Regent's Park

Today, I went to Regents Park, the London Zoo, AND Primrose Hill. Lots of walking. I'll start with Regents Park, which is the newest of all the London Parks and very pretty, just like the other parks in London. As you can see, it's pretty fall looking and very green at the same time. And today was the first day that has been pretty chilly. I was definitely glad that I wore my Kermit the Frog green peacoat out and about.
Regent's park contains Queen Elizabeth's rose gardens...but they are not in bloom right now (or not in full blown bloom), so I didn't go see that.
The park is also surrounded by big, white, pillared buildings, which are flats or private homes now, I think. Anyway, this is one of the big white buildings...
Primrose park is the next park over from Regents Park and the Zoo. It contains Primrose Hill, which is another one of those killer hills that is worth climbing up, because the view from the top is very nice. There is also some "posh" shopping on Primrose Hill Road, but by the time I realized where that was (at the top of the hill) I had already gone down to the bottom of the hill again. So, I will report on the posh shopping area some other day.

I also discovered a great little bookstore, where I bought two novels and a book on walks near London (recommended). We will report back on the walks! 

running...

Greenwich Park, here in Greenwich, is where the London marathon begins! That little fact finally motivated me to go running in Greenwich Park, which is only about 10 minutes (running) from our flat. My run started out with a very long and very steep hill....followed by a few more long, steep hills (I mean, these hills are Boston Heart Break Hill type hills...painful!). At the top of the hills are fabulous views of the city and, fortunately, in between the hills there are some flat spots. Of course, when you run up a hill, you then get to run down a hill. So that part was very nice.

Greenwich Park is really pretty (see previous pictures) and while I was running an inspiring song came onto my Ipod and I looked around me and thought, "I can't believe I'm running in London." To my left was the biggest, fluffiest crow I have ever seen (Yes, it was FLUFFY...it looked like a teddy bear, but it was a crow). Sun was filtering down through the trees. All around me there were people walking and I felt excited about where we are and what we are doing and all the unknowns and possibilities. I also felt a little sad because there were many dogs in the park and I miss Buster. Most of the dogs around here are about his size and I know he would love to go for walks with us and to sniff and run around the park. Plus, he is my companion, typically, when I'm going through these transitions...

I also felt sad because this tall, skinny, older man lapped me...but whatever. I still have jet lag AND a cold (humph!).

Including the time it took me to partially walk up the second very steep hill, I ran for an hour. Pretty good for not having run in a while! Tomorrow I might run along the Thames...or UNDER the Thames. There is a tunnel that goes from Greenwich, under the river, to Canary Wharf (or somewhere around there). The entrance is under a dome, right on the banks of the Thames. The other day I noticed that people would go into the dome and never come out again. I knew it wasn't a tube stop...and now I know it's a "pedestrian subway."

This just in...

They do not have twinkies in the UK.

Taking a day off

I have been diligently exploring London while Jim has been at work, but now I am tired, so, at this point, I am planning just to hang around Greenwich today. It's a beautiful day and would be the perfect day to go out to Kew Gardens or something beautiful dayish like that, but I just don't have it in me right now.

Yesterday, I met up with a new friend, Carolina, for lunch at the Sotheby's Cafe. It was reasonably priced, considering the location (very posh area) and the food was delicious! We were surrounded by well dressed people (I wore jeans...whoops!) speaking all different languages and dining between auctions. We had salads and soup and we each got dessert (I had pistachio cake with apricot yogurt's fool, which was delicious!) and tea. Then we walked around Bond Street, where all the high designer stores are. I saw a beautiful Tod's handbag in the window of the Tod's store and a 33 carat yellow diamond ring. It was all very extravagent and we wondered how many sales a day those types of places need to make to stay in business. With the rich and the famous around, they probably don't have too many problems and they provide great window shopping for the rest of us.

We also took a look up the street at the Ritz Carlton and Green Park, which is a park that has no flowers, only green. I read that the reason for this is because a king (can't remember which one) said he was going to pick a flower for the most beautiful woman around and then gave it to a chambermaid instead of to the queen. So, in a rage, the queen ordered that all flowers be removed from the gardens--thus, Green Park.

