Sunday, 17 Oct 2010: Stewart and I made butternut squash risotto for lunch. We had the leftover soup and a rocket salad garnished with parmesan first, and an absolutely mindblowing sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

After all that, I was ready for a nap, but Stewart insisted that, as per the recipe's instructions, we should have a walk afterwards. He was right, and it was too nice of a day to sit indoors. So off we went.


View from the front door of the vicarage:

Jed looks contemplative; probably wondering how he can get some more of that toffee pudding.

We are headed to Hampstead Heath; here's some of the things we saw along the way.

Most of the walk was through residential areas. There are tree-lined gravel paths that are little shortcuts between the roads. The foliage was pretty incredible- lots of old trees, walls covered in ivy, ferns, and moss, and a huge thicket of holly.

The Heath itself is like a gigantic park - we came through a parking lot and went down the path through an open, grassy area. Jed was already excited, and kept saying "Outside! Outside!"

After we crossed the grass, we went into the trees. There was very little undergrowth - either the Heath is well-maintained by an army of gardeners, or the huge old trees cut off enough light to prevent smaller stuff from growing too quickly. There was a carpet of leaves everywhere, just right for scuffing.

Along the paths are various invitations to stop and enjoy the views. I saw easily a dozen benches.

Jed was thrilled by the quantity of dogs out for a walk with their owners. I don't know if the leash laws are different here or what, but we only saw one person even carrying a leash, and all the dogs were running free. They seemed well-behaved, except for one German Shepherd who was so excited by two boys playing soccer...errr, FOOTBALL... that he ran over and stole their ball, and then came bounding back across the grass to his owners. The dog seemed pretty pleased with himself, despite their scolding.

Stewart kept insisting that there was a really good view of London around here somewhere, so we wandered around the paths, saw some ducks in the old swimming ponds - there were three ponds; one for men, one for women, and one for 'mixed bathing'. The only swimmers there were ducks, a cygnet, and a few seagulls.

After the ponds, we went up the hill, through the trees, and emerged on a beautiful hilltop. There were lots of people milling around, a guy flying a kite, more benches, and a pretty spectacular view:

Jed was way more excited about the kite than the view of London. He kept shouting "Oh! Oh! Up! Up!"

As the sun went down, the temperature started to drop, and we decided to head off before Jed fell asleep in the stroller. Stewart suggested a stop off at the pub for a fortifying beverage before the half-hour trek back home. We had pints of Guinness at The Freemason's Arms. Here's the view from their patio.

 

Then we headed back to Stewart and Jonathan's place. I made a note to bring a scarf on the next evening trip out; I could have done with just a little more insulation.