Day 2 of London Pass!

Yesterday I completed my 2nd day of the London Pass. (I'm also adding pics to the last post so if you've already read it you might want to scroll down to see the newly added pics.)

Places visited:

AcelorMittal Orbit at Olympic Park
London Zoo
Pollock's Toy Museum
Kew Gardens

I left the house around 9 to take the tube out to Olympic Park. The Orbital statue opened at 10AM and I was there by 9:50. I took a seat on a fun bench overlooking the aquatics center until it opened. Went up the lift w/ 2 other people. That place was empty! It was so nice having it practically to myself. Great views of the city and Olympic Park. I loved this park! I want to come back and spend a day. They're doing construction on Olympic Stadium so that was kind of ugly, but the rest of the park looks lovely. I could certainly spend a whole day here. Beautiful! The sculpture itself is incredible. Inside there are 2 platforms to view the city from. Then, you can either take the lift down or go down the 400 spiral stairs inside the gray mesh metal spiral thing. I took the stairs. They were awesome. And there is a soundscape exhibit all the way down so every 10-30 stairs there were sounds pumped in from some place in London (inside Aquatics Center, at a market, at the construction site of the statue when it was being built, inside a church bell tower...). Definitely made the stairs easier to do. Loved that place.

Then, I got back on the tube and headed to the zoo. I was trying to find a grocery store so I could pick up a cheap lunch, but had no luck. SO, as soon as I arrived at the zoo (probably around 11:15 after walking there), I had lunch in their cafeteria. Fine. The zoo was nice. I don't need to go back, but I'm glad I went. Apparently this zoo likes for people to interact with their animals. They had tons of those walk into this enclosed space and hang with me type things. One with butterflies (quite nice), one with monkeys, a few with birds, one with monkeys and sloths and anteaters. The list goes on and on. I'd say it was a decent zoo. It did start raining near the end of my time there. I was over by the giraffes when it was really pouring and they were going crazy!! Running. In circles. All around. Have you ever seen a giraffe run?! Awkward creatures. Their legs are too tiny for their fat, tall bodies. Oh. I was very nervous one of them was going to fall. I hope they were running because they liked the rain and were playing. Not because they were scared. :/

Apparently there was a bear at the zoo back in the day that inspired Winne the Pooh.

Tiger cubs! Reese's relatives.

Blurry. I know. But this thing was just roaming about. That can't be safe.

 After the zoo, I went to Pollock's Toy Museum. It was okay. Better than the Museum of Brands. But again just a bunch of stuff packed into glass cases in a house. But, some of this stuff was cool and they had a little 2 page tour flyer that helped tell you what was in each room. Quick trip, but probably wouldn't recommend it unless you're really into toys.

Pre-G.I. Joe

Old Dollhouse

Then, it was time for the journey out to Kew Gardens. It was now about 3PM. I got  to Kew about 3:45 or so. They closed at 6:30 and most of the buildings/exhibits closed between 4:30-5:30. So, I walked to the very back of the gardens to do the Barefoot Walk which was a special summer exhibit. At this point I had a huge blister on the bottom of my pinky toe and walking was becoming miserable, but I was on a mission.  I got there and enjoyed taking my shoes off and feeling all the various textures (stone, pine cones, wood, charcoal, grass, etc.). After that, I went to see the Human Garden which was another special exhibit where they have these medicinal plants in the shape of a human. Each plant has some description about what it does for that part of the body. Interesting. Good for Global Health cluster discussions. I also really wanted to do this Gin and Tonics special exhibit where they were making cocktails with herbs (thought of Carina), but apparently that's only on the weekends. Ridiculous! I spent the rest of the time wondering around a couple of the enclosed gardens and the rose garden. I was exhausted. I grabbed a pastry from the cafe and just sat for a bit. I left around 6 to get dinner. I couldn't find anything near the garden, so I just took the tube back home. Stopped at a GBK (Gourmet Burger Kitchen) and had a yummy burger and skinny fries with a free milkshake (one of the Waterloo Food Festival coupon deals). It was delicious and well deserved after all that walking these last few days!!

A room of succulents! My Gtown house renters would be in heaven.

It's Saturday now. I tried to go stand in the line for Skylight tickets at 8AM this morning, but the line was already longer than it was when I tried during the week, so I knew not to waste 2 hours standing there. I'll try again Monday. So, instead I did a quick 2 mile run (I skipped my Friday run because my legs were so tired from Thursday). I ran to Borough Market. Amazing! I will take all my visitors here. I scored some coconut pancakes (tiny weird Thai street food, but delicious), a German pretzel, some cheap avocados, and a sangria. I could have bought so much more. But, I'm leaving on my trip early next week so I don't need things. But, when I get back...that place is close and has amazing treasures! Could be a weekly habit.