We're going to see Borat tonight. I have never seen Ali G, so I have no expectations or preconceived notions. All I know is that Jim is VERY excited to see the movie. And the New York times has a pretty funny slide show of "Borat" in their style section.

a brief flat hunt update

I saw three flats today and one of them was awesome. I won't go into details since we don't know yet whether or not we will get it. Our hope is that Jim's company will sign the lease for us and we can just have the amount that they are giving us each month for living expenses taken directly out of his paycheck. The typical way to pay the rent around here is not to send a check, but to have the money debited from your bank account and paid directly into the landlord's account. Of course, we don't have a bank account here and we can't get a bank account without a permanent address. And even then, we may not get one, as we don't have established credit here, etc. etc. So we are in somewhat of a quandry when it comes to paying rent--can't really hand a landlord who is in Australia a wad of cash every month.

We also have sub-par credit cards. Here all the credit cards have chips implanted in them, so they are just scanned and no signature is required. Our credit cards don't have this newfangled technology, so we have had several experiences of not being able to use them at all. Just a heads up for all of you potential visitors. Be prepared to have cash along, too.

We are learning a lot about the practical sides of life here in England as well! We're blundering our way through it all.

Kicking some bottoms

Jim and I met for lunch today (before my Notting Hill adventures) and, as we were leaving the restaurant we heard a British business man say to his co-workers, "Let's go kick some bottoms, as the Americans like to say!" We were, naturally, pretty tickled by that remark and proceeded to go kick some bottoms.

I also got asked for directions not once, but twice! My red shoes, Cooper Institute fleece (worn with pride throughout London!), lime green gloves, and ever present map must not scream AMERICAN as much as I thought they did. But then I open my mouth and it's all over...

Oxford Street and Notting Hill

Yesterday I got my fill of the Greenwich area and then let myself get really down about not having a job, even though I can't have a job here anyway at this point. Then I let myself get stressed out about whatever I am going to do with myself without a job...and then I came to my senses and made some plans for myself to go frolick around in Notting Hill for the afternoon.

Frolicking in Notting Hill is definitely not as fun by myself as it would be with Jim, which is why we will go again this weekend. Also, by the time I actually got there, after a hellish battle with the crowds on Oxford Street (I HAD to go to T-Mobile...life without a phone when you are prone to getting lost is not a good one. Now I am able to text message Jim whenever I get lost!) it was starting to get dark...at about 4:00.

To back up, Oxford Street is a long street of mostly clothing, shoe, and electronics stores (and T-Mobile). It is very touristy and, to me, seems like a mix between Canal Street in New Orleans, Times Square in NYC, and Downtown Crossing in Boston. There are, to my delight, at least 4 H&Ms, each catering to a different style. There are also lots of department stores, a Swatch store, many, many shoe stores (two Aldos!)...I think the department stores probably had some designer stuff in them. We will have to explore them someday with shopping and fashion minded friends. For now, shopping and fashion are not really options for us.

When I reached the end of Oxford Street, the crowds drastically thinned and suddenly I found myself at the entrance to Hyde Park, marked by a huge Marble Arch (I believe that is actually its name). The park is sprawling--green with lots of trails and trees and fountains and people walking with their dogs and with their loved ones. The contrast, within a few blocks, between Oxford Street and Bayswater Road (same road, different name a few blocks down and across from Hyde Park) was unbelievable. To my right were enormous, sprawling homes and flats, cobblestone, lush bushes and trees. To the left was the park.

Eventually, after about two miles, I made it to Notting Hill, and returned to the land of the common man...but only for a few blocks. I was trying to find a book store called Books for Cooks, which is supposed to be floor to ceiling cookbooks from all over the world, but I ended up walking down the wrong road for about a mile, finally managed to get to the area the bookstore is reputed to be in, and never could find the place. Despite that, I really enjoyed my walk--more beautiful homes and, lots of young mothers all around, pushing prams and walking dogs. They were all very thin and stylish of course (most were wearing tight jeans with boots over them...which is, by far, the most popular trend around here. These women, though, were also wearing fur-lined vests and dripping with diamonds.)

Portabello Road, I think, is a big tourist attraction (there is a market there, which gets very crowded on the weekends, supposedly), but by the time I got there, it was dark, cold, and not too much was going on. We'll go back to try to find the Books for Cooks shop again this weekend. I was really disappointed that I couldn't find it on my own, but I'm sure that my skilled navigator (Jim) will be able to figure out where it's elusive side street is.

Tomorrow I am meeting a friend of Andrea's at the Cafe at Sotheby's and this weekend Jim and I will go to the Tate Modern, where we are excited about their slide exhibit--as in sliding down a slide type slides, not PowerPoint slides and we will also climb to the top of St. Paul.