Abraham.O is a street artist from El Salvador. He paints realistic portraits in greyscale, and he often adds touches of colour to the artwork, such as an item of clothing or background. The subjects in the portraits are interesting in appearance or tell some story about themselves. I captured the following street art by AbrahamO. over the past couple of years. He paints in East London, Penge, and Leake Street.
I spent a lovely sunny July afternoon at the Oxford Botanic Garden when I visited a couple of weeks ago. The garden, founded in 1621, is the oldest botanic garden in Britain and on of the world's oldest. There are nearly 5 acres of gardens to enjoy. The garden contains walled gardens, glasshouses, and different bedding, and it lies next to the river. I had a lovely day to explore it.
There are different themed beds. Some of the themed beds are plants with medicinal properties. Other beds contain plants from different regions. There are also the glass houses, which you'll see my photographs of later.
The garden was frequently visited by Lewis Carroll, and it inspired "Alices Adventures in Wonderland". There is a Cheshire cat sculpture in one of the trees, which was from the book. Another visitor to the gardens was J.R.R. Tolkien. He spent a lot of time under a tree, which was similar to his Ents characters in the "The Lord of the Rings" series; the tree was later removed. One of the benches is also popularized in "His Dark Materials" novel by Philip Pullman. I actually sat for awhile at this very bench and saw the sculpture, but I had no idea at the time.
I first went to explore the different glasshouses, and each of them featured something different. One was a lilly house. One was palms. Another one contained cacti. Another one was rainforest, and another was Japanese. Each had a walkway between.
Outside, the gardens had beautiful flowers.
I walked through the bedded area next.
Another area had vegetables and fruit trees.
The gardens themselves go to the edge of the river. There were always punters going by.
The botanic gardens were beautiful, and I had the perfect day to see them in the height of the summer.
Street artist Inkie is from Bristol, and he is one of the UK's most popular and known street artists. He started his street art career in the 1980s. The artist now lives in London and has worked for popular brands, such as Xbox and SEGA and has created numerous prints and illustrations for the fashion industry. Seeing one of his murals is always a pleasure, and there is an illustrative quality to the artist's work. The below wall I discovered in Camden.
Other artwork by Inkie on this blog can be seen below:
Leicester Street Art
Worcester Big Parade Elephant Trail
Bristol Street Art Round-up 2018
Bristol Upfest 2018
Minerva's Owls Sculpture Trail in Bath
Street Art Tour of Birmingham
Bristol Upfest 2015
Whitecross Street Party 2014
British Phone Boxes BTArtbox
While in Oxford earlier this month, I had a tour of the Oxford Castle and Prison. I also stayed at the former prison on this site, which is now a hotel. Keep coming back to see my write-up of my stay in the hotel prison. However, Oxford Castle and Prison allows visitors to tour the castle (by guided tour only) and prison where we learned about some of the people who made their prison their home, their crimes, and saw their living arrangements. The castle building itself functioned as the prison, but there was also a Norman motte and bailey style castle at the location before the newer building. Only the hillside and a dungeon area now exists.
The existing building of the castle and prison dates from the 18th century, and next to it is a small mound, which is the site of the Norman castle building, dating from the mid-1000s. It was originally surrounded by a moat.
I first went to check out the site of the former castle, which is up the mound. The walkway winds up the hillside.
There was an old water trough or something built into the side of the wall on the way up and also some views over the new castle and prison buildings.
At the top of the castle is the location marked out of where the former keep or tower was located.
Just beneath this level bit and built into the side is a doorway to a vaulted well chamber, but it was too dark to see inside.
There was a little bit of a view from the top of the mound.
Afterwards, I started the tour of the newer 18th century castle and prison buildings.
The tours of the building is only via guided tour, so visitors must book a time and make sure that they are at the location at that time. The tour guides wear traditional dress, and the tour guide that I had was dressed as a prisoner.
