A Weekend Diary

A Hampshire sky, ‘Les Misérables’, and around King’s Cross/St. Pancras

Taken one morning at around 8.40 a.m. mid-week…

Before today, I think the last time that I watched a film in the BFI IMAX cinema, near London’s Waterloo Station, was probably around ten years ago, when I went with some workmates to see Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: a Space Oddysey’, but this morning I returned there to watch ‘Les Misérables’. Despite it being a very successful long-running musical in London’s West End theatres, I was barely aware of the plot, much less the songs (with the exception of ‘I dreamed a dream’, which I was familar with through Susan Boyle’s unforgettable appearance on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ a few years ago).

The IMAX screen is the largest in Europe, and as such, it was a perfect venue to watch an epic film such as ‘Les Misérables’. It’s a long film, around two and three-quarter hours, but for me it was well worth the watching, with some great cinemaphotography…and you’d have to have a heart of stone to find yourself not shedding a tear at some point during the film…;). Anyway here’s the said cinema, photographed after I’d left it early afternoon, and taken from the southern side of Waterloo Bridge. By the way, that strange looking yellow vehicle, about to cross Waterloo Bridge, is a Duck Tours amphibious vehicle, that really does travel on both land and water ;).

The BFI IMAX cinema, and Beatrice, a Duck Tours vehicle…

Late afternoon and early evening today, I spent in the King’s Cross and St Pancras area, in the Euston Road, so here are some photos of the vicinity.

King’s Cross mainline station, from the southern side of the Euston Road. It’s rather deceptive this photo, as King’s Cross has undergone substantial development in recent years, and there’s been a large expansion of the station behind the Euston Road.

The wonderful bit of Victorian architecture that is St Pancras mainline station, which is more-or-less adjacent to King’s Cross station on the northern side of the Euston Road (and they share a single Tube station between them).

…and here’s a very colourful Barclays Bank, on the south side of the Euston road, opposite St .Pancras Station.

St. Pancras Station, as seen from the west…

Whoops!…and this is what can happen when you rely too much on auto-focus with a digital compact camera ;).

Finally, I spent a couple of early evening hours in this pub in the Euston Road, watching Southampton FC beat Manchester City 3-1…

‘The Euston Flyer’ on the south side of the Euston Road, and much nearer to St. Pancras Station than Euston Station, which is a quarter of a mile further west…