imbibing a Starbucks Espresso Frappuccino, I noticed a little black and white waterfowl paddling by with a leaf in his beak. My curiosity piqued, I followed him for a while, walking along the bank of the canal till he stopped at a nondescript pile of rubbish, and proferred the leaf to it.
The pile of rubbish exteded a neck and beak and plucked the leaf out of his grasp, before planting it into the pile, and turning into another waterfowl as it stood up to tramp it in. It was a nest... slightly disturbingly, made out of coke canks, discarded paper cups, chocolate wrappers and twigs. Shrug... well, at least someone's keeping the waterways clean.
The little guy then set off again in quest of some other bizarre item to incorporate into his new property.
One of London's greatest appeals to me is the way it's always full of surprises. I'll miss that when I go home.
I decided to walk down Regent's canal. I've only ever walked from King's Cross to Camden via the canal.
As it appears increasingly likely that I shall be leaving London for gainful employment elsewhere, so too has my desire to do all the things I've never had the chance to do.
I've always wondered where the canal "starts", or more aptly, ends, and so today I turned the "wrong" way and walked resolutely with the sunshine hot on the back of my neck down the Canal.
15 minutes later I'd reached a dead end. It was rather offputting. I discovered that the canal appeared to emanate from the base of a hill, upon which a rather appalling estate (named, rather redundantly, Half Moon Crescent estate) set in slightly less appalling Islington.
Lesson for the day - it only takes 15 minutes to walk to islington from King's Cross, via canal.
Somewhat disappointed, I turned around and decided to find out where the canal "started". I'd never done any reading around the subject, and I didn't have the benefit of the map below. (I walked all the orange areas today)
some 3 hours later, I'd walked past some rather bored gazelles bound in by a high chain-link fence (?? eh? a ZOO? complete with giraffe house?! There's only 1 zoo in all of london, to my knowledge, and that must be the...
...Regents Park zoo, which in all my seven years in london, I've never been able to track down.
The zoo is bisected down the middle by the london canal.
I'd also walked past the most beautifully serene stretches of canal imaginable (green, green and more green, and the only noises the occasional birdcall), a mother duck and her seven ducklings swimming in tight formation.
Did you know that the ducklings don't care about the order of the line, so long's it's straight. If the lead duckling falls to curiosity and wanders out of line, he after rest of the group.
I discovered Little Venice, much to my surprise (never been) where I sat down for a cheese and onion toastie lunch. It's a quaint little place, what with all the barges, geese, and flowers.
I ended my walk at Paddington, which is just a stone's throw from Little Venice and an utter contrast - sleek, shiny skyscrapers and hard right angles dominate the bay. There's also an amazing amphitheatre there built of white stone and grass. While here and imbibing a Starbucks Espresso Frappuccino, I noticed a little black and white waterfowl paddling by with a leaf in his beak. My curiosity piqued, I followed him for a while, walking along the bank of the canal till he stopped at a nondescript pile of rubbish, and proferred the leaf to it.
The pile of rubbish exteded a neck and beak and plucked the leaf out of his grasp, before planting it into the pile, and turning into another waterfowl as it stood up to tramp it in. It was a nest... slightly disturbingly, made out of coke canks, discarded paper cups, chocolate wrappers and twigs. Shrug... well, at least someone's keeping the waterways clean.
The little guy then set off again in quest of some other bizarre item to incorporate into his new property.
One of London's greatest appeals to me is the way it's always full of surprises. I'll miss that when I go home.
