St. James Park is the oldest royal park in London, situated next to Buckingham Palace.
In the thirteenth century, there used to be a hospital for lepers. In the sixteenth century, when Henry VIII acquired the place, he used it as a deer park and built St. James's Palace. When James I came to the throne, a road was created, which is now known as The Mall. Charles II changed the park dramatically. During his age, lawns were laid and many trees were planted on the both sides of its avenues.
I have sometimes walked from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace via St. James Park. However, my destination was always to another place, such as Westminster Abbey or Buckingham Palace, not St. James Park. In other words, I visited St. James Park along the way, so my impression of St. James Park was no so clear.
Therefore, on my thirteenth trip, I decided to take some time to visit and walk around the park.



On that day, I initially went to Westminster using the Underground. From there, I walked to St. James Park. I think that some school excursions or extracurricular lessons were being held on the day. There were many high school boys and girls, so the park was quite busy. After walking a little, I found a lovely small house surrounded by many flowering shrubs and bushes. I remembered that I'd seen it before. A woman was working in the garden.
I walked a little further and saw the lake. Many ducks and birds had gathered on the lake.
Next, I saw a well-kept flower bed, in full bloom.
As I was walking in St. James Park, my memories of the park gradually came back to me.
Actually, the scenery of the park had changed a little. For example, I could see the London Eye over the lake, a sight which previous hadn't existed. However, most of the scenery was the same as I'd remembered it.
The scenery of London town is changing ever so rapidily. For instance, I have sometimes been unable to find a shop which I had visited a year before. However, the scenery of St. James Park was almost the same. I was relieved to see it basically unchanged.

(2004.5.15)

Scenery from the Parks-- Kensington Gardens	Scenery from the Parks-- Regents Park	Scenery from the Park-- Hyde Park
Scenery from the Park-- Battersea Park	Scenery from the Parks-- Holland Park	Scenery from the Parks-- Green Park

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Trip to Englnad

I really love London!