I looked up how to get to Crystal Palace Park. Turns out I had to just take the 3 bus from Oxford Circus that terminates right in front of the park. Seemed pretty easy.
I went and rented the Eyewitness Travel Rome guide, which is about three times bigger than the one for Stockholm. I caught the 3 bus, sitting upstairs in the front and read my book. I started to get carsick so I just watched out the window. Crystal Palace is pretty far away, it took about an hour to get there. The coolest thing was that we went through a lot of London that I hadn't seen before, including Lambeth Palace which I want to go to now.
We finally got to the park, which is pretty far south of the city. The first thing I saw was a large empty flat space where the Crystal Palace was. It was built in the 1850s for the World's Fair, mostly glass, a major architectural achievement that when it burned in the 1930s, Churchill said it was 'the end of an era.' The park itself became dilapidated and for a while the only way you could get into the park was to tour the dinosaurs with a guide. It's doing a lot better.
Around it were stairs with archways all along it. It was mostly fenced off, in a sort of dilapidated state, which was pretty sad to see (I made a lot of comparisons to the Chicago 1893 Fair and this site). Dominating the skyline was a huge TV tower that looked sorta like the Eiffel Tower.
I walked though the park a little (there were tons of people out walking and playing football, it was a beautiful day. There were also a ton of families with kids out, it was a nice atmosphere. After I went past the Sports Complex, it came to the more tree-filled part of the park. There was an ice cream truck out and children playing everywhere.
I followed the signs and to the right were the Dinosaur. They have them set off on islands, so that you can't climb on them. They had around a dozen figures, with a couple of other prehistoric animals as well. I didn't realize that these, being from 1854, predated Darwin. They were the first representation of dinosaurs that the public saw. Turns out the dinner party wasn't in these statues, but the cast of the igunadon. But either way, these were things I've heard and read about my entire life. It was cool to think that tons of people were introduced to dinosaurs though these.
They're almost all completely outdated now, the igunadon the worst example. But I loved looking at them and thinking about how they've been there for such a long time and the impact they've had.
I went around the lake and then went and got another Flake from the ice cream truck. I really love them, I'm not sure why that is, something about the ice cream. Plus the chocolate stick is a nice touch.
I took it over and sat on a hill across from the dinosaurs and read my Rome book for about an hour. I heard a father trying to explain to his daughter that dinosaur didn't wear clothes, they just had skin. She wasn't buying it. It was getting a little chillier and I got up to take some more pictures and then I left the area.
Back at the front of the park I stopped by a recreated corner from the Crystal Palace. Not a whole lot to look at or get an idea of what it was like, but cool to think that it used to be there. I feel like that's something that could be rebuilt and be pretty neat. Also, someone should put new dinosaur statues in their park, I bet it'd be a big hit.
I took the bus back, this time getting off at Parliament instead of sitting in the terrible traffic. It was still nice out and the walk was good too. I took a slightly different path back, going up Bond Street (which I've been wanting to do for a while, it has all the fancy stores on it) and came back.
I met up with Kim and Heidi at Gordon's Wine Bar, which is in a building from the 1680s, with the wine bar essentially unchanged since it opened in the 1890s. In the basement, you had to duck to walk around, and it was all lit by candle, definitely a cool place.
After we left I came back and watched the second half of the State game on atdhe.net, which I think illegally picks up games from America, so that was enjoyable. I'm really pumped they won, and I heard that Sam is going to the championship game, which is super exciting.
Tomorrow I might go see The Rock at a movie premeir and later go to The Comedy Store, which is where 'Whose Line is it Anyways?' started. Josie Lawrence and Richard Vranch, who were regulars on the show, will be there. Other than that, I'm not really sure what else is going on, I'll work on the columns and paper, and maybe even turn in the paper. Could be a big day.
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