We went into the building and were told about the punishments, such as the prisoners being forced to turn a heavy wheel and hard labour. We were told about this part of the building used as a castle too and shown a room where there were too many prisoners of the Civil War that they had to always stand up and could not lie down. After that, we climbed the stairs to the top of the tower to see the views.
We saw views of the original location of the Norman castle, which is now a mound and saw some of the spires of Oxford.
Afterwards, we headed down into the crypt. Some of the walls were part of an older building on the site. There was a dark tunnel to this location where there are some columns. Apparently, it is haunted.
Afterwards, we were shown the prison rooms and told of some of the crimes. A few different rooms were set up for us to view. In those days, a prisoner had to pay for their own boarding. However, there were different classes of prisoner, and the wealthier prisoners had other benefits and could live in modest comfort.
A basic prison room would have looked like the below with a simple bed and a bucket to use the toilet in.
Later on, more than one prisoner would be confined to a room.
For those who had a little bit of money, they were allowed personal possessions for their comfort.
At the end of the tour are a couple of rooms to learn more about some of the crimes and the prisoners. We were told about the youngest ever prisoner, which was a young girl aged 7 who was playing with an unattended pram on the street and accused of stealing it. Other young people were also jailed, and some of the common crimes included stealing food or money so that their families could eat. There is also a display of some of the mugshots of the criminals as these were documented when photography came into use. The prisoners could be put into hard labour, and sometimes it was pointless activities.
At the end of last week, I stayed in Oxford to enjoy a short break in the city as I saw that the weather was expected to be nice. I decided to go on an afternoon tea cruise as I love afternoon tea, and I had a wonderful sunny and hot day for the afternoon tea. The afternoon tea cruise started at The Folly pub, which is a pub along the river. I got there early in order to have a couple of drinks in the nice weather.
The Folly is located at one of the bridges in Oxford, and different types of cruise tours depart here.
I had the spiced mango margarita, which was delicious. This is my go-to cocktail if it is on the menu. I actually ended up having two of these.
I also had a gin and tonic, as this cocktail is refreshing on a hot day. I waited to board my boat.
I wanted plain and vegetarian sandwiches, but unfortunately they made everything vegan. I prefer non-vegan sweets. I had avocado sandwiches and tomato sandwiches, and I received two scones and a shortbread jam biscuit, a type of bread, and an apricot crumble. I didn't like the sweets at all as they tasted dry and I wished they had followed what I had asked for. I am just really picky with sandwiches as I don't like mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, nor milk-based sauces and only eat chicken meat.
We disembarked the landing point, and we went up the river. We were told interesting facts along the way.
At first, we were on our way to a secluded natural area where we were told about the birds and wildlife, and it was a quiet area.
Before that, we passed a lot of canal boats and the boat houses that are used by the university students for their rowing.
After that, we got to the secluded natural bit of the river. We saw other people out making the most of the nice weather in smaller boats.
We also passed by some street art of a dragon.
We were told about some of the boats on the river, and how some of them were abandoned but anyone could attempt to salvage it and make it water-tight again, and they would own it. We then changed direction to another route to Iffley Lock.
At Iffley Lock, we saw some stone steps with a bull's head. This is the official starting point for the punting races.
At Iffley Lock, we had a look at the lock.
Some of us went into Isis Farmhouse pub. The pub is run on generators and does not have electricity as it is on its own little island between the river. Items have to be brought up to the pub via canal boat.
The decor was very vintage.
I ordered some cocktails and then went back onto the boat.
We then started our journey back to Oxford. We were told more information about the city and the buildings.
There's another pub opposite The Folly pub, and I snapped some photographs from the bridge on my way out.
I enjoyed the afternoon tea cruise of Oxford and couldn't have asked for better weather.
Street artist Otto Schade (also known as osch) recently painted on Brick Lane and in Camden this year. The new street art features the artist's "ribbon" style. The heart below was photographed on Brick Lane on a wall that the artist always updates.
