Easter weekend and wrapping it up

On the Easter long weekend i had my first two days off in a row for some time. I decided to head to Oxford for the day as my time in London is running out and its one of those places i hadn't seen yet but really should. I took the bus out there and discovered an interesting old town with many beautiful old buildings. I was somewhat disappointed with some of the images i got. but i was there through the middle of the day, and in the evening after a few beers in O'neils watching England bat poorly against the Australian attack, i wondered back out looking for something nice to catch in the failing light. I failed. however the colours in the stone buildings with the orange sunlight was quite nice.

The Cherri blossoms where out and the weather was very nice with just the odd spots of cloud. The cities towers and spires gave a very medieval feel to the place, but you could strangely walk around the corner and find yourself walking past every high st chain store you would find in London!! I found this round building amongst a couple of university campuses which apparently was the first round reading room constructed. The city is astoundingly old, i climbed a tower up a ridiculously skinny spiral staircase (no room for people to get past and there where people trying to go up and down constantly!!) the view from above looking down inside the courtyards of the square or rectangular buildings was pretty cool, reminded me of some scenes from Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves, and i also got a much better vantage point to shoot the reading room from.

Monday i headed to Greenwich with Matty and Katie, nearly fell in the Thames making a last gasp effort to board the ferry as it departed, thankfully i avoided the rich, cosby infested waters of the mighty river!! The observatory out there was brilliant and standing on the prime meridian, although pretty basic at the time (due to the 4 billion tourists there) was a pretty special thing i suppose. The view back down the hill across the park to the naval college buildings, the river and canary wharf was pretty nice!! The Cutty Sark clipper was being refurbed, so i didnt see it, bastards! but i managed to catch up with a friend of my cousins, Rhys and one of his mates at a pub for a beer and chat. The weather turned shite so we bailed and headed back up river. worth the visit for sure though.

So that was the weekend, not a bad one actually!! the rest of the month has flown and now im sitting here on my last day of work reflecting on my life that was in London! Drinks tonight, world cup final tomorrow, then im going to Prague for most of next week which should provide me with a whole new range of photographic opportunities. I have been looking forward to this for more than two years now, so im pretty gee-d up about it! when i get back im having my going away party at B@1 in hammersmith, then chilling for a week before i leave for New York and wave goodbye to London from the window of a jet for the last time. well, for a few years any way.......

Due to being made homeless by our ol'bastard paedophilic landlord, i was forced to find accomadation temporarily until being able to move into the room of some friends that are going to greece. I have been to camden many times and i know it can be busy, but this one sunday afternoon was absolutly chaotic. In london, as soon as the sun comes out and temperatures rise into the mid teens towards 20, especially coming out of winter, everyone, and i mean everyone wants to be outside, and a large mojority of those people are drinking, certainly one thing i will miss when i get back home, is just being able to roam around with open alchohol and the cops just walk right on by... anyway this was along chalk farm rd towards the stables, i thought the image conveys the bussling congestion of the markets at the time.

Richmond is awesome. its like being in another city even though your still in london (although it is zone 4) several pubs down by the river, the thames flooding at high tide, a big green hill with a few hundred people just out drinking and enjoying the sunshine. i see a pattern developing. no seriously, possibly one of the most beautiful parts of london and definatly one of my favourites. atmosphere is brilliant! very similar to home really, well in some aspects anyway!

as the sunsets over the river, the airliners just never stop, every 90 seconds there is a jet flying over, heathrow not to much further to the west. dont see a lot of sunsets in london amongst all the building s all the time, but when you do they can sometimes be very pretty.

ok, my test is complete. i can select and upload images straight from my card reader and then post them and the associated stories on my blog. the coming trip is going to rock, this blog should be a great way of telling all the stories, only difficulty will be selecting which images to post!!!

Auf Wiedersehen