A Day uptown with Alex

Because Alex has tennis camp next week and Scout Camp the week after that, today he and I took a little time (well, the whole day) to do some stuff together, of his choice (more or less - I suggested some options, too). We started out at the London Aquarium, which we haven't been to in years -  it's better than it used to be, though it was very crowded. 

We didn't spend a lot of time in the penguin section, even though it looked good from a distance - but there was someone giving a talk in there when we got to that point, so it was packed, and loud, so we just had a peek and went past. They are Gentoo penguins (i.e. proper cold region penguins) rather than the Humboldts, rockhoppers and other more temperate penguins you usually see, so that was fun.

We then headed up to Covent Garden to hit Gourmet Burger Kitchen for lunch (we had a voucher). 

After a big burger, a lovely homemade shake, some fries & onion rings, even Alex (who is well on his way to becoming a teenage boy in terms of appetite) was full. 

So we walked it off a bit, going through Covent Garden to visit a sweet shop or two, and then down to Piccadilly Circus to visit the largest bookstore in Europe. We only bought a few books, though we had fun browsing. Here's Alex in the section of one of his favourite authors, Diana Wynne Jones - most bookstores only have one or two Wynne Jones titles at any given time; he was admiring the fact that there was a whole shelf (and he hasn't read all of them, either!)

I was admiring this Jane Austen quote, among other things.

We then hopped on a bus to Hyde Park Corner, and walked through the park, along the Serpentine, towards the Serpentine Gallery, where I'd read about an alien landing pod installation. 

When we went inside, we discovered (what else?) a coffee shop, complete with some Portuguese custard tarts. A cup of tea (or cold drink in Alex's case) was definitely in order.

Alex decided he was getting a bit tired - and full!  So it was time to head back to South Kensington to get the tube  - but not before...

taking a dip in the Diana Memorial Fountain (which actually, we'd never been to before - usually we are up in this part of town in weather not best conducive to dipping - we've hit the playground in Kensington Gardens many times, but never made it to the fountain before).  It was actually pretty cool - I dunked my toes in as well, though I didn't walk all the way around it, which Alex did - twice. Once clockwise and once, to complete the experience, widdershins.