June 15, 2016

Our UK Family Holiday Part 2 - Marble Arch

Hiya!

In my last post, I shared photos from my family's first full day in England. We ended up at Trafalgar Square and enjoyed some street performers. We actually went down to Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street, but didn't take any photos. I was in charge of the holiday calendar in London, and I made sure to include personal days. Check out my post on Travel Tips for Large Groups.


On one of those personal days, my sister scheduled an outing with one of her friends from secondary school. My brother and I decided to escort her, since it was the first time anyone would use the Underground/Tube. We got her to the meeting point where she met her friend - he turned out to be another blogger's brother! As they went off, my brother and I went on our own to see more of London.

Our first stop was at Saint Pancras station, or was it King's Cross? Or are they the same station? Hold on, lemme go and check... ah ha! It's King's Cross St. Pancras - so it's one tube station. BUT they are separate [overground] rail lines.



We wanted to find stuff to do around there but didn't see anything, so went to the nearest bus stop to go on a mini tour. I was talking to myself and wondering where Marble Arch was, and this little old Englishwoman says, "Oh dear. I overheard you say Marble Arch, and I'm afraid you're on the wrong side of the road if you want to catch a bus." My brother and I asked her which bus to take, and she said the 30... which was already approaching the bus stop on the other side of the road! See how we picked race!!!


Haha, we were able to catch the bus just on time :)





Let's learn a little bit about Marble Arch, shall we? It's one of London's major landmarks. It was designed in 1827 and supposed to be situated near Buckingham Palace.



However, in 1851, it was moved to its current location now - at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane and Edgware Road.




According to Wikipedia, only members of the Royal Family and the King's Troop Royal Artillery are permitted to pass through the arch.




The arch was designed based on Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Arch of Constantine in Rome. A fun fact is that it was supposed to be topped by an equestrian structure of George IV, but the statue sits in Trafalgar Square instead. Can you spot it in my previous post?

At some point, my brother and I got hungry and we went to the nearby Pret-a-Manger. Whyyyyyyyyyyy in God's name don't they have any branches in America - Atlanta to be precise?!?!?! I got this Wild Crayfish sandwich, and my brother had a Falafel wrap that quickly became my favorite item on their menu.



Back to Marble Arch, they have pigeons nearby, which my nephew had fun chasing on a different day.



Take a look at the photo above and the one below. Can you notice the birds flying? In the top photo, the birds are blurry, and the bottom photo, the bird is focused. It was just a matter of changing the settings on my camera - a trick I learned in my Photography class.


Right by Marble Arch is this bronze sculpture of a horse's head. The piece is called 'Still Water' and was made in 2011.



 Across the road is another sculpture called 'Brothers.'


I love the message of it - "The joining together of two separate but connected individuals - two people, one mind." In this age where there seems to be so much division, I wish there could be more oneness across the globe.


And there's my brother with the Brothers!





One of the concepts I learned in my photography class was Framing. I just had to use 'Brothers' to frame 'Still Water!'


Like I mentioned earlier, we went by Marble Arch another day - this time with my mum, sister and nephew.


 There was a guy making large bubbles there and the kids had a ton of fun!







Nearby on Oxford Street is a really huge Primark that made me dizzy. My nephew saw these 2 mannequins and demanded to take photos with them :-S


Of course, I put the whole day on Snapchat.


See my Snap story from that day.


I hope you enjoyed these photos. Up next might be our day at Afternoon Tea. 

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29 comments:

  1. The bubbleesss! Looks so fun lool

    www.cassiedaves.com

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    1. The bubbles were so big! The kids and adults had fun chasing them

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  2. There is Pret A Manger in the U.S. o! All over dc and NYC. Although the UK menus are much tastier than the U.S. menus

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    1. Why aren't they in Atlanta?!?!?!? I guess the next time I'm up there I'll look for Pret

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  3. It's really been a while I've visited the UK, every time its America. But now I want to travel and do some shopping, pounds had to reach 500 - 1 pounds. Its not fair ooo.


    FASHION REHAB
    xoxo

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    1. The exchange rate is not funny at all!!!!! You should go sha whenever the opportunity presents itself. I love how much history London has.

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  4. "According to Wikipedia, only members of the Royal Family and the King's Troop Royal Artillery are permitted to pass through the arch." - really? Till today? Na wa oh.

    London is full of so many pretty sculptures! Love them all. This was photography class has come in handy oh. Love the picture of your brother and the Brothers!

    Interestingly I saw a similar deal on Groupon. Maybe I should just buy it.

    KacheeTee.com
    11 Classes of Men Gifts That Work All The Time

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    1. I bought that groupon course. It was really good. Please go for it and do not be like me - I must confess I have not put much of what I learnt into practice. Tsk Tsk

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    2. @ Kachee, I don't think that policy is still in effect, thankfully. I'm really happy for that class o. I'm taking a different class soon.

      @ Calabar Gal why aren't you practicing nowwwwwww? Do it do it do it!

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  5. The sandwich and sculpture. love

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  6. Marble Arch is amazing! I loved it the last time I visited the UK and almost didn't want to leave(partly cos I missed my sis!) There was a park just right across the hotel I stayed in (for the life of me, I don't recall iwhat it is called) but yeah London is an amazing city and it was great to be surrounded by English speaking ppl! 😂😂

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    1. Oh yeah, there's a park nearby, I can't remember the name. But they have public speakers on sundays that talk about different topics. They just get on their soapbox and anybody can say anything they want.

      London IS lovely. It would be nice to go and not be in a hurry

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  7. I'm enjoying these holiday posts!

    G

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  8. Berry - these are such lovely pictures!! Looks like you had a great time!

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  9. that is one patriotic jumper you're wearing... good stuff!

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    1. LOL!!! It keeps me so warm!!! Any photos of me wearing it means it was cold as heck that day. I've had it for a very long time sha. Shame they went out of business

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  10. I've been to London so many times and never been to Marble Arch, looks stunning. Pret mange is amazing, didn't know there was none in USA
    Lauren
    livinginaboxx | bloglovin

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    1. You should check it out. It's great for photos.

      Well, apparently there's Pret in NY and DC like someone commented above

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  11. I wonder why children love bubbles so much! Ah, but those ones looked like so much fun.

    I like the symbolic messages behind the sculptures.

    Lol @ "See how we picked race!!!"

    Berry, you are an excellent travel story writer. You wrote this beautifully. I'm really enjoying this series o!

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    1. Erm because bubbles are fun! I love bubbles :p

      Thanks for the compliment! I knew I was born for a career in travel! Someone should pay me to travel o!

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  12. Love the photos and your nephew is too cute.

    www.wurassecrethair.blogspot.com

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  13. Interesting, i've been to marble arch so many times but didn't know the names of the statues or the story behind it till now. Thanks for enlightening me :)

    www.tukesquest.com

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  14. Your nephew is so cute!

    And you've taught me new things today about Marble Arch. It looks like it was built there, hard to believe it was moved. Thanks Berry :)

    Proper planning + travel calendar = major keys!

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    1. Thank you!

      I know, right? Moving it must have taken quite some engineering.

      Oh yes, planning ahead helps a lot.

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I'd love to hear from you about this post! Let's all learn and share our worlds.