Second Instalment of London Trip

If you haven't seen the first installment you might like to see that first as this follows on from that. Another long post I am afraid!


Day 4

Hampstead today.  By bus to Kings Cross where we got the underground to Hampstead.

Hampstead sometimes known as Hampstead Village is more like a small town in the Cotswolds and in some way seems to be separate from the rest of the capital although only 4 miles from Charing Cross or in other words from the centre of London.  It is supposedly known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and also for its heath - and according to Wikipedia it also has more millionaires within its boundary than any other area of London not that we noticed any!

 We had a wander round ...

... looking at this and than and wondering how does the chimney sweep get his brush up here?!

Some lovely houses....

 This one is where Constable (the painter) lived at one time.

Burgh House a museum with a cafe where we decided to have lunch.  The actual museum was closed but the cafe open and they obviously do weddings here too and we enjoyed our soup and cheese scone in the basement cafe whilst watching the wedding guests milling about in the garden minus their heads since we were too low down to see all of them!

The front door of Burgh House

and the courtyard cafe where the guests had been milling about whilst we were inside down the steps on the left of the photo.

Having enjoyed our lunch and the "wedding cabaret" we set off to walk to Kenwood House.

 Our way took us through the woods.

Kenwood House which we had visited back in May but wanted to see again.  This lovely house sits in a beautiful setting with views to a lake and when we were here in May the rhodedendrons were in flower which was stunning.  Sadly there were not as many flowers in bloom in October but it was still beautiiful and what's more FREE!

 When we came before there was a wedding taking place and we thought what a stunning backdrop it all made for the photos.

 This pillar with its wording: May Peace Prevail on Earth caught my eye in the garden and I thought how apt it was just now when there are so many areas on Earth where peace does not prevail at all!

 This rare portrait of James Adam by Antonio Zucchi dated 1763 has not been seen by the public for 150 years and is currently on loan to English Heritage for temporary display at Kenwood House. James Adam, along with his brother Robert, was the architect for Kenwood House. You probably know that paintings are not really my cup of tea, although there are loads of them here at Kenwood which I saw last time, and that I am more fascinated by the stunning architecture and decorations.

 The wonderful ceilings like the one above....

 ..and this ....

 ..and this all apparently refurbished fairly recently and now as they had been intended without lots of gilding and so on.  It reminded me of Wedgewood Jasperware.

And this lovely ironwork - isn't it pretty?

I enjoyed looking at the little museum especially the displays of shoe buckles seen above behind glass so not too clear a photo.

 After a cup of tea in the cafe we set off to walk to the heath across the lawns beneath the trees...
.

 ... and down to the lake.  The bridge here is interesting since it is a mock bridge and not a bridge at all but just a flat such as might be used in a theatre.

 Looking back towards the house from near the lake  ...

.... the path wends its way behind the mock bridge so you can see the back of it.

 Leaving the estate we made our way past this lovely lake ...

... and eventually came out here where we could see the city in the distance as we climbed higher .....

 .... till we came out on Parliament Hill.  On a clear day the views from here are quite stunning but this particular day it was somewhat misty but we could still see a long way and make out various landmarks.

We made our way down from the Heath to the village passing this post box on the way and I was able to post my postcards sadly too late for the last collection and being a Saturday they would remain in the box till the Monday but at least they would arrive with a London postmark!!  My legs were quite tired by the time I took this photo and I crouched down to take it too which might explain the lean to it!

We got a bus back to Charing Cross and from there another to our hotel - the end of another interesting day..  

Day 5

Sunday morning and we had arranged to meet the Wanderer for lunch at Spitalfields - she had an errand to run in the City so this was a suitable place for us to meet and have lunch and suited us fine.

 As you can see it was another stunning day with blue skies and sunshine.  This is St Martins in the Fields - it is a vibrant church with lots going on and also a very good cafe but today we were heading elsewhere.

 Once again we decided to have a coffee in the cafe opposite St Pauls.

  The Millenium Bridge seen from below just a few yards from St Pauls down St Peters Hill ...

... where I found this pretty garden on the embankment.  There are gardens and little patches of planting everywhere in London I think it is all an attempt to make green corridors for wildlife as well as making everywhere look good and providing oases of peace for people too.