The other two pieces are in Camden and on adjoining walls. The first features two parrots facing each other, which makes a heart shape.
The second piece is a tiger.
I've previously posted about Otto Schade's street art in the following posts:
Otto Schade - Bull in a China Shop and Other
Otto Schade - The Viaduct and Other
Otto Schade on Farnshaw Street - Eva's Green Apple
New Snoopy Street Art and Other Street Art by Otto Schade in East London
Otto Schade Paints Donna Summer on "Bull In A China Shop" in Shoreditch and Others
Otto Schade Murals on Kingsland Road
Long Street - Otto Schade, CodeFC, The Krah
Street Art by Otto Schade
Otto Schade Paints "The Lady Don't Protest Enough" Mural on Bateman's Row
Otto Schade "Jack the Ripper 2040" Street Art
Otto Schade 'The Believers' and 'WTF'
'Bull in a China Shop', 'Osch-car' and 'Flies Around Sh*t'
Otto Schade 'Peace and Love on the Streets'
Street Artist Otto Schade Paints Southampton 'Zany Zebra' for Charity (and other work)
Street Art Round-up: Spring & Summer 2015
Otto Schade's New Street Art (Meerkats, Portraits, & More) in East London
New Street Art from Horror Crew, Swoon, Otto Schade, HIN, and others
Street Art: Otto Schade
Street artist Falko One's street art subject is the elephant. He had been to London and painted a series of elephants on walls called "The Herd". His work is always unique because he uses the existing environment and details of the architecture to create his work. The Camden art is no exception. The mural is on a wall behind a fence, so it appears that the elephant is inside a cage.
Other posts on this blog that contain Falko One's elephants street art work can be seen here:
Street Art by Falko One in Penge
Falko One 'The Herd' of Elephants
Jay Kaes and Falko One Murals on Old Street
I was finally able to go abroad to have a relaxing holiday in early June. I headed to Fuertaventura in the Canary Islands and stayed at the Barcelo Mar Adults Only resort. Barcelo Mar resort accepts families and children, but there is a part of the resort which is only open to adults. It has its own private area with swimming pool and bar. I stayed all inclusive as there was only the option to do half board or all inclusive. This also meant that I did not need to pay for any drinks as these were included.
I enjoyed the cocktails and hanging around the pool. A couple of the days were actually quite cold, and there is always a breeze on the island.
I stayed in one of the small one-room villas, and this also had its own terrace and sun lounger, but I wanted to spend most of the time at the pool where I could easily order drinks. Below was the inside of my room. The first several days, there was a very bad sewer smell in the villa that would not be moved. I kept complaining, and they only fixed it on my final day. That was the only awful thing.
The little villas at this area are photographed below.
The bar area was open, and I really enjoyed it. I would sit here to read and drink a cocktail or eat some food. There was also a selection of books at the back, and I brought my own and also read some of these books.
Ice cream was also included, and this could also be obtained around the different areas of the resort.
The resort is located at Caleta de Fuste beach and town.
It also has its own colony of resident cats, which are well-cared for and loved by the community. The cats are fed and cared for.
I had the option of different buffets or going to a couple of restaurants that were included and prepared cooked food. There was also one restaurant where you could visit and have a selection menu, and this was included as a one-time deal. I preferred the restaurants where I could order my own food. Thre were a couple of times that I could not find anything I really wanted to eat, and I did not care for the breakfast much either.
There was also the spa option, and this was included. I spent a day here. Also, different workshops were offered. I only got to do one workshop, and that was the pottery one. There were also daily water workshops in the pool at the Adults Only area.
I also got som small bites of food at the villa; maybe this was for my birthday. They let me take a bottle of bubbles back to the villa.
On the last evening, I played the crazy golf. It was free. Unfortunately, the large groups in front of me meant that I was not able to complete it.
I also saw some fish street art right outside the resort where the shops and bars are.
I had a really nice time, and I want to go back.
