Day Four: Cycling, Sun, and Dodging the Bobby

On Wednesdays Richard has an early class, so we were out the door by 7:30 AM (late), and hauling it thru the tube stations.

 Thank goodness for my prior Hong Kong experience- I’m pretty expert, if I do say so myself.  We got a wee bit turned around coming out of the tube station at Baker street, but managed to get Richard to class on time anyway.  We also lucked out and got one of the rare lockers at the school for the term, so we had a place to stash our stuff. I worked while he was in class, and then we took a break for lunch at a little café across the street from the school.  LBS has a number of café and lunch options, but it was another absolutely gorgeous day again, and we wanted to make sure we took advantage of the sunshine while it’s here! Then we took some fun pictures with the quintessential red phone booth, and it was time for Richard to head back to class.

During Richard’s second class break, in the afternoon, we decided to try once again the 'Barclay Cycle Hire Scheme’ (no negative connotation, just means ‘concept’ or ‘business model’). It was so gorgeous we couldn’t bear to stay inside with homework or try to hit a museum or gallery. So onto the bikes we hopped (I found a website and an app for my iPod that showed all the docking stations, so that was very helpful) and off we cycled around the edge of Regent’s park. We didn’t ride through the park b/c there were painted signs on the pavement at the entrance that said No Cycling.)  Biking on the street is a new experience for me, and to make matters worse all the cars were going the wrong way! You have no idea how ingrained your traffic checking habits are until you plan to cross a street and get the surprise of your life when a car whizzes by your nose going the 'wrong' way.

It took us a while to locate the bike 'depots' with the docking stations again (we’ll probably get better with time) so our original plan of riding to Camden and back along the canal was shot, since Richard had a hard deadline in the form of class again at 6:30 PM. But turns out it wouldn’t have worked out anyway, as no bikes are allowed along the canal pathway. Here's a picture of it from the bridge anyway.

Richard then suggested we check out Primrose Hill, a famous urban getaway location just north of Regent’s park, on the recommendation of a fellow student, and since it was also a pink priority dot on our Maptastic! we decided to head that direction,.  And it was quite lovely.  A really beautiful park.  But I didn’t quite get the raves and the tourist appeal (a park is a park is a park) until we hauled our bikes up to the very tip-top of Primrose hill.  See below.

Richard's Camera zoomed in from the same standing spot as the other two pics

Yes. You can imagine my reaction.  Did I mention it was an absolutely perfect day!! It ahs already been cold enough here that fall leaves were scattered on the ground and all the bugs were quite satisfactorily dead. And then along came today, the most beautiful, perfect temperature for a day known to mankind.

After Primrose Hill we switched out to new bikes (under the 30 minute time limit) and headed back towards the school.  But this time we decided to dismount and casually walk our bikes past the policeman or ‘bobby’ at the entrance to Regent’s park - and then ‘cycle’ through it anyway once we were out of his line of sight.

 

And I’m glad we did! Not only was it a prettier ride, it was much more direct, and we got to ride around this pretty little lake.  Just through the trees sitting on some type of island in the middle of the lake we could catch glimpse of a white stone building that was definitely intriguing. However, as we were running out of time on our bikes and Richard had to be at class, we decided to leave further investigation for another day.

Coming around the bend of the small lake inside Regent's Park (the previous pictures) you can see the beautiful front facade of London Business School.  We didn't have time to take a picture, so that will have to be for another day as well. Richard got back in time for class, and finished at 9:30 PM, after which we headed home. Tomorrow we have our "Royal Day Out" tickets (Buckingham palace, the Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews) and it is forecast to be another FABULOUS day!