Black & White & Loved

I have loved pandas my entire life.  I got a stuffed panda when I was four who was nearly as tall as I was (remember, I have always been short!) and I aptly named him, 'Panda'.  I currently have two stuffed pandas in Edinburgh. Both were gifts - one I brought with me (his name is 'Little One' because he is wee and came in the panda adoption kit from WWF that Matthew gave me for Christmas a few years ago) and one I was given as a good-bye gift from the zoo.

Working at Edinburgh Zoo was so amazing because I got to go see the pandas on my lunch break.  A daily hit of my favourite, endangered, adorable animal?  Yes, please!  I could just stroll in and be like,   " 'Sup, Tian Tian?"  I still watch Tian Tian over Edinburgh Zoo's pandacam.  I also stalk the Smithsonian and San Diego Zoo's panda webcams.

One day the Smithsonian webcam offered me up this treat:

I feel that this sums up in a nutshell why I love pandas so much.  He was tired and decided a faceplant nap was in order.  He stayed like this for ages!

Tian Tian at Edinburgh Zoo is easily my favouritest panda, though.  I give you this video in which she proves that fully grown pandas can be every bit as adorable as their cubs:

And there you have it.  The Giant Panda: Black and White and Loved all over the world. :)



P.S.  If you, too would like to become a panda stalker, these links will help:
http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/pandacam.html
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/index.html
(They have a panda cub!  Squeee!)
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/ 
(The Smithsonian one is particularly great because the camera moves and follows the pandas around and also shows them sleeping at night) 

Come Walk With Me

I recently started a short-term post at the University, and my walk to work is really quite extraordinary.  There is some exquisite architecture along the way so I took my camera with me the other morning so you, too, can walk with me. :)

All Aboard!

My newest favourite recommendation of a great day out near Edinburgh is a trip out to Inchcolm Island to explore its Abbey and World War II defences, and admire the magnificent Forth Rail Bridge on your journey there and back.  Matthew and I went out on a beautiful (but cold!) October day and I definitely would like to go back again!  The boat ride out has commentary on all the islands in the River Forth and how they were used for defensive purposes during WWII (you can still see the defenses), and the boat's leisurely pace allows you to really take in and admire the massive Forth Bridge and to get up close enough to admire some of its 6,500,000 rivets!

Once we had arrived at Inchcolm we disembarked, found a sunny spot against one of the Abbey's walls, and ate our picnic while taking in Edinburgh's impressive skyline from across the water. Then came the truly fun part - poking about the Abbey from its highest height to its sandy beaches and into the nearby Hermit's House.  We even found Matthew a Viking!

The red Forth Rail Bridge with the road bridge to the left.

Our boat and the bridge.

Matthew finds a very accessible seal to hang out with under the Forth Rail Bridge.

Our lovely 'cruise' ship.  :)

Detail of the Forth Rail Bridge.  The Victorians knew what they were doing!  You can see the train track going through one of the double cantilevers.

Started in 1883 and completed in 1890 the Bridge is still a marvel of engineering.

A close-up of one of the double cantilevers which not only give the bridge its strength, but its beauty.

In sight of our destination!

Disembarking and approaching the Abbey.

Edinburgh's famous landmarks as seen from Inchcolm.  At the left is Arthur's Seat, with several church spires punctuating the Royal Mile before reaching Edinburgh Castle on the right.

Sailing in the Forth with Royal Mile church spires in the distance.

The desolate beach at Inchcolm Island.

Some of Inchcolm's plant-life and its wee lighthouse.

The abbey's amazing weathervane!

Hermit's house

I found my own way in...

Centuries of former rooflines exposed.

A wee boy Matthew quite admired for obvious reasons! 

Matthew and the Abbey.

Look who we found on the way back home!

Good-bye Inchcolm, we hope to visit you again.

If you want to read up more about the Forth Rail Bridge, go here.

