London tourism in full swing this weekend!
A new acquaintance invited me over to her place to watch Stardust with her and her fam Saturday afternoon following a discussion we'd had about Neil Gaiman… It is an *adorable* movie, btw, if you haven't seen it. Right up there with Princess Bride--and that's high praise from me!!
That meant that I couldn't exactly do a faraway trip Saturday or even over the weekend. Instead, I worked to figure out stuff I could do to "see stuff" without going too far afield. :)
She lives up past Hampstead Heath-- so that worked out nicely! The weather, on the other hand, did not… It was mizzling rain the whole time, and I was hiking in the wooded part of the Heath--which meant my shoes and the bottoms of my jeans were covered in mud by the time I actually got to her place. Oops! (I kicked off my shoes and just wandered around her place in socks…) Otherwise, it was a lovely day out… Lots of people were out still… mostly with their dogs who did not care about the mud and were deliriously happy! Nothing happier looking than a dog chasing a ball in a field! I was pretty impressed with the dogs, too… all these dogs and all these people and me walking past and they never jumped up with their muddy paws. Good dogs!!
I visited a couple of places around the Heath, as well. Kenwood House is a Georgian era estate (read: everything looks like a Jane Austen film--AWESOME!) where Dido Belle--she of the recent movie--lived. So that was worth a peek. Also apparently taking my fancy camera and shooting the whole thing! :)
Then on the other end of the Heath is the Keats House. Not quite as successfully laid out as the Kenwood House… and Keats isn't my boy the way others are where just the aura of the figure is enough… But I definitely like the guy's poetry… so I couldn't pass the place up!
Perhaps best was the creperie I visited on the way… OMG so tasty! I got the ratatouille and cheese--this was an actual stand with people working the burners inside… nothing fancy! But so tasty! Definitely not a health food--but good comfort food, for sure! And at least I didn't get a nutella crepe! (Next time…)
Then it was about time for the movie… and gab… and tea! (Aside: I am becoming obsessed with tea--there, I said it! Of course, for me obsession means that I'm reading all kinds of books about the history of tea in the UK… because I'm a big nerd! But I am also drinking more of the stuff, and understanding a bit more about it…)
Cut to Sunday--and to me exhausted! I just barely got myself up and about enough to go to Greenwich, and it's not going anywhere, clearly, so there was no NEED for me to go that day. But I'm glad I did--there was finally a sunny day! Still cold, of course, but oh I just wandered around in the sun all the livelong afternoon--along with the rest of London, by all appearances. More dogs in parks!!!
I purposely went with my camera--intending to just take a million pictures. I had the idea to take pictures of the alphabet of architectural elements and/or natural and see if I could do it. So the side of a bench became an S… a reindeer's antlers was a V… a cormorant sticking its neck out was a Z… that kind of thing. It was a fun game. And I'm surprised how quickly I was able to get the whole alphabet… I thought it would take days/weeks. But I got it in one… And now of course I can spend the next few months improving my collection. (That G is pretty forced--let's see if we can improve it!)
Also saw the Cutty Sark, the Observatory, the Market, of course. Again, amazing street food. Vegan World Food booth--and it had a long and slow line. But the food was so warm and tasty!! It was one of those meals where I actually felt happy-full after eating it… almost high! I am always running hungry--so part of that is clearly the gratitude of being full and not from a coffee shop muffin! But I think there was more to it with this particular lunch. :)
And I walked through a tunnel under the Thames! That was a trip-- distance wise, of course, it's no different than walking across one of the bridges. But it's also a TUNNEL UNDER ALL THIS WATER! But there were plenty of people doing it--and I didn't get too claustrophobic!!
And I got home in time, oddly enough, to cook myself dinner. I do not do this often enough here! And by a weird stroke of luck, all the stores were already closed (early Sundays). While at first this annoyed me SO MUCH--as I had a recipe all ready and the grocery list of what to buy and all that-- it turned into a blessing in disguise… I just had to make do with all the foods I'd just bought Saturday am at the local farmer's market… So instead of canned tomatoes, I chopped up all my new tomatoes… regular potatoes instead of sweet potatoes… purple kale and rainbow chard instead of spinach… Even the cheese I spread on my bread with it was from the farmers market. How this wasn't my first impulse is the crazy thing… But here's to happy endings! My body really needed healthy home cooked--as much as I LOVE all the restaurants--and there are still SO MANY for me to visit…
Now it's Monday again--and I have to get back to doing work-type-things here. Today is a library/research day. Also I really have to read! (Odd that this is becoming a chore--but then again, it's homework reading, not exactly escapism!) Off I go!! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment