Regent's Park

Regent's Park by night, view from my window. Unfortunately, the day shot didn't work.

REGENT'S PARK = MY GARDEN

I am fortunate enough to have lived literally right next to Regent's Park since September 2010 so naturally I have spent quite a lot of time there. I almost feel like part of it is mine alone. 


Sometimes I go there to have my morning coffee or lunch by the pond - just because I can! And the inevitable 'squirrels attack' follows. I have yet to actually feed them. They are so unnaturally tame that they scare me but I'm probably the only person in all of London who doesn't find it endearing.    

Obviously a v. tame grey squirrel

I mainly get excited about the British squirrels because they are grey and exotic compared to their red cousins in Denmark... 

A duck in the Boating Lake in Regent's Park

There is a small coffee and ice cream shop right by the playground close to the York Gate Entrance. It's called the Cow and The Coffee Bean and is just one of many places you can have snacks or drinks while at the park, but if I were you I would make my own sandwiches or buy them (+ coffee) from Pret A Manger near Great Portland Street Tube Station or on Marylebone High Street. 

QUEEN MARY'S GARDEN

My favorite part of Regent's Park is the Queen Mary Rose Garden in the park's Inner Cirlcle. It's true that for a good part of the year it doesn't really seem like much but when the roses are in bloom it is the most beautiful and fragrant place in the whole park. 

The gates to Queen Mary's Gardens, http://canadian-turtle.livejournal.com/281126.html

Visits to Queen Mary's Gardens were a must for me during several family vacations in London when I was younger and one definitely on the to-do-list again when my family comes to see me in May.

The red roses could be Ingrid Bergmans, but then that is just one out of hundreds of possibilities... www.wikipedia.org

As you might have guessed from my previous posts I'm no expert on plants... maybe that's also why I become overly fascinated by the glamourous and sometimes just plain odd names given to different rose species. Whenever I pass 'Ingrid Bergman', 'A Shropshire Lad' or 'Moonstruck' I can't help imagining some intricate backstory to each name... 

REGENT'S CANAL AND LONDON ZOO

On the northern edge of Regen't Park flows the Regent's Canal, running through the London Zoo on its way to the Limehouse Basin Lock in East London where the canal joins the River Thames.

There are three possible boat trips on the Regent's Canal between Camden Lock and the canal area Little Venice in Maida Vale. Check the 'about'-section to find out more. 


The canal tour I want to take makes a stop at London Zoo before going to Paddington and Little Venice.  

FIND OUT ABOUT...

Closest Tube: Regent's Park, Great Portland Street and Baker Street


Regent's Park is open from 5 am all year round. Check the website for exact closing times as they vary according to season. 

Regent's Park


Regent's Canal


London Zoo