A Catch-All Day, Day 5, London

April 3, 2019

Today I slept in a little bit because I was up much of the night coughing.  After my shower and getting dressed I went down to the kitchen to get my breakfast.  I had heard someone down there and figured that it was Alex, the owner.  As I got to the kitchen, a man in underwear and a t-shirt backed quickly into Alex's room (it's off the kitchen).   I think he had a friend staying the night and I surprised him--oops!  He came out (dressed) while I was eating and got his phone charger.  He seemed nervous or embarrassed--I just smiled and tried not to laugh!

Last night I made a list of things that I hadn't seen yet and wanted to, then figured out how to string them together.  So I bought a subway day pass and began.  I started out going to King's Cross station to see and get a picture of Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter).  It was nothing special.  When I looked it up later,  there is a place with a sign and a trolley halfway through the wall, but I missed that.  Maybe I'll have time tomorrow to look for that.

Here are platforms 9 and 10.

Next stop, Camden Town market.  All I can say is disappointing.  Mostly full of shirts and sweatshirts.  So I walked around a bit.  Found a small convenience store and asked for cough lozenges.  The man (whose first language is not English) pointed to the Hall's, so I figured that was close enough.

Back on the train up to the northernmost point, Primrose Hill near the Chalk Farm station on the Northern line.  My phone still didn't get a signal (it hadn't all day), so luckily there was a sign pointing which way to go from the station.  I walked past Eton school which is a well known boys prep school.  Eventually, I came to a road that said Primrose Hill Street and knew that must be where I should turn.  Primrose Hill is a park just north of Regent's Park and had a high vantage point for a great view of London.  I climbed up and took a few photos.

Walking up to the top of the hill

(The fences appear to be some sort of landscaping plan)

This was on the edge of Primrose Hill Park--maybe a head gardener's cottage?

Then, I wanted to go back to the Chalk Farm station because it had beautiful art deco green tile all over.  But the idea of walking down through Regent's park sounded nice, even though I was tired.  Connecting to nature helps all of us and lifts our spirits.  So, I did.  First walked through Primrose, then Regent's.  Regent's park is huge.  Really  huge.  So it was a long walk, but it did lift my spirits.  At the bottom of the park was Queen Mary's garden--very pretty.  Also, a small island accessed by a bridge with bridges to walk on paths around it.

Leading to Regent's Park--Primrose Bridge

A statue of a jaguar (?)--probably related to the London Zoo I had just passed by.

A statue of a small child and chairs.

I'm guessing this has some cultural or literary reference that I'm not familiar with.

Buds--a sure sign of spring!

Ducks, swans, and geese

One area of Queen Mary's garden.

A fountain in the garden

The story of the garden.  When I read about the shrubberies I have to admit that I giggled and you know
what movie I was thinking about, don't you?

The island

Leaving the park

By this time, I was really tired and my muscles were sore, so I came back to my station.  I still didn't have a signal for my phone (but others around me were talking on theirs) so I restarted my phone and finally got one!  I finished off my milk and cereal this morning, so I needed to find a store.  There was one past my place, so I headed off.  I noticed a small little shop along the way and wow--it was a tiny grocery store.  So I got my cereal, milk, and two rolls of toilet paper.  The owner had left parts of three rolls, but had used one of them for blowing my nose with my cold, so I figured that I should replace them.

Many neighborhoods have maps like this showing what is within 5 minutes walking and what is within 15 minutes walking.  Very helpful

I had also stopped at Victoria Station earlier to go to the Hamilton theater and see if they still had tickets left for tonight's show, but they weren't letting anyone in.  I looked it up online and there were no tickets available.  Very sad.  So I went back to my place and spent some time online and found a free Harry Potter walking tour tomorrow, so I booked it.  They have a lot of free walking tours where you tip the guide a few pounds and they make money that way (some of the money goes to the tour company, however).   Later, I went out to find somewhere for dinner.  Nothing sounded appetizing, so I stepped into one but the hostess said that they had no tables available.  The two currenly unoccupied where already spoken for.  I felt very sad, but after walking up and down the street three times, as well as some other streets nearby, I found a pizza place.  It was an interesting pizza with two different kinds of pepperoni, a kind of cheese in glops that I had never heard of and a spicy honey over the top.  It was interesting and tasted pretty good.  Then I walked back here to check out facebook and write this blog.  The weather today was cloudy with only a few drops as I was walking through the park.  It must've rained harder near London Bridge though, because the pavement was really wet and there were puddles there when I came out of the Underground.   A few times during my walk there were huge thunderous booms that seemed to shake the ground.  It echoed everywhere.  So tomorrow I have the Harry Potter walking tour in the morning, then a short break before my neighborhood walking tour in the afternoon.