Trafalgar Square

Among the many things we did today was a visit to Trafalgar Square. You may not be familiar with Trafalgar Square by name, but if I told you that it was the place in Mary Poppins where they “feed the birds, tupins a bag” you might have a better idea of what I’m talking about.

There are two very famous museums right on Trafalgar Square. The first is The National Galery, the second is The National Portrait Galery. Both are truely amazing with art collections, not to mention the buildings that house them, which will blow your mind. I was most impressed by a photography collection in the National Portrait Gallery called “Faces of Fashion.” It featured six very famous fashion photographers and their best portrait work. It was beautiful and inspiring.

After the National Portrait Gallery we moved onto the National Gallery which contains the works of famous painters from Renoir to Monet. This captivated my mom for hours, while I made my way through it rather quickly, then found myself capitvated by the scene in Trafalgar Square just outside.

There are thousands, which is an underestimation, of birds in the square. You cannot walk through this place without one attempting to land on your head. It is pure joy for children, and pure terror for some adults (particularily women in high heels I noticed). There are a few people who make their living off of these birds, giving away “bird food” (which was popcorn) for tips. I spent about an hour here taking pictures of the kids with birds on their heads, hands, arms, all squeeling with joy. Then, naturally, it was my turn to get a picture taken covered in birds.

A small Indian man walked up to me and said, “These birds are all famous you know. Every one of them. They were all in that movie, Mary Poppins. Now everyone wants a picture with them because they’re famous. It’s free if you want me to put one on your head.”

Soon my head was covered in “bird food” (remeber, popcorn), and my arms in birds.