In early June, I visited the island of Fuertaventura. I had two days of excursions, and you may have read the northern island excursion where I visited the dunes, El Cotillo, and some of the coastal areas on the north (Fuertaventura north excursion). In this post, I cover the second excursion, which was to the south part of the island.
The day started out with some drives toward the mountains. There were four of us on the journey, which was driven in a small van.
The first stop was a goat farm where cheese is produced. There were many goats here inside the building and outside another building were expecting mothers. There were many baby goats here, and we saw about the cheese making process.
We also got to try some goat milk cheese and the different sauces that they put on boiled potatoes in Fuertaventura. We also tried some honey rum.
After that stop, we continued on our way and through the mountains.
The next stop was in the mountains at Mirador de Guise y Ayose, which is not far from the town of Betancuria. The views were amazing. Further up the mountain is an observatory. Betancuria was founded by the Normans at the start of the 1400s.
The viewpoint also contains two sculptures. These statues mark the historic rule of the island. Guise and Ayose were two rules, and they had split the island rule into two kingdoms back at the start of the 1400s. The statues tower over this viewpoint.
The views were really amazing.
After the quick stop, we descended into the valley and through the town of Betancuria. I would have liked to have stopped, but we didn't.
Further along the road, we made another stop at Mirador Las Penitas. As soon as we disembarked from the van, we discovered the chipmunks. These were coming right up to us and demanding hand-outs. I thought that they would be climbing on me, so I kept my distance as they seem to be brave. We were told that these are an invasive species.
The views were amazing.
After we completed the quick stop to admire the views, we headed back on the road.
We made a stop at Ajuy, which I thought deserved its own post. You can read about my visit to Ajuy here. We then continued the journey after Ajuy.
The final stop was to Costa Calma. We spent some time on the beach and admired the beautiful clear waters. This is a resort popular with German tourists, we were told. It is popular for wind surfing activites. The beach was very wide and pleasant.
The water was an amazing colour.
After this stop, we headed back to the resort.
A couple of friends and I headed to Millers Tap in Uxbridge for their bottomless brunch last weekend. Millers Tap is a sports bar. We'd planned to do a different bottomless brunch, but one of my friends had some bad news so we booked this one in temporarily and we will do the official one later on in the year. We decided to give this one a try, and it's a unique one because it offers bottomless Prosecco, spritz cocktails, beer, cocktails, mocktails, spirits, and soft drinks.
So, we tried a range of drinks. The food options included burgers, pizzas, or breakfast items. I had opted for the breakfast items whilst both friends opted for pizza. I was not in the mood for pizza. However, they informed that they had run out of breakfasts, so pizza was the only option. The pizza was not great.
Service was also very slow, so after informing that we had waited over half an hour and didn't receive any drinks, we had an extension. I was not so keen on the Prosecco either, and the drinks were not very alcoholic at all.
The bottomless brunch included one of the mains and the bottomless drinks for two hours. However, there was not too much alcohol in the drinks, but we did not have a late night. Still, we had a good day out.
When I visited Fuertaventura in June, I had a couple of days of excursions around the island. This excursion was completed on my second excursion day to visit the south part of the island. The most interesting place that I visited was to Ajuy, a small town on the western coast and in the middle of the island. The town is famous for its large cave by the sea and fossils dating five million years. The rock here was formed by volcanic activity, which is common of the geography throughout the island. I really enjoyed Ajuy because of the nice walk to the cave and the nice views.
Upon approaching the path to the cave, the tour group and I were greeted by these wild chipmunks and a couple of mountain goats looking for handouts. The chipmunks are an invasive species and the people of Fuertaventura do not like them. They are very brave and run up to people.
The first part of th walk overlooked the town of Ajuy itslf, which isn't that large. There were people fishing, and I saw a boy showing off his proud catch of a large fish.
The photograph below was taken of the port, just to the right of the above photograph of the town.
The tour group and I continued on the walk along the path to the cave. It was a nice walk with wonderful views.
