Hyde Park + Kensington Park: London's Personal Space

This morning I ventured out on a run around Hyde Park and man was I impressed. Hyde Park is one of the royal parks of London and its scenery is truly distinct for an urban park. There were loads of walkers. Dogs can walk around without a leash on in most of its parts which is a plus for pet lovers. There is a long winding lake called The Serpentine which has a restaurant on the southeastern tip of it. Row boats are for rental and in the late summer months people actually swim in the lake. Tennis courts, playgrounds, a stone bridge, 9 hole putt-putt golf. Soccer clubs galore playing on the east side of the park. A beautiful Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain that drew in some morning newspaper readers on the north end.



Not only did I get a good workout in, but I got to enjoy discovering the attributes of this park for the first time. This is probably the best backyard I've ever had in my life. Another must see when visiting park is Speakers' Corner on the Northeast of the park, which is a smashing good time on Sunday mornings. People can stand on boxes or whatever they brought with them and stand up and shout whatever they want, as long as it's not vulgar or obscene. Since 1882, Karl Marx, Lenin, George Bernard Shaw and George Orwell have all stood to either speak or listen to speakers there.

This list goes on and on. Kensington Gardens and Palace consist of most of the western side of the park (technically its own park called Kensington Gardens). Don't forget about the Bronze Peter Pan statue donated by J M Barrie himself in 1912, nestled away in the core of the park. AND the Albert Memorial on the Park's grounds just across the street from The Royal Albert Hall.

I could go on and on.

Running Conscious tidbit: I need to order my tickets for Valencia soon to visit Caitlin. :) Maybe plan a weekend trip back to Paris. Also, get some Turkish Liras for the Istanbul trip...

All in all, Kensington Park and Hyde Park are fantastic places to go to when visiting London. Maybe when the weather starts to warm up I will add some more info towards this blog, but for now, great place to go running and people watching.



More info on these parks and other royal parks are found at:

http://www.royalparks.org.uk/

I give this weekend an average of around 9/10. 10/10 on Friday night, 7/10 Saturday night, 10/10 Sunday Morning.