 Sunday in the City - hard to believe that this is London isn't it?  So quiet where is all the traffic?  For those in other countries around the world who may not know the City is a square mile of London and is the major business and financial centre and as such not many workers are there on Sundays so it is quiet.

 The strange building you can see here is nicknamed the Walkie Talkie and has on the top a garden called the Sky Garden which you can visit for free if you book in advance.  We did this back in May but as I said all my photos were lost.  We didn't go again this time as I can remember it all but I would certainly recommend it if you are in London the views from up there are stunning if the weather is clear.

The Bank of England

The Royal Exchange - this is the area where anything financial happens.

 We met the Wanderer here and enjoyed lunch at the Real Greek which was busy but it was good to have time for a chat and to eat together.  We shan't see her again now till after she returns from Nepal at the end of November.  Having eaten and caught up with the news we said goodbye and she set off for home and we had a wander round the market before going towards the Thames and the walk home (well not home itself of course but to our hotel!) along the Thames path which actually runs from the source of the Thames in the Cotswolds to the Thames Barrier at Greenwich - though of course we weren't doing all of it!!

The Path runs along the northern side of the river - I am more familiar with the South Bank so it was good to see things from a different point of view - here looking towards' Tower Bridge.

This flower bedecked bridge is I think Southwark Bridge

The Shard.  Looking up river towards Blackfriars Bridge.

Here is Shakespeare's Globe Theatre just behind the trees.  It is harder to spot now that the thatch is weathered and dark and of course it was late afternoon when I took this photo.

We walked on and the sky gradually grew darker and misty and the sun sank lower into the sky.

At last we reached Charing Cross where we got a bus back to Kensington.  Having had a full meal at lunch time we wanted just a light snack for supper but it is not easy to find sandwiches and such like in the evening in Kensington and we were not impressed with the bruchetta we eventually had in Cafe Concerto. We went back to the hotel and had a coffee in the bar/breakfast room there and sat reading the day's papers over our drinks till bed time.

Last Day 

We packed our bags and checked out of our hotel leaving the cases there to pick up later in the day.  It was meant to rain today so we set off with our macs in our bags and indeed they were needed!

 Mr M wanted to go to Marks and Spencers as he had seen a pair of shoes he fancied and I wanted to visit the Temple and the Temple Gardens as I have been interested in the Templars ever since we did a walk in Paris entitled The Templars and Medieval Paris.  We got the bus to Oxford Street and Mr M got his shoes (no bags to put them in unless we paid for them as from today (Monday 5th) no plastic bags were to be given free of charge by large stores - I am all for this new rule but although we had a bag with us it wasn't waterproof so we must learn to carry a spare plastic carrier with us in future!)  We had a coffee in the cafe before getting the bus to Aldwych and these photos are of the window displays in Selfridges.

 Always excellent these were really eye catching.

I wasn't the only one taking photos of them but mine were taken from the top deck of the bus!  We found that they were promoting the Apple watch which is apparently the latest must-have though when I checked them out on line to see just what they were I realised that, Luddite that I am, I would manage perfectly well without one and in any case they are small and I wouldn't be able to see the information on their tiny screens.  Maybe they do special glasses to go with them as what the Wanderer who once worked in Claires shop for a time called "add-ons".  Not sure about the watch but I love the flowers!!

 Having got off the bus at Aldwych we walked past the Royal Courts of Justice and crossed the road to visit the Temple.

 We wandered around the area and looked at this garden briefly

 But decided that in view of the weather it might be best to give up on this exploration and come back another time so we got the bus back to Kensington where we went to Maggie Jones again for lunch this time and it was as before excellent.  Once well fed and watered we walked back to our hotel not far awayand the rain had eased by now luckily and we collected our suitcases and got the bus to Charing Cross where we walked across the bridge to the South Bank and on to Waterloo.

The weather had definitely changed for the worse but we had been lucky thus far so had no  complaints.  We were in plenty of time for our train home and our taxi was waiting at the station to take us home.

London is a great place for a short break though it can be tiring especially if you do as we did and walk a lot.  

My computer has just thrown another wobbly and all the text on Blogger is tiny though on Mr M's computer which I am now using it is fine.  I shut down the laptop which took nearly 10 minutes to actually shut down and I think it might be going back to the shop still under guarantee since this is the problem I had before.  So I may be gone a while!!