The ocean spans all the way. The next land mass, the Americas, would be hundreds of miles away. This made me a little anxious to think about.
Actually, the path here contained a couple of disused chimneys and a port. It was a limekiln, and also other goods were sent on their way here. The disused limekilns can be seen from the path. There is a ramp here down to the sea. A tunnel in the cave attempted to be dug to the village to serve this port, but it was never completed.
There are stairs down into the cave, and I went down to explore. It is a massive area.
Outside of the cave, it opens into a bay with beautiful water. There are sheer drops, and the water was very rough and choppy in the bay due to all of the rocks. I do not like heights nor water, so I stayed well back.
After hanging around the cave for some time, I headed back to the town along the path.
The tour guide had us stop at a small restaurant here. I only had some ice cream so that I could enjoy the all-inclusive back at the resort. On the beach, the name of the town was displayed. All of the towns in Fuertaventura have their names in large letters on the seafront.
Also, I noticed the colour of the sand. It was almost black in colour and not the standard brown or golden colour.
Out of all of the places I visited on the excursion, my favourite was this little town and its nice views on the walk to the cave.
At last, I managed to finally have a break and relax for the first time in years. I stayed for a few days in Fuertaventura in the Canary Islands over my birthday in June. The weather was pleasant although it was a little cool a couple of the days, and there is always a wind on the island. During my visit, I had two excursion days. The first one was to see the north of the island and some of the tourist sites. I enjoyed getting away from the resort and seeing a bit more of the island.
From the resort at Caleta de Fuste, I was driven to Corralejo where other guests were picked up. I admired the scenery, which changes frequently on the island. The island is mostly dry rock with some mountains. A lot of the mountains are or were volcanos. The colour of the rock varies depending on location. The first stop was to the sand dunes at Corralejo. I was let out to walk over the sand dunes and told that they change frequently and no two days are the same. I ended up walking over the highest dune all the way down to the beach.
The car journey showed impressive scenery and mountains or volcanos. We also went through some of the towns.
The next stop was to the Aloe Vera farm at La Oliva. We had a discussion about the aloe vera plants and then we were shown products made from the plant. Aloe Vera is good for the skin, so we tried a variety of products and even a drink made from the plant. As I had been in the sun and am not used to it, I bought some to add moisture back into my skin. I ended up buying some products and my own plant.
Behind the shop was a small trail we could visit, but it did not go anywhere.
The next stop was near El Cotillo, and it is known as Playa de los Charcos. The beach has rock formations made from volcanic rock.
There were little crabs that hid in the rocks.
We were shown some of the "popcorn" stones that can be found on some of the beaches.
Th final stop was El Cotillo. We were given some free time to explore, so I visited some shops, had a drink, and wandered around the town and down to the dock.
After exploring the town, I had a few moments to check out the beach here. The beach was quite popular.
Also, I came across this skeleton of a sea creature on display
That concludes this post from June.
I recently received the monthly subscription box for Craft Gin Club. Th Craft Gin Club subscription box contains a full-sized bottle of gin, mixers, snacks, and a magazine with gin cocktail and food recipes for ideas to pair with the gin or that use gin. In this post, I cover the July 2024 subscription box. This month's full bottle of gin is from the Mediterranean, and it is Cafe del Mar Gin from Ibiza in Spain. The gin has tones of orange and rose, and I enjoyed this one. Keep reading below to see the snacks and mixers.
Fentimans Pink Grapefruit tonic: I received two bottles of this tonic, and this pairs perfectly with this gin for the gin and tonic.
Disaronno Velvet Batida: I received a sample of this cream liqueur with an almond and vanilla taste and velvety texture. This was paired with another one of the mixers I received, the Vita Coco Original Coconut Water. This creates a wonderful and refreshing cocktail, which I enjoyed.
Vita Coco Original Coconut Water: This coconut water contains vitamins and nutrients, and it pairs well with gin and other liqueurs. I used it with the above product, and I also made another cocktail recipe, which tasted absolutely wonderful too and very refreshing with strawberries and gin.
