I walk down Marlborough Street, cross The Mall and in front of me is St James's Park. The gates leading in are quite impressive with a royal look about them. It is part of a continuous chain of parks that head westwards and include Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Green Park is the only one I have never visited and to be honest had never heard of it, I just new the tube station. Its an overcast day and the park is not that busy. A large lake divides the park and there is a bridge that crosses it.
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The next property on the board is Marylebone Station, the second of the four stations and another I had never been to, in fact Liverpool Street Station was the only one I had previously been to before starting the blog. Rather than take the most direct route I decided to do the exact opposite. As I have said before Mark Mason's 'Walk The Lines' has become my Bible and my inspiration for this blog and has given me lots of ideas of places to visit. For some unknown reason I decided that Westminster Cathedral, Little Ben, and Pimlico Gardens were fairly close, they aren't. So my journey took in in St James's Park, Birdcage Walk, Buckingham Gate, Victoria Street, Wilton Road, Tashbrook Street, St George's Square and finally Pimlico Gardens.
Finally I had completed the Pink Properties and to be honest I was glad that I had. Aside from the journey from Euston Road to Parliment Square I found it pretty boring and uninspiring. I suppose Whitehall was the best of the three, but War and politics is not really my thing and that is what you have there. All three 'properties' were just lots of big buildings typical of central London.
I head back up onto Pall Mall and Waterloo Place is opposite, which I walk up as I decide to get a closer look at the statue. It's actually 3 statues, one of Florence Nightingale, one of Sidney Herbert, who was Secretary at War during the Crimean war. The third is the Crimean War Memorial. The road continues as Regents Street, which takes you up to Piccadilly Circus, with Piccadilly to the left and Coventry Street to the right. Three more properties that I will be visiting from two different sets that I hadn't been aware of that were so close together. However I am sticking to the logistical nightmare of visiting the property sets of the monopoly in the order they appear on the board. I walk back down to Pall Mall, turn right and continue to St Jame's Square. It's a nice square with an equestrian statue of William lll which was built in 1808. The square is home to the HQ's for some well known businesses and has four private members clubs. There was a lot of building work going on at the time and was an overcast day so I didn't take any photos. I continue walking along Pall Mall, which for me has been pretty boring and not a place I would recommend, until I reach the end, where it meets St James Street, Cleveland Row and Marlborough Road. Here is Friary Court, a place I had never heard of or seen before. Its part of St Jame's Palace and is used after the death of the reigning monarch and the Accession Council meets to declare the new monarch. Prince George was also christened here So after a quick look around Trafalgar Square and my photos taken I am at the beginning of Pall Mall. Again I think this is the first time I have been here, all the buildings are of the large grand style with an important and imposing vibe about them. On the left is Waterloo Gardens, which has an impressive looking building, the Athenaeum Club, and a statue of the Duke of York, which I didn't photograph and is very tall. However I did take a photo of the Athenaeum Club.
So I begin my day where the day before ended on The Strand overlooking Trafalgar Square. Pall Mall is situated just off the north west of the square along from the national portrait gallery and my most direct route is diagonally across. However I decide to have a look around and take some photos. The one obvious photo that is missing is of course Nelsons Column which is absent because firstly, I hadn't intended to take any photos here as I would be doing so on the the red properties which come later, and its not so easy to get a good photo from the square itself. So I leave you instead with another photo of a lesser known monument, London's smallest police station.
After what has been a long and enjoyable day its time to get out of central London and eat. I am big fan of Indian food and almost every time I am in London I indulge, this time is no different. So far for me East London has been the best although strictly speaking I have eaten at Bangladeshi places around Whitechapel. Today I am heading out to East Ham for a Biryani at Hyderabadi Spice which has been highly recommended. Its a fair old distance on the tube, which feels even longer as its rush hour, as its the last stop in zone 3. First time I have been to East Ham and by the amount of Indian people, Indian shops/businesses and Indian restaurants I am confident this is the place to eat Indian Food. I arrive and order a chicken biryani with a starter of cut mirchi. The chicken is on the bone and tender, the flavor is unlike anything I have had before, a far cry from what the normal high street curry houses up and down the country serve. Highly recommended and will definitely be coming back to eat in the area.
Or in reality the end of my day. This is something else I want to include in the blog. As I may have mentioned before I don't actually live in London, so after I feel my day is done its time for me to relax, review my day, have a coffee, a couple beers and a meal before heading back to my hotel or back to Bristol where I Live. I go for a coffee and get out my A to Z and plan the next part of my journey which will be the next time I am in London. And its here that I see another flaw and also a mistake. As I have found with both the light blue and the pink properties, visiting each property in the order they appear on the monopoly board doesn't make sense logistically and my mistake is my lack of planning. I am actually sat in a cafe on The Strand overlooking Trafalgar Square, two of the red properties, with Pall Mall the other side. so maybe it would be an idea to visit properties that are next to each other as opposed to doing them by colour sets.
Northumberland Avenue is just around the corner and takes you back down to the Victoria Embankment better known as the Embankment. Not much to see here to be honest, lots of places to eat for all budgets. Two places catch my eye for different reasons. The first was 50 Kalo Di Ciro Salvo Pizzeria which has a very bold claim to being the best pizza in Europe! Now I can't comment as I didn't eat there but I am sure many Italians would say otherwise. The second place was Kerridge's Bar & Grill owned by Michelin starred and celebrity chef Tom Kerridge and is in the Corinthia Hotel. I just walked to the end of the road, cross over and walk back up. Couple of pubs, couple of tour buses, but due to bad weather there were no takers. After what has been a long day with a lot of walking I decide not to head over to Pall Mall which would be the pink properties completed, instead i go for a coffee and review my notes. |
AuthorLouis Mogg. Archives
March 2020
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