…October 14, 2025
Today we decided to explore Hampstead. It is an affluent neighbourhood in the north of London. It’s a beautiful leafy green village with wonderful cafes, pubs, bakeries, book stores, antique and floral shops and high end clothing stores.
We had a perfect lunch in The Flask….cauliflower soup with truffle oil, baked Camembert with chutney and pickled fennel on sourdough bread.
…a beautiful summer day
Today was my nephew’s and his beautiful wife’s last day in London and they wanted to spend it with their extended family exploring some of the destinations where Londoners spend a Saturday afternoon.
While sitting in one of the bistros along the canal both Rose and Patrick were able to see some of the air show that was honouring King Charles’ birthday. Unfortunately I only caught a glimpse of the jets from where I was sitting and wasn’t able to get any shots with my camera.
…then lunch in a pub and a walk through Hyde Park
Kevin decided to surprise me with a secret itinerary into central London today. We walked to the Arsenal Station and took the Piccadilly line to Green Park and then transferred onto the Jubilee line. Three stops later we got off at St. John’s Wood.
As we started walking Kevin hesitated for a moment and checked his phone for directions. A kind man asked if we were looking for Abby Road. Our destination was no longer a surprise but I was very moved by Kevin’s plan. He knows that I was and still am a big Beatles fan.
The actual studio is heavily guarded but there is a gift shop that is open to the public.
We considered going to some of the other iconic Beatles landmarks but they were all very far apart and not easy to walk to so we opted to get some lunch instead.
We headed to Bakers Street and had a nice meal at the Allsop Arms. I had the steak sandwich and lemonade and Kevin had the chicken BLT and a non alcoholic Peroni.
The forecasted rain held off and we made our way south to Hyde Park. We entered from the north east side and continued along the path towards the Serpentine Lake. As we got closer to the lake we were happy to see benches to rest our weary feet.
After a short rest we continued heading south to the south end of Hyde Park.
On the way out of the park I saw the rose garden and suggested to Kevin that he could rest some more while I quickly checked out the flowers.
All in all it was a great outing and when we got home Brendan cooked us dinner and Sevin set up her hairdressing parlour and gave Oma and Big Papa a makeover. If our son shares his photos with me I might share them with you. All I can say is that it was crazy fun and there was a lot of laughing.
…closer to home
We didn’t want to go too far afield today because we had to pick up Sevin from school. After a good hearty breakfast at the flat we headed out to catch the #4 bus to Islington Green.
We stopped in Waterstones bookstore to look around and purchased a couple of paperbacks. After that we were desperate for a coffee and we stopped at the same coffee kiosk that we went to the last time we were here. Once we were satisfactorily caffeinated we continued our journey down Camden Passage.
We stopped in a great cheese store and purchased some yummy cheeses made in Britain. One of the cheeses, the cheddar to be exact came from a dairy in Devon. The cheese monger told us that he had been to that dairy and he claimed that the owner knew her cheese as well as she knew her cows. She has a herd of over 100 cows and she has named each one.
Before heading home to pick up Sevin we stopped at Cass Art to pick up more sketchbooks and watercolour paper. All in all a very enjoyable afternoon.
… with the 19 bus
Today we decided to do a little shopping and explore the area around the Angel Station. We stopped at Itsu for some lunch and enjoyed a hot noodle bowl.
We explored some very cool side streets with fun artist owned galleries and outdoor cafes before we ended up at Cass Art Supplies to purchase some sketchbooks.
…more snow
Since Sunday the snow has come down every day. There’s a good 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) on the ground and it just keeps coming. Andrea and I were going to go for a drive but thought better of it when we checked the forecast.
Olive loves the snow. The worst part for her and probably for her humans is getting dressed to go out.
Once outside you can see from the snow on the railings how much more snow had fallen.
…in the dead of winter
It was definitely colder than yesterday, partly due to the winds coming off the bay. I was grateful for the use of Andrea’s hand warmers that slipped into my gloves.
…the golden hour
Mama Cormier 