A Change of View - London, UK

 Rather on the spur of the moment, my husband, our daughter and I visited London for a week. We arrived early on Wednesday morning, and, even though we hadn't managed to sleep on the plane, we were off on adventures as soon as we dropped our bags at the hotel.  First stop: Hyde Park which was a ten minute walk from the hotel.  This used to be the gardener's cottage and it's just inside the gates.
Hyde Park is a large park of 350 acres that was originally a deer park for Henry VIII who bought the land from the monks of Westminster Abbey in 1536. At first it was the king's private area, but Charles I opened it up to the public in 1637.  The park has lots of mature trees and grass with plenty of room for many people to jog, bike, stroll along or walk the dog.

 The Serpentine is the lake that runs the length of the park. Queen Caroline, wife of George II, had it made in 1730. People come to see the swans and other birds, or to rent a pedal boat and go for a ride around the lake.  The water didn't look very clean so swimming is not a great idea.

 We saw a few Canada geese but also these brown geese.  Don't know what they are as my bird books are only for North American birds.

 These ducks had lovely dramatic markings.  The little  black bird is a coot.

Time for a nap.  The birds are so used to people that you can get quite close to them.
We walked the length of the park as we were heading over to Buckingham Palace.