I had half an hour to kill before I met a friend the other day, so I thought I’d take a turn around the gardens at Hyde Park. The tube station was heaving and I fancied escaping to some peace and quiet and some greenery.
It all turned out to be a bit, well… weird. The first thing I saw when I walked into the rose garden was a sign saying ‘This area is controlled by police to protect your valuables’, or something like that. I’ve never seen that in a London park before, and it struck me as a bit ominous.
Then a lone man said ‘hello’ to me. Now if you don’t live in London you may consider that to be a friendly gesture, but most Londoners would immediately assume that the person is a creep or a nutter (in this case I think it was the former). The only other person around was a bloke wearing a hoodie, lying on a bench, smoking a joint and reading a book. Weirder and weirder.
Anyway, I went for a wander, hoping to find a nice seat and some plants to look at. I love this part of Hyde Park because it looks like a country garden, with big, blowsy borders.
And then I heard the pounding bass.
The reason the tube was so crowded and the garden so empty was that the rock festival, Hard Rock Calling, was taking place a few hundred metres away. I think I was hearing the Killers, but I can’t be sure as the tune had been lost by the time it reached me.
Anyway, I can confirm that it’s impossible to sit in a beautiful garden on a summer’s evening, in the midst of abundant borders, delicious scents wafting on the air… and not be irritated by a pounding bass. Just as it’s impossible to sit in your own garden and not be distracted the sound of a neighbour powering up a large electric garden gadget.
So I took this photo and left!
Poor Veronica!! Know what you mean though. Would have liked to settle down to a quiet dinner in the garden on Saturday night, but somewhere in the tangle of back gardens nearby, a booming base had started up at 6pm and continued until the early hours of the next day.Went out to the cinema instead! However, it’s 5.30 am and I’m strangely awake and listening to the birds merrily chirping away-not all bad (although I may need a nap later on today- if the neighbours don’t start up again!) Naomi
Modern life, eh? Sorry to hear your Saturday night didn’t go as planned. I was round at my parents’ place on Sunday. On the hottest day of the year someone in a nearby garden had taken it upon themselves to use some kind of power tool that emitted a high pitched whine. It went on for hours. Why weren’t they just enjoying the sunshine, that’s what I’d like to know.
Let me know if you have that nap. I might come round and join you : )
Love, love Hyde Park. When I lived in London, I would walk to work at Harrods from Notting Hill, checking out what was happening in the garden, especially enjoyable as I was gardenless.