Thursday, April 01, 2010

Hampstead Walk

This was probably my favorite walk that we did on our trip, it was very interesting to roam through the neighborhoods in Hampstead, a very beautiful part of London. We ate lunch in Primrose Hill before we headed over to Hampstead. We sat next to a nice older English couple who struck up a conversation with us (since we were sitting literally inches away from them), and that was nice to talk with some of the locals. It was also nice to hear they thought we were on our honeymoon. :)

At the beginning of the walk we walked to Hampstead Heath (if any of you were fans of Notting Hill, this was the where she shot her period film and where Hugh Grant's character listened in on her dialogue). We climbed up Parliament Hill where you can see one of the best views of London from afar.

Parliament Hill



The duck pond in Hampstead Heath, backed by some nice flats



The other view from Parliament Hill, notice the rain clouds looming, it did rain that day, and luckily we came prepared with our umbrellas



While roaming the streets around Hampstead we came upon this, I love that you can find little bits of history down any old street in London



The door of the parish lock-up, one of only a few left in London



The street we found the parish lock up on, I just thought it was charming



The High Street in Hampstead was very modern with great shopping, including this awesome candy shop that we spent way too much in. Their Sticky Toffee filled chocolates were well worth it. And thanks to the random person walking out of the shop right when we took the picture.



Other interests in Hampstead: the house where John Keat's lived and fell deeply in love with his neighbor, Fanny Brawne, tragically he developed tuberculosis and died at age 25, Fanny Brawne never married.

Daphne du Maurier's house she grew up in, wrote "Rebecca", and let me tell you, she was certainly well-to-do.

A house owned by Admiral Barton, who was known to shoot cannons from the roof to celebrate royal birthdays, a tradition that later led author P L Travers to base Admiral Boom's house in "Mary Poppins" on the property.

2 comments:

James said...

This was a fun walk...I wanted to go to the top of Admiral Barton's house and fire a cannon. Alas, we had to settle for some expensive chocolate. Next time we should follow the book's instructions and take the muddy trail up to Parliament Hill instead of the groomed trail, don't you think?

Barb/Mom/Grandma Barbie said...

It looks beautiful. I hope we can go together one day. These pictures make me want to go back and see places other than the tourist spots. See, I do read your blog.