Walking Regent's Canal (4th day)

Since I had been walking long distances every day and was very tired, I planned to take it easy today and avoid any strenuous walking. But I couldn’t spend the whole day doing nothing in the hotel, so I decided to walk along Regent’s Canal and visit the British Museum in the afternoon. 


Earl's Court Station

Paddington

 

I took the No. 74 bus to Earl’s Court Station and transferred to the Underground for Paddington. From there, I walked north for about ten minutes and reached Little Venice without any trouble. I assumed the Regent’s Canal walk began there and that it would take about thirty minutes to reach Regent’s Park.
 

 

Little Venice

Paddington Branch


 I continued walking along the water, taking many photos. I checked my location frequently on Google Maps and with GPS, and everything seemed fine.


Paddington Branch






Paddington Branch


However, even after walking for a long time, I still hadn’t reached Regent’s Park. An hour had passed. When I checked my position again, I realized the opposite bank was a huge cemetery, and a railway line ran close to the path on my side. I should have been walking east along the north side of the canal, but Google Maps showed that the north side was occupied by the cemetery with no path. Even though I checked my position many times, I convinced myself I was going the right way—and ended up walking in the wrong direction for an hour. If I had been in the mountains, I might not have survived. Belief is stronger than GPS.

I later learned that the western section of the canal from Little Venice is called the Paddington Branch, not Regent’s Canal.

 I walked back a little and found some buses in front of Sainsbury’s, but I didn’t know which one to take. So I decided to walk to the nearest Underground station. I took the train from Ladbroke Grove to Royal Oak and returned to Little Venice.

I should have crossed a bridge and turned right toward Regent’s Park. But part of the canal runs underground between Little Venice and Regent’s Park, so I had to walk along the road for a while. In the end, though, I enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the wrong canal

   

Regent's Canal


Regent's Canal

 

Once I reached Regent’s Canal, I could have continued on to London Zoo and Camden Market, but I went into Regent’s Park instead to find a toilet. It was very hot today. I had a chicken wrap and a café latte for a late lunch at a café in the center of the park. By then, I was already exhausted. The southern part of Regent’s Park was crowded, and the Broad Walk felt endlessly long on the way to Marylebone Road. 

 

the Regent's Park

the Broadwalk


 From there, I took the No. 18 bus to Euston Square, crossed to the south side through a tunnel, and walked to UCL, Tavistock Square Gardens, SOAS, Russell Square, and finally the British Museum. I had planned to arrive around noon and relax there, but it was already 2:30 p.m. I was so tired that I sat absentmindedly on a bench in the lobby for a while. I decided to focus only on the ancient Egypt and Greece galleries. The museum was packed, and most visitors seemed to be tourists from abroad.

 

UCL(University College London)

Gower Street

Virginia Woolf Bust in Tavistock Square Gardens

SOAS

Russell Square

The British Museum

in the Lobby

Rosetta Stone

Socrates

Holborn


In the evening, I returned to South Kensington from Holborn and had dinner alone at the same pub as yesterday. 

 

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