Tony's Chocolonely Litt' Bits Triple Chocolate Mix: These little bits of chocolate are dark, milk, and white flavours and pair nicely with a gin cocktail. The brand hopes to abolish slavery in the chocolate trade.
Dodoni Jalepeno Chili Feta Cheese Thins: These snacks are made using Greek Feta and natural ingredients, such as chili. These tasted delicious.
Daymer Bay Pineapple Juice: This mixer contains pure pineapple juice from the ripest pineapples. This is perfect to create cocktails, and this is used for the monthly cocktail recipe.
Rustle Snacks "The Sweet Pepper" Paprika Chips: The snacks in this monthly box were a complete hit with me, and this was another delicious find. The snacks are made with the best potatoes and paprika, and they pair well with gin and tonic.
Nix & Kix Mango Ginger: This drink is 100% natural with no bad ingredients, and it is essentially a flavoured water with mango and ginger flavours.
This month, I also received a Pina Colada cocktail syrup to make the monthly cocktail, and I received grapfruit slices to use for the gin and tonic combination.
This box was a winner for me as I liked the sound of the snacks and other products, and I enjoyed the gin as well. This is one of the few boxes where I've enjoyed all the products.
Toward the end of June, I met with one of my neighours. We decided to visit Denham Village just down the road and have an early-weekday lunch. The sun was out, and the weather was very warm and one of the first warm days of the year after many months of cold and rain. We opted to visit the Green Man pub as the others were closed. Denham Village is located in Buckinghamshire a few miles from Uxbridge and Hillingdon and therefore just outside of London.
It is a picturesque village, and it was listed in the Domesday Book. The village has been used for filming, and a film studio was set up here. Denham is actually not too far from Pinewood Studios in Ickenham, so there are a number of notable people in the film industry who have previously made the village their home.
We had lunch at Green Man, and I ordered the chicken schnitzel, which came with broccoli and mashed potatoes. The food was delicious, but there was so much of it.
After lunch, we had a wander around the village.
Below is the former home of actor John Mills (his daughter is Hayley Mills who I recognise from my younger years as she was advertised a lot in older 1960s and 1970s Disney films). It is known as Hill House.
The buildings are street is very picturesque with roses and beautiful flowers and bunting, and there is a duck pond and a little stream that winds its way through before going underneath a wall of a large walled estate in Denham.
After the short walk through the village, we walked through the grounds of the church, which had a pathway lined with roses. This lead to the cemetary. One of the first graves we saw intrigued us. This grave was the marker for seven members of the Marshall family who were all murdered together in 1870 in their home. The parents were in their mid-30s, and they were murdered with their young family (girls) and the husband's sister and mother. All had been butchered with a hammer and axe. The murderer was hung the next day at Aylesbury. The murder happened a couple of days before the sister's wedding. The murderer was known to them and had done some work for them, but he had done a bad job and they refused to pay him. He was caught with items he stole from the family after the murder.
Another grave in the cemetary is that of the actor John Mills and his wife.
Denham Village is a lovely spot for a walk, and it's a picturesque place to enjoy.
Earlier this year, I purchased a wine selection box from Good Pair Days. Good Pair Days enables subscribers to receive a box of different wines based on their cost and type preferences. Users can specify the regions or grapes to avoid and enhance their taste by choosing wines that suit their tastes. The subscription takes a note of the customer's wine preferences and then recommends bottles of wine. Customers can customise this by selecting the number of bottles to receive, the type of wine (sparkling, red, or white), and the maximum cost per bottle of wine. Additionally, the wines are recommended, and customers can opt to receive another recommendation or choose their own. I decided to try, and my first box contained a picnic basket with two steel wine glasses. I opted to receive four bottles of wine.
I've been enjoying the different wines, although they vary a lot. I have really enjoyed a couple of them, and a couple others were not so nice. Each wine comes with its own card to inform the "wine tasting" notes as well as how to best pair the wine. Each card comes with a recipe of an item to prepare to have with the wine too.
