City of Ice

London froze over last night and the morning held a city blanketed by a layer of white snow atop thick ice. It was something unreal to see Londoners mystified by the elements and yet stubborn enough to brave them. I believe shovels are rare here...many were hacking away at the ice with metal garden rakes. Most sidewalks were left unattended - it's likely a sheer impossibility to salt or sand all of the thousand streets of London. Although totally reasonable, it was still unfortunate to see so many people bottom-side up, especially the ones who were carrying bags of groceries. No pictures of that, as I did not want to add to their misery with mocking tribute.

And so I picked my way gingerly along the sidewalks, as only a true Midwesterner knows how, and spent too many hours out in the cold. I walked through Hyde Park to Kensington Palace - this is the Palace that Queen Victoria was born in (1819). She ruled from 1837 until 1901, beginning at the age of 18, and the next 50 years became known as the Victorian Era, due to her visionary reign. Hers was the longest reign of any British monarchy. Pretty cool stuff. Queen Victoria is the current Queen's great-great-grandmother. The royal hierarchy and family tree is unbelievably fascinating.

On my way back through the park, I saw Princess Diana's memorial fountain, which is quite architecturally interesting - a large ring with thousands of facets of granite, and the water flows in two directions downward, pooling at the bottom, and there are three footbridges so one can get into the center of the fountain. It's supposed to be metaphorical for her life.

I also came across a Duck Parade...as The Serpentine was completely frozen over, the many ducks and geese and birds that inhabit Hyde Park were displaced and quite vocal about it. They were ducks out of water, and they were everywhere.

This evening has been quiet - full of many cups of hot tea (as it's too cold here), a steaming bowl of spaghetti and pesto pizzetta, research on historical England, and some inspired writing....cheers.