A Glorious Weekend

At the risk of jinxing things by mentioning it, the weather has been absolutely fantastic: crisp, sunny, clear autumn days. It's been perfect for exploring, and that's just what I did at the weekend. 

I started Saturday with a walk down to the weekly farmers' market in the school yard of St Paul's C of E Primary School at the junction of Elsworthy Road and Primrose Hill Road (a ten minute walk from my gaff), where I loaded up on various veg to use in making some sort of soup and a pain au raisin for my breakfast. The market was started at the beginning of the pandemic to give local people access to good food in an open-air setting, and it's continued since. 

After dumping my purchases back at the flat, I headed north to walk up to Hampstead and ultimately go to the Parliament Hill Farmers' Market at the southeastern corner of Hampstead Heath. I got a bit distracted by three charity shops along the way (no purchases) and a walk down Nassington Road, where Roger first lived when he came to London in 2003. By the time I arrived at the market, it was winding down and there wasn't much left, but I bought some bread and corn fritters for later and an olive breadstick for my lunch. 

That done, I headed north up the eastern side of the Heath, aiming for Kenwood House. The Heath is vast, wild and beautiful. Some parts of it are open and offer fantastic views of London below, while other parts are wooded and mysterious. There's something about it that intensifies perceptions -- on a grey day, the Heath feels very gloomy and dark, while on a sunny day it can't help but put you in a great mood. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face, a bit confused by all the paths that crisscross everywhere, but keeping the ponds on my right and heading ever upwards. Eventually, I entered the Ken Wood, a dark and ancient place, and emerged to see Kenwood House glowing in the mid-afternoon light. 

I hadn't been here since Molly and I visited Roger in 2004, also on a bright and sunny day. I took a wander through the house (free!), which is rammed with old master paintings, including a famous self-portrait of Rembrandt. Doors were open and it felt airy, and though a bit crowded and with no one but me wearing a mask, it was possible to steer clear of the other gawpers for the most part. 

Tired from my uphill trudge, I opted to take the bus back down to Belsize Park. I got on the 268, thinking it would take me down to Hampstead, but when we arrived in Golders Green I reckoned I'd gotten on the wrong bus or one going in the wrong direction so I hopped off. And just as the bus was pulling away, I saw that it was indeed for Golders Green and the driver was at that moment changing the sign to read Finchley Road (where I was meant to be headed). I guess it was taking a circuitous route to get there. I need to make a trip to Golders Green at some point (more about that later), but this wasn't the day for it. Fortunately I was opposite the tube station -- and the Northern Line wasn't being struck -- and that got me back to Belsize Park.

I'm getting much, much better about asking questions of people and starting conversations with strangers. As I was approaching my street, I saw a woman about my age, with two carrier bags of what I guessed were groceries. "Excuse me, " I said. "Can I ask you about where you buy your groceries? I'm new here and trying to work it out." That started a nice conversation about the various greengrocers and super markets in walking distance. We both turned into Lambolle Road, and it turns out she's just down the street from me, so we exchanged first names and wishes for seeing each other again. Back in my flat, I cooked up a pot of curried veg soup to last the next four days.

Sunday turned out to be a slower, more relaxing day, with nothing planned but for the boat ride through the Islington Tunnel that I'd booked through the Canal Museum. I'd been wanting to do this for years, but never got around to it or the timing wasn't right as the boat rides are infrequently on offer. The tunnel is just as you'd imagine -- dark, narrow and long. It takes 9 - 10 minutes to motor from one end to the other, but no doubt was a more difficult and time-consuming prospect in the days when canal boatmen needed to "leg it" through the canal. 

To get to the Canal Museum, I walked all the way, wandering down Gloucester Road in Primrose Hill, down the steps to the towpath, and along the path through Camden Town and King's Cross to the museum on Battlebridge Basin. I've walked bits of the towpath many times and always enjoy it, but I realized I'd never done this at the weekend. It was teaming with people! Tons of tourists all through Camden Town. I'm amazed I didn't get pushed in. Not wanting to repeat that experience, I took the tube from King's Cross back to Belsize Park where I settled in for the evening and ate my soup. 

Saturday, October 8th

£2.50 pain au raisin

£3 olive bread stick

£20 other market purchases

20,019 steps

8.22 miles

Sunday, October 9th

£11 canal boat ride

£3 cookie

16,165 steps

6.61 miles