Wildlife in London

"I had a faire opportunity of talking to his Majestie... & thence walked with him thro St. James's Parke to the Garden, where I both saw and heard a very familiar discourse between... [the King] & Mrs. Nellie"

 ~ Diary of John Evelyn, 4th March, 1671 

London is not all stone buildings and cobbled streets.  There are nice parks you can escape to all over the city.  We spent two afternoons in Queen's Park reading and knitting and enjoying all the greenery.  We also spent part of an afternoon picnicking and strolling through St. James Park, enjoying all the waterfowl its canal attracts.  St. James' Park is the oldest Royal park in London and it sits surrounded by the palaces of Westminster, St James, and Buckingham.  And you know what they say about location... :)  These birds have chosen some prime real estate as their home!

Ducks!

Geese! and Willows!

Some late hatchlings.

Our first sighting of Ruddy Shelducks.

A Coot.

For the first time, we saw a Coot's very beautiful webbed foot

 We spotted this Great Blue Heron.  And of course, one cannot escape the pigeons...

Two Red-Breasted geese and one Greylag goose causing a ruckus.

By far, our favourite sighting was the pelicans! The first pelicans came to the park in 1664, gifted by the Russian ambassador.  They get fed fish every day by the park's officials from 2:30 - 3:00.

Eastern White Pelicans.

So there you have it.  Plenty of nature to be found if you are looking for it.  I wonder if anyone has ever done such a thing as touring London via its parks?  And if you are wanting more exotic wildlife there is always London Zoo... Maybe next visit! This brings my first-ever series to a conclusion.  Hope you enjoyed it!

The London Underground - Unsung Hero

The London Underground.  How does one go about trying to pay tribute to the oldest section of underground railway in the world which has been operating since 1863 and services 207 stations along 402 kilometers of track while transporting 1.2 billion people to and from work and play?  I offer up these photos as a small glimpse into an amazing feat of both engineering and organisation.

A drawing of the construction of London's Underground.  Image courtesy of London Historians.

This is a photo from the archives of the British Library.  It shows workers constructing a Tube tunnel.

Henry C. Beck's 1931 draft of the London Underground.  Most modern transit maps are based on this breakthrough design.

The design hasn't changed much (other than to include all the new lines) in 70 years.

The ever-trendy tube - keeping up with the times! A Jubilee line train celebrating Her Majesty.  Wonder if she's ever ridden on the Tube?  Image courtesy of the Londonist.

As you can see from the luggage, I had just arrived in London and was soooooooo excited about riding the tube.  The Bakerloo line was our trusty companion for our week's sojourn.

Tail end of the festivities for the Olympics and Paralympics.  It was nice to capture this Underground sign in the same frame as a Canadian flag.  :)

Leicester Square tube station - alight here for movie premiers with the rich and famous all glitzed and glammed.

Flats above Charing Cross tube station.  Hmmmm... wonder if they are noisy?

Piccadilly Circus tube stop is not your friend if you are afraid of gaps between the train and the platform.  Good thing Matthew was there to help me not fall down the foot-wide abyss.  I guess I now know why they have the announcement, 'Mind the Gap.'

I just really loved how all the tube stations have their own personality.

They also have their own history... even if it is fictional!

Anyone want to go pay Sherlock Homes a visit?  Evidence would suggest he lives near the Baker Line.

Close up of the Holmes outline.

The tube is not above making a few pennies off of one of its most beloved travellers.  To see my picture of Paddington Bear go here.  North Americans with a hankering for a good doughnut can satisfy their craving at the nearby Krispy Kreme. :)

So there you have it.  London can be your Oyster if you buy the card.  It did all of the work for us as we travelled about seeing the beautiful and bizarre.  A truly unsung hero that I thought deserved a nod for all its elbow grease this past century and a half.  For more amazing photos in celebration of the Tube's 150th birthday this year, the Telegraph posted some amazing shots here. And lest you think that London is all stone structures and tunnels of steel my final post in my series on London will show off some of its wildlife.

 P.S. While on my internet wanderings, I came across this site.  I don't know if it is legitimate, but it is hysterical.  It claims the phrases posted have actually been said by tube conductors.