This is a photo story of day 2 of The Organised Explorer's Monopoly Tour of London.
Check out this blog for details of the route that these photos illustrate.
The step counters had been re-set from day 1 and we were ready for the final part of our adventure. The first destination was Bow Street, and the best opportunity to grab a shot of the street sign was on the side of the Royal Opera House.
The second stop was another anomaly within the board game. There is no Marlborough Street in reality, so to get to check off this orange square we used Great Marlborough Street. Following some research, it is thought that this location is what was intended for the board but that the name was added as simply Marlborough Street.
The final orange square was not far away but is probably the biggest disappointment of the whole route. There are a couple of Vine Street's in London but, due to it's proximity to the other Orange squares in the game, this one is widely believed to be the street that was intended to be used. A tiny little back street with no discernable features, it is believed that the creator used to walk past this street on his daily commute and so included it. It was a very quick stop for this one!
On route to the red properties, it was time to pick up another playing piece. The car that is used in the game is a roadster, so it had to be the MG dealership on Piccadilly. This location used to have the Roadster Cafe upstairs, but it looks to have closed. The showroom cars remain though and were perfect for checking off this stop.
It was then just a short walk to Strand for a visit to Coutts Bank for the Super Tax square. Coutts' describe themselves as a 'Private Banking and Wealth Management company' so they were perfect to check off 'Super Tax'.
It was then back to finding streets as we headed further down Strand. A grand total of 3/4 mile in length, Strand has numerous opportunities to photograph the sign. This was not far from The Savoy Theatre.
We could have chosen anywhere to take the Strand photo as we needed to walk the full length for it to turn in to Fleet Street, and our next stop. There was a beautiful Tudor building that houses a stationers, so that was our choice of photo location. A wonderful slice of history in London.
The final red location to visit was Trafalgar Square, so it was a jaunt back along Strand to get there. Trafalgar Square is always busy and, whilst there are quite a few street signs, the safest location for us to stop was the Canadian Embassy, beside the 4th plinth.
The two remaining railway stations were next to be visited, as they are geographically very close. Fenchurch Street was first and although it is one of the smallest stations in London, it is one of the most intensively operated and hence its inclusion on the board.
It was then a bit of navigation through the back streets to get to Liverpool Street Station. The third busiest railway station in London, it didn't have the grand front that we had seen at Kings Cross, Marylebone and Fenchurch so we ventured inside to find a suitable sign.
The next stop was for Chance and as we were on our way to Leicester Square, the Hippodrome Casino was a perfect opportunity. The ultimate location for chance!
A minute's walk and we were in the middle of Leicester Square. We spent a little longer at this location to take some fun photos with the statues in the square (Paddington Bear, Mary Poppins, Mr Bean, Harry Potter and many more).
It was then just another short walk to Coventry Street. It appears from these photos that the most accessible street signs are all above food outlets!
The final yellow location is a further minute's walk, and is Piccadilly. Another very busy location but this area just in front of The Trocadero's prancing horses was a good spot. The yellow locations can be completed very quickly as they are so close together.
The final playing piece to be collected was the hat and this was one of my favourite finds on the route. On Jermyn Street, known for its tailors, there is a statue of Beau Brummell. The fashion figure of the Regency era, this statue is the perfect location to represent the hat.
With all of the pieces, railway stations, utilities and remaining squares accounted for, it was time to head for the green streets before the finale. Regent Street was first to be visited.
We then literally turned around 180 degrees and took the photo for Oxford Street.
It was a short walk to Bond Street and another anomaly of the board game. There is no Bond Street, there is only a New Bond Street. It is located between Oxford Street and Park Lane so was definitely appropriate for this stop.
So with 41 locations under our belts, the final two squares were about a mile away. It was really nice on this final stretch to think about all of the locations that we had visited over the weekend. The areas of London that we have previously walked past but have never particularly noticed, the diverse boroughs of London with their architecture, communities and landmarks. We had travelled above ground, below ground, north of the river and south of the river and we had found something we all felt was an impossibility - free parking in London!
The streets around Park Lane in Mayfair had a feel of being as expensive as their rent on the board suggest. The sun was shining as we neared our final destination.
So to Mayfair, the last anomaly on the board! Mayfair is a borough of London and there is no street baring the exact same name. Therefore it was another short walk to reach Mayfair Place, the closest we could find in this luxurious borough. This was a celebration photo - approximately 27 miles, over 70,000 steps clocked up per person and plenty of laughs along the way. We had toured London and seen the real life Monopoly board! There was even a red postbox to ensure that this was the most 'London moment' we would experience.
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