In this time of required school, high cost of living and busy work schedules, we're traveling less and staying in London more. For a while, that left me uninspired but now I am trying to appreciate the richness of London that we have come to take for granted after living here for so long. A few weeks ago, Jim and I were gifted four hours of free childcare, courtesy of some dear friends and, instead of just going to a local pub or taking a walk in our local (and really wonderful and beloved) Hampstead Heath, we went into Central London. We got off at Tottenham Court Road and weaved through tiny back alleys that, without the hustle and bustle of the main streets, still resemble Dickens' London. We discovered a string of Korean delis, filled with hip looking Koreans and we poked around in funky independent shops. We wandered through alleys that displayed signs for XXX and Sex Shops and we stared through the window of a tiny coffee emporium, which was packed to the brim with coffee enthusiasts. We almost got impromptu foot massages at a massage parlour, but decided instead to go to an antique feeling pub off of Carnaby Street for a pint. After that, we wandered behind Oxford Street and when we had almost reached Tottenham Court Tube Station, we decided to explore a Spanish Bar nearby. It was full and warm and jolly and had a jukebox. It was vintage and the bathrooms smelled like cat litter. We drank a Spanish drink that was like a sangria, but wasn't. We sang along to the oldies blasting from the juke box. We felt alive and invigorated.
It's easy to forget about London as a vibrant and pulsating city between the mundane activities of getting up, eating breakfast, getting kids dressed and to school, getting to work, plodding home to do homework and baths and dinner and books, collapsing on the couch before dragging your exhausted body to bed so that you can do it all over again the next day. But I have resolved, now that spring is in the air and I have been reminded that I'm still young enough to go out and enjoy this wonderful and fun city, to recognize the amazing London that we have at our finger tips and that we get to enjoy just by walking out our front door.
The obvious place to start is Hampstead Heath, a wild and beautiful city park, where you can almost forget that you're in the middle of London. I give the big city rats that cross my path when I'm running all the credit for keeping me aware of my city surroundings, but the fact that I can walk five minutes down the road and wander through woods, listen to birds chirping, see beautiful trees and foliage, pick up chestnuts in the winter and swim in ponds in the summer is something that I am determined to remember not to take for granted.
London has great Farmers' markets full of delicious local produce and almost every Saturday we go to the our local Parliament Hill Market. Sometimes we have a list of things we're after, but most of the time we just enjoy the experience of walking across the park as a family, buying olive sticks from the French bread guys, drinking samples of apple juice and ogling the fish display. Today we bought fresh mussels and crab meat, which came from the coast. Last week the fishmonger threw in the mussels for free.
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Now that it's spring (or almost, at least) there are an array of English cut flowers to choose from. Daffodils by the bunch are most prominent at this time of year and soon they will be in full bloom (still in the ground) around Kenwood House. On Saturdays we see people walking with their arms full of fresh flowers through the park or with their bicycle baskets filled to the brim with bouquets.
The winter months can get a little repetitive in the Parliament Hill Farmers' Market, with an abundance of root vegetables, apples, meat and homemade pies. But now that spring is in the air, things are looking up and much more colorful..although still decidedly autumnal. We are inching our way towards English strawberries and cucumbers, but still are mostly faced with Brussels Sprouts, leeks, Kale and 'squash' (looks like pumpkin to me).
But we don't mind, because we LIKE pumpkins!
Locally sourced sausage is also a hit amongst our team of market connoisseurs and there is much discussion about which sausages are the best. We also, during the winter, have the options of fresh Indian food, fresh Italian pasta, venison burgers and cakes. In the summer a woman named Poppy sells fresh and delicious salads and we take our picnic of market strawberries, salad, sausages and whatever else we have picked up to the nearby playground for a picnic in the sun. Today's picnic involved wallowing through lots of mud to a semi-dry bench and shivering in the sometimes sun while eating sausage sandwiches. But our spirits were not dampened because at least there WAS some sun, if infrequently.
Big complaint: the Parliament Hill Farmer's Market does not have a coffee stall all of the time and the coffee that is nearby at the cafe is sub-par (in my opinion...but the pasta there is YUMMY, so that makes up for it.) When the Farmers' Market DOES have coffee it's at the Bath Cheese stall and is, according to Jim, delicious.
There are competing bread stalls and now that I know how to make my own bread I tend to remind myself that I could be making bread at home, but the bread that these French bakers sell saves me the effort! We rarely make it out of the Farmers' Market without a loaf (and a few olive sticks, which are in high demand. If we don't get there early enough, we miss out on them completely).
We are desperate for canine companionship in our family, but instead, because we live in a small flat we have a grumpy and obese cat. So one of the highlights of the farmers' market is their 'dog creche.' Hampstead is 'dog mad' and there is every breed represented on the Heath and in the Farmers' Market. Today there were labs, cocker spaniels, several Jack Russel Terriers, a Border Terrier and a couple of gentle greyhound type dogs who were snuggling together in the sun. Some of the dogs sit happily and patiently, waiting for their people to return and enjoying the affections of passersby. Some look depressed and some just totally freak out barking for the duration of their stay in the dog creche. We always enjoy them, whatever their anxiety levels.
