Nov Week 3
The laws of gravity do not apply to Missy V.
Starlings
Today we did a nice loop around Round Pond where the Starlings were out in force:
Eating right out of K’s hand:
Noisy noisy! The cats LOVED it when I was editing this video :)
After exhausting all of our bird treats, we scooted over to Portobello Road for K’s tattoo consultation at Love Hate Social Club. She got an appointment on the books, which we celebrated with a trip to the Portobello Gin Distillery just down the street. K indulged with a Wintertime Negroni (yum!), while I got a flight of their Gins. Their Special Reserve was phenomenal, with the current “Local Heroes” collection coming in a close second. The latter is a collab with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame who apparently lived nearby and is a big fan of the distillery. His blend included lime zest, fresh cucumber peel and olive oil which was pretty wild and delicious. In third was their Mediterranean Gin - super herbaceous in a way that I’d never experienced with gin. I finished off with their Asparagus Vodka for giggles, which tasted just about as good as it sounds :)
Westminster Abbey (and more)
The next day, K went horseback riding in Hyde Park. This is her “spicy pony,” Oberon:
While K got in some good cantering on Rotten Row (and avoided a speeding ticket, which you can apparently get for riding too fast), I took the tube to check out Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey required too hefty of an entrance fee (for me, at least), but I did check out St. Margaret’s Church next door.
I got to add several new birds to my life list walking around St. James Park nearby. Top left is a black swan! Neat!
Just a few more days until the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland opens.
This peeping fireman just screams christmas spirit.
And a neat animal memorial.
Not the best beer I’ve ever had, but their advertising is next level.
Christmas in November
A big Friday out! The first stop was to the London Eye where our sunset timing worked out perfectly.
Happy with this hyperlapse:
We then mosied over to Somerset House across the river for . . . ice skating! Neither of us had been in many, many years, and we had a blast. No falls!
After working up an appetite, we wolfed down some appetizers at a very delicious little Italian spot.
Doubling down on holiday spirit, we scooted over to a tootbus for a Christmas light tour! Referencing our location history it looks like we traversed the same couple blocks over and over again but it was still super cute and a great time. Plus we were one of three couples on the whole bus, so we got to chat with the super nice guide and even make music requests (woo Billie Eilish!).
Before calling it a night, K took us over to Carnaby Celebrates for even more Christmas lights.
Bonus close up of big ol’ ben:
Bath
While K pampered herself with a much needed spa day (complete with sound bowl therapy!), I woke up bright and early and set off for a day trip to Bath. I was a little disappointed by how dirty the train windows were, but it was overcast so I wouldn’t have had good views anyway.
This was only my second time on a train out of town, and I managed to screw it up in a totally new way. The turnstiles will accept the underground tap and go system at the start, but it’s only actually valid within a certain vicinity of London. The ticket checker fellow was able to get me sorted, albeit at a pretty hefty markup because I essentially bought two separate tickets. He was pretty frustrated with me even after I explained that I was new to the system. “Why did you do that???” - welp, ya got me there! The silver lining was that he issued me a return ticket as well, so I didn’t have any further ticket issues looming over me.
Upon arrival I walked along the river to stretch my legs and get the lay of the land.
Then walked back towards the center of town. Bath Abbey is astoundingly beautiful.
Next stop, Persephone books! Absolutely definitely in no way christmas shopping for my wonderful mom who gave me the idea of visiting Bath :)
Some more walking, I stopped in at a fun cafe with some great board game art prints.
A few doors down was the Jane Austen museum.
Now for a somewhat ambitious loop through the hills around the city. The walk up and out of town was very pretty.
And the weather decided to cooperate - look at that sky!
The hike was beautiful, though it turns out I don’t know how to read a map . . . I set myself up for failure from the very start by heading in the gosh dang wrong direction. The trail markers were small badges attached to only one side of gate posts along the way, making it impossible to determine if you were on the right path without walking all the way up to every single post to check the opposite side. I had a map downloaded in advance but it turned out to be severely lacking in detail (if you can believe the guy who walked the wrong way from the get-go).
