A day in Docklands

Our main goal of visiting Docklands today was to see MS Deutschland cruise ship at the West India Dock. Well, that was a sublime view indeed, much owed to the ship size and modern buildings surrounding the dock.





The dock was packed today - besides the liner and its tugboat sidekicks there were also two Belgium military ships, snow white yachts and usual historical habitants as well.









We were very lucky with timing as 15 minutes later after we arrived Deutschland started its way out:







Then we took DLR to Royal Victoria Dock to take a look at SS Robin, the oldest steam coaster existing:



However, the most exciting thing there was not the ship itself which rested sadly too far away beyond the fenced zone but the unusual footbridge across the dock:





The main thing about that bridge is that it's really high and a little shaky due to its flexible design - I couldn't look down from it without getting a bit dizzy. Also, it offers magnificent views to Canary Wharf and City westbound and to City airport eastbound:







The airport's runway is perpendicular to the bridge which again makes it a perfect spot to watch planes taking off:



What a great walk! And once again more photos you can find in the dedicated Flickr set.

The story of mother goose

Since May I've been taking photos of the same Canadian goose and its goslings trying to capture the progress and finally decided to publish the pictures.

Our first acquaintance, May 13th:



They feed on green grass and couldn't resist the temptation of leaving the fenced pond area and crossing the road:



That made their mother anxious as people walk their dogs in that area and unlike humans dogs aren't usually amused with little cuties:



May 20th - only 4 out of 5 left. That was a sad part to witness number of them to decrease, but I assume that's a natural rate of mortality:



June 10th - only 3 left (another one was too far away to get into the same picture, but still there). Birds no longer look like cartoon characters starting to get ugly.



June 18th - and by "ugly" I meant that:



July 1st - another one disappeared:





Finally, today's shots:



The former helpless fluffies can be only distinguished from their mother at close range:



Good luck!

Little Moscow

I was told the other day about the Tube station which interior resembles Moscow Metro very much, so today we paid it a visit.



Despite its name, Southgate station belongs to the northern end of Picadilly line. It looks pretty much like the ordinary Tube station apart from the dark metal uplighters, although they change the impression drastically for anybody who has been to Metro.



The lighting itself is also different, I might be wrong, but looks like incandescent lamps are in use there.



We didn't ascend out of the station as we had no plans for that area, but that was apparently a wasted opportunity as the station building is again very similar to those Moscow pavilions.



Another Moscow connection came unexpected as we were confronted by station worker who gave us a stern look and asked why are we taking so many photos. Ah, the spirit of Motherland!

He explained that there are no restrictions for photographers on Tube (except of course for flash prohibition when on the platform) but photos taken without the special permission must not be used for commercial purposes.



Therefore, please don't send me money for this post!

London Pride 2011

I was lucky to arrive just in time to squeeze through the barriers with my bike and roam around when everybody was already there but wasn't yet moving. Thanks to that I had an opportunity to take pictures without stretching my arms over the first and second lines of shouting spectators losing time until the column move too far away (pretty much unlike on other parades I've attended).

So, there is a bit of what I saw:

Costumes:







Signs:







Bodies:







Flags:







Police:







Armed forces:









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There are some other pics in my Flickr set, check it out (though the best ones you've just seen in this post).

Sketching around St. Paul's