London the second

 First things first, this is the sign I have to use to find my room in the hotel. That's...interesting, right?

That's where I walked this morning. I didn't really have a plan, aside from keep walking until the foul memory of so many hours on a plane was scrubbed from the record, and by golly I did that - this mappity tracking thing tells me I walked 15kms in the morning and 12kms in the afternoon. No wonder my feet fell off. Fortunately, big city like London, you can get feet replaced within the hour.

Wellington Arch. This whole corner of Hyde Park Corner is filled with war memorials. I believe this one represents the occasion when humans rose up and threw off the shackles of their cruel horse overlords once and for all.

I also unexpectedly came across the New Zealand memorial, blocking the path like a bunch of confused New Zealand tourists. If proofreading that horrible article about Sylvia Park for Trends several years ago taught me nothing else (and it didn't) it's that the angle of these represents the prow of waka. Now I'm all grossed out that Sylvia Park stole its signage design from a war memorial.

This one says "Where pohutukawa flames against Hauraki skies". I've been there!

Oh my God you guys, the road cones in England are yellow. This place is arse-backwards.

This is the queen's view out of the Buckingham Palace - pointy golden Satan riding a fountain to victory.

A tribute to Firth and Helena Bonham Carter. True story. It's insane that she outlived him by 50 years. That's what smoking'll do, kids. Also, I wonder if the empty plinth was just sitting there for half a century, taunting her every time she went past.

Admiralty Arch. Apparently this is an office building. Oh yeah, I work in a giant gate, whatever.

This is where I walked in the afternoon. It wasn't particularly inspiring, although it kind of made me think that Shepherd's Bush is the Papatoetoe of London, and I did see the largest Westfield Shopping Centre known to man (probably not even close, but it took me fully ten minutes to walk past. I didn't go inside because frankly, I was scared). However, I was up that way for important chore:

The spotting of Loftus Road Stadium, where play Queens Park Rangers, and from which I had to procure important souvenirs for my dad.

And now beginneth day three. I don't think I'm up to much walking, but fortunately I'll be able to float down to breakfast on the scent of bacon. Also, 10/15 on the 14 April Stuff quiz.