On the first order, I received a free gift of a cool box with cheese board built in, an insulated wine bottle, and two wine glasses. This is perfect for a picnic.
I always like to try new things as it is a little bit of a surprise to do so.
Pastel de Nata are the name of the Portuguese custard tarts. These are delicious pastries with a flaky crust and filled with delicious creamy vanilla custard. One of my neighbours brought some of them over to me as she brought food items from Spain and Portugal during the Eurovision Song Contest this year, and I enjoyed them. When I was in London recently, I decided to buy one of these custard tarts from Pastel de Nata shop near Covent Garden. I have walked past this shop so many times, but this was the first time that I stopped in and bought one of the tarts.
The tart was invented in the 18th century, and it became a popular dessert in the UK in the 1980s when a Portuguese cafe opened in London. The Pastel de Nata cafe, which sells these, is located in several areas in London and further afield. There are also other places where these can be purchased, but I went to the Pastel de Nata cafe.
They also sell doughnuts, which I also tried, but I did not rate this nearly as well. However, the pastel de nata tarts are spot on. I dread to think how many calories one of these has, but these are so delicious and are defintiely worth the calories.
A new sculpture trail has come to London. The sculptures are of London icons, such as a telephone box, black taxi cab, tea pot, and more. There are eleven sculptures in total, but I was unable to photograph one of them (Royal Guard) because it was located inside a museum which was shut when I visited the sculptures one day after work. The sculpture trail was recently launched, and the sculptures will be in place until August 4th.
The sculpture trail was designd by art group Artiq, and its purpose is to celebrate the king's state birthday in mid-June and bring more people to these areas of London (Whitehall and Westminster) where the sculptures are located. It also celebrates the 200 year anniversary of the National Gallery (Trafalgar Square). The sculptures also have a bar code on the plinth, which connects to auqumented reality (AR) technology to show the sculpture with historical imagery in "Journey Through Time". The images coincide with the locations.
The corgi sculpture next to the stopwatch comes from a previous sculpture trail: London's Corgi Trail Celebrating the Platinum Jubilee.
Th sculptures include the following: London double decker bus, teapot, phone box, crown, pocket watch, post box, boots, taxi, top hat, teacup, and Royal Guard. The only thing I can think that they are missing is an umbrella as London is known for having a lot of rain, and it's had a large amount this year.
This post follows on from my last one when I visited Kenwood House in Hampstead. After visiting Kenwood House, which is located at the edge of the sprawling Hampstead Heath, I made my way through the heath and ended up in Hampstead where I enjoyed a nice pub lunch. I had the day off as it was one of the first warm days of the year, and I went to Kenwood House in the morning. To see my post with photographs from there, see Sunny June Day at Kenwood House.
I started at the northeast corner of Hampstead Heath (basically from Highgate), where there was a nice view of London's buildings in the distance from the hill.
After visiting Kenwood House, I navigated through the wooded area and parkland, which was not that interesting really. It was a nice walk in the sunshine, though, and it does take awhile to walk through Hampstead Heath to Hampstead.
I seemed to be following someone else's path and captured the sam dog twice in my photographs. I would say that most people walking had a dog.
There was a pond, which was dark and overgrown.
I got to Hampstead Heath on Well Street, and I saw the blue plaque mentioning painter John Constable. This painter has artwork shown in Kenwood House, and he lived in Hampstead for awhile.
I also saw the well for which the street is named.
I went to the Wells Tavern, and I had a chilli margarita cocktail and chicken main.
The chicken was served with slices of potatoes and vegetables with a puree sauce. The food was very delicious.
As the day was very warm, I had a strawberry pavlova with a lot of cream and meringue.
I enjoyed my visit to the Wells Tavern and had a good meal, and with Hampstead Heath being nearby, it's perfect for a walk combined with lunch or dinner.
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