I tried to make the best of it but gave up on the official loop after hiking up, around, and back down a big hill . . . only to find I was back where I started . Luckily, I was able to cut across to the local university and take an alternate path back into town.
And I ran into a castle (complete with bonus golfer in the background)! This is actually a “sham castle”, just a wall intended to be viewed from one side to improve views from the city. Pretty hilarious.
Lots of benches had these nice meditative quotes on them. Always a fan.
Getting closer to town, across a canal.
I came across a (very) old church with a graveyard dating back to the 19th century.
Info plaque including prices of various grave options from 1831. (reminder: click for full resolution).
Some fun pub signs.
When in Bath, visit the Roman Baths! This was a stellar museum; the whole place was incredibly well preserved and had a good mix of traditional exhibits.
One of my favorite parts was the top of the nearby temple; the original look was projected over the recovered pieces. It’s still not entirely clear what/who the head in the center is meant to represent. One intriguing theory posits that it’s the Gorgon slain by Perseus with aid of Athena. This seems plausible when you consider it’s mounted above the entrance to a temple dedicated to Minerva, the Roman equivalent of Athena. The Gorgon, however, was female, while this figure appears male, which may be due to the local mix of Celtic and classical imagery.
A gilt bronze head of Sulis Minerva (the local combo of Celtic goddess Sulis and Roman goddess Minerva). There are 6 layers of gilding that further date repairs to the statue as gilding techniques were updated. This is one of three gilt bronze sculptures from Roman Britain.
Just a funny face.
Hot.
And steamy!
They had a fountain at the end where you could taste the water. It was . . . not the best, but healthy things don’t usually taste good, right? (Right!?)
In the gym area, they had a bunch of workout video clips projected on the wall that just cracked me up.
My cheery take on the ticket fiasco earlier turned out to be much too optimistic. While prepping for the trip, I noticed a “planned maintenance” notification on the booking site (which I should have apparently translated to, “This is a strike!”) conveniently scheduled for the evening of my day trip. With no trains running back to London and the last few direct buses sold out, I decided to stay the night. Besides, my only other option was a 6+ hour local bus route with at least 3 transfers that would have gotten me home at 4am, and I already had a prepaid train ticket home that I could use the next morning.
The only hostel in town luckily had a vacancy and turned out to be a super great deal. Situated above a sports bar, I was a little bit hesitant due to how rowdy it was (not that I had many options), but it quieted down nicely after I got back from dinner.
Tasty Thai food in a restaurant decorated from floor to ceiling.
Some more cool lights walkin’ around town.
And some final pictures of the Abbey all lit up.
After a brief and perfectly adequate night of sleep in a shared dormitory (K was mortified that I hadn’t taken her up on her offer to book me a hotel room), I rolled out of bed and caught an early train back into town. At Paddington Station, I took a photo of some nice folks with this legend, and they were happy to return the favor. If you look closely enough (please don’t) I think you can see some stink lines coming off me here.
Famished, I took a small detour before home to grab a proper English breakfast along the canal. Delish!
Another velvety Paddington bear spotted on the walk home.
After a much needed shower and some lounging around, we headed over to Portobello Road for K’s tattoo appointment! She had originally planned to copy her friend’s tube sign design and placement (twinsies!), but opted to add a poppy to reflect not just where we had lived (London . . . right across from a tube station) but also when we lived there (Remembrance Day in the UK is 11 November). Instead of the red poppy most people wear in the days leading up to Remembrance Day, K’s tattoo sports a white poppy of peace. I think it turned out smashing!
Since the Portobello Gin Distillery was basically right across the street from the tattoo studio, we tucked in for a couple of Wintertime Negronis before heading home.
I think the kitties missed me (or my lap at least).
FIN!
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Posted 2023-03-15