Travelling Hopefully - Pimlico for Some Reason

I stepped out of my hotel to take in the sights of Pimlico.  My only for doing this was that it was convenient to my hotel and I’d already done Belgravia.

Pimlico is quiet (at least on a Tuesday morning) and I wandered cheerfully through streets full of old or, if you’re British, quite new houses.  Apparently Pimlico was a lower rent equivalent to Belgravia but the buildings were well designed and are now quite desirable in themselves.  Many of the buildings had plaques out the front and I stopped to read them.  Mostly what they said was “bicycles chained to these railings will be removed.”

I did have a destination in mind.  A particular cafe that promised pancakes with bacon and maple syrup.  Readers may be surprised to learn that I found it.  I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn I managed to circumnavigate virtually the entire of Pimlico first.

I managed to get down to the river (past yet another street named “Grosvenor”) but was prevented from getting to the edge by a very large puddle.  Apparently the Thames was leaking.

Down near the Thames is Churchill Gardens which despite the name is apparently a housing estate.  It looks very nice so I’m not surprised that they didn’t build many more in that style.   Turning my back on the river (although I did peer suspiciously over my shoulder a few times) I plunged back into the depths of Pimlico until I found the cafe where I did indeed have my pancakes with bacon and maple syrup.

At this point you may be struggling with the suspense and excitement of my journey.  So far all I have done is wander around Westminster in a jet lag addled haze.  Well don’t worry because I’m almost up to the Moroccan part of my trip.  But first, Chelsea!

Giddy with my Pimlico triumph I strolled down to the National Army Museum in Chelsea.  Chelsea is currently under renovation.  Either that or it’s playing host to a scaffolder’s convention.  Handsome old buildings lurked behind steel piping and planks.  At least I assume they were handsome old buildings, scaffolding can hide a multitude of sins.  Nevertheless having gone through Belgravia and Pimlico I’m going to assume the British didn’t change their building style to ten year old wattle and daub one suburb along.

The army museum did quite a decent job of compressing about four centuries of history into a handful of rooms.  I don’t want to say they skipped anything because  It’s entirely likely that I just missed it.  The museum focused much of its attention on the experiences of the soldiers themselves which seems entirely fair if a little surprising.

With a better knowledge and appreciation of the British army or at the very least a decent photo of a Bren carrier I made my way through the scaffolding of Chelsea and back to my hotel.  That afternoon I went and looked at Buckingham Palace because it was just down the road and it seemed silly not to.