London Diary, Day Three: London Walks

Deb: Following our tradition of doing the “Walks” whenever we go to a city, we continued with two stellar walks today. Having been here many times, we were afraid we had exhausted them! Over the years we have done three different Beatles walks, Jack the Ripper, Haunted London, Fleet Street, Tower of London, Ghosts, Gaslight and Guinness, Shakespeare and Dickens and a few others that don’t exist anymore. Today we did Hamstead and Hamstead Heath and Little Venice. They were both superb! The first one was from 11 to 1 and then we grabbed a quick bite and ran for the bus ... no, scurried for the bus ... walked quickly but with urgency to the bus, and ate our sandwiches which were brilliant and arrived at the starting point of the next walk.

A very old 1700's Georgian church. I'm rockin' the new coat!

Our first guide was funny and easy with people, knowledgeable, a real treat. The second guy was very well informed but with an edge of bitterness at his having to do this sodding job which made it all the more fun. He would state facts in a very serious and dramatic way and take huge pauses to make his point with a flourish. “When Keats stopped coughing and saw the shade of blood in his hands, he knew it was TB like his mother and brother before him and he said.....................BIG PAUSE.................BIG PAUSE, TIME ENOUGH FOR A TEA............................ "I have just seen my death.”  Then as we headed for an old cemetery, he said, “And buried here is someone that will surprise you, and I will tell you who" .....................BIG PAUSE............BIG PAUSE.....................I WAS ABLE TO DO SOME SHOPPING............... "when we round this corner.” His manner was so serious. We LOVED it!

My sweetie crossing under a canal bridge.

I am sure many of you have done the walks, but if not I highly recommend them, not only as a way to learn history and walk about, but to get into parts of the city you are visiting you would otherwise never get to. The Jack the Ripper walk is a prime example. We would have never explored White Chapel left to our own devises. The following are today’s walks.

Little Venice was described this way: If you fancy something completely different, this is the walk for you. Little Venice is the prettiest and most romantic spot in town. A unique combination of white stucco, greenery, and water, it boasts the finest early Victorian domestic architecture in London; a Who's Who of famous residents (Robert Browning, Edward Fox, Joan Collins, Annie Lennox, and Sigmund Freud to name but a few); and a jewel of a "village" street. And that's not to mention its canals. One of them – Regent's Canal – is known as the "loveliest inland waterway in England". Part of the walk is along the canal towpath – which to this day is studded with fragments of evidence that bring the Age of Canals to life. And afterwards you can have tea – or a bite to eat – at a stylish canal-side cafe.

 One of the canals in Little Venice

The house of a British Admiral who inspired the character in Mary Poppins
who would shoot off cannons and raise the flag!

Hamstead and Hamstead Heath was described thusly: This is a great walk...they just don't come any better than this. Our setting is London's most picturesque neighbourhood...a perfectly preserved Georgian village crowning the top of a handsome hill and garnished with the capital's most elegant old world promenade, a medley of cobble-stone lanes, pretty cottages, surprising turnings, and unsurpassed views. As for our cast of characters...well it's every bit as beguiling as our setting, ranging from the highwayman Dick Turpin to the painter Constable to the poet Keats; from Freud and D.H. Lawrence to Sting and Boy George; from Elizabeth Taylor and Emma Thompson to Rex Harrison, Peter O'Toole and Jeremy Irons. And for good measure, there's London's most villagey atmosphere and magnificent Hampstead Heath, the capital's best-loved park.

Permanent houseboat homes on the canal

One of Paul McCartney's old homes

We ended the day on my husband’s suggestion of the Alice In Wonderland High Tea at the Hotel. He is rehearsing now and then Fred Willard and his lovely wife are taking us all out to dinner. I am now officially rockin it! I am, in fact, jealous of myself. xo

Alice in Wonderland never had it so good!

Down the Rabbit Hole we go. Hope there's a gym down there!