Random walks

My walking around yesterday wasn't exactly random, since I was on the trail of an elusive Christmas gift (that I did, finally, manage to acquire!) and I wanted to take a winter look at some parks that I'd enjoyed earlier in my stay.

But I did run into to several instances of the "random beautiful churches" phenomenon that happens all over this town. The one at the left is All Souls, being somewhat menaced, it seems like, in my photo, by an army of construction cranes (also a very frequent London sight). It really does seem that down almost every street there's a photo-worthy church, and a raft of photo-worthy secular buildings as well.

The parks ramble was interesting and the parks are still lovely in winter. Here's Green Park, not quite as Green as when Hal and I visited it in September, but still quite nice:


I also made it to Hyde Park's Speaker's Corner, a section of that park at the opposite end of where I've visited before. Considering that it was a sunny Sunday, there were orators out in force. Altogether a rather surreal experience, seeing several people standing around on kitchen stools (the modern soapbox?) exhorting small or large crowds on topics that I didn't really stick around long enough to be able to categorize.

That part of the Park has a vast expanse of parade ground, too, and there were several football games going on, some more organized than others. It was sunny, but also quite cold, as you can see from the leftover frost here in the shade (and it was 2 in the afternoon when this was taken).

Living off the land as far as lunch was concerned, I had a late one at a little Lebanese restaurant on Curzon Street (in case you can't read the street sign in this photo). This name reminded me of a favorite character in Deep Space Nine and since I was more or less randomly walking, I let that help me decide where to eat. The falafel was a bit over-priced, but really delicious. And that leads to a question: now that I've discovered this exquisite food, will I be able to find satisfactory falafel in San Antonio? Any tips on where to look will be welcome!