London – David Kotz

Chelsea Flower Show

The world’s most famous flower show.

One of London’s most incredible annual events is the Chelsea Flower Show, which is hosted within walking distance of our flat. Several hundred thousand people visit this incredible, indoor-outdoor show over five days. Outdoors, elite gardeners install elaborate bespoke gardens with flowers, greenery, water features, stone walls, furniture, and more… that showcase remarkable skill and creativity. Indoors, under a massive tent, gardeners and florists show off their most exquisite flowers and designs. Competition is fierce for the top awards.

Thames Path – Chelsea to Westminster

34th consecutive weekend hike

Although the weather has been beautiful this weekend, I had little time for hiking. So, today I chose to walk a portion of the Thames Path. This long-distance path begins at the source of the Thames, in the Cotswolds, and follows the river downstream for 185 miles to Woolwich, London. (Regular readers may recall my brief visit to that downstream endpoint, at the famous Thames River Barrier, two months ago.) Today I began my walk in Chelsea, walked along the embankment until I reached the Parliament building, then turned back inland toward home.

Phoenix benches along the River Thames, London.

Hackney to Walthamstow

33rd consecutive weekend hiking!

Another weekend in London – another opportunity for hiking! Today was a lovely day – warm and sunny, with flowers blooming in the parks and dooryards. I was a bit short for time so I selected a hike on the northeast edge of London, from Hackney to Walthamstow at the end of the Tube’s Victoria line. Although most of the walk was along streets or paved bike trails, the scenery varied from residential areas, to pedestrian streets on market day, to the vast Victoria Park, to the locks and canal boats along a series of three canals, to the meadows and forests of Hackney Marsh and Walthamstow Marsh.

Broadway market in Hackney, east London.

Parliament – Westminster Palace

A tour inside the halls of Parliament, including the House of Lords, House of Commons, and Westminster Hall.

We live a short walk from Westminster Palace, the home of Parliament, so it we took advantage of the opportunity for a guided tour of these historic buildings. It is right across the street from Westminster Abbey, which we toured two weeks ago, and the Jewel Tower, which I explored a week ago. The palace, which now houses the government of the United Kingdom – including the House of Lords and the House of Commons – dates back more than 900 years and is one of the most significant buildings in London.

Statue of King Richard I (Richard the Lion-hearted) – Westminster Palace, London.

The Home of Cricket

Lord’s Cricket Ground

I’ve never seen a proper cricket match; I knew my year in London would not be complete without seeing cricket in action. Today I had the opportunity to tour Lord’s Cricket Ground, and to watch part of a T20-style match between the local cricket club and a team from the Isle of Jersey. “Lord’s is widely referred to as the ‘home of cricket’ and houses the world’s oldest sporting museum.” [Wikipedia]

The Jewel Tower

A historic 1360 King’s tower.

The thing about London is, well, one can be walking down the street and come across a 14th-century tower tucked in between modern buildings. I’d noted this historic building before, during one of my random perambulations in Westminster. Today, it was open for visitors, so I popped in. From behind, it had a lovely view across the street to Westminster palace, where the Victoria Tower appeared brilliant on this pretty spring day.

An ultrawide view of the Jewel Tower, with view of Victoria Tower of Westminster Palace, London.

Westminster Abbey

Not to be missed!

We live within walking distance of Westminster Abbey, just a few steps beyond the Parliament building and Big Ben in Elizabeth Tower. Although we’d visited once before – briefly, to hear an organ recital (amazing!) in December – we’d never had a chance to enter and really explore. So today we bought tickets and (for £10 extra) signed up for a tour guided by a Verger, one of the assistant clergy. Although the church was packed with tourists wandering around with headphones and audio tour guides, our little group of eight enjoyed a personal tour from Alex, a delightful man with an incredible knack for storytelling.

Wimbledon Park to Richmond Park

Another segment of the Capitol Ring trail.

Another weekend, another hike in the London area… (my 26th consecutive weekend of hiking!). Although the weather is beautiful today, my time was limited. So I took the Tube toward Wimbledon – nearly to the end of the line – and hopped off in Wimbledon Park. This pleasant (and I imagine quite affluent) suburb is the starting point for Segment 6 of the Capital Ring Walk, a 78-mile continuous walking route encircling the city of London. Today’s walk started, perhaps not surprisingly, in Wimbledon Park… filled with tennis courts.

Tennis courts in Wimbledon Park, outside London.

Capital Ring and Thames Path

24th consecutive weekend hike!

The forecast was for cloudy weather in London, so for this weekend’s hike I decided to explore the Capital Ring Walk. This 15-segment loop encircles London, covering 78 miles of terrain including forests, parks, and historic areas. Today I began at the beginning: Section 1: Woolwich Foot Tunnel to Falconwood. It was a fascinating mix of engineering, nature, and history.

The Capital Ring trail route through Charlton, London.

Hong Konger cooking

Cooking for a good cause.

We just spent a lovely evening at a Migrateful Cooking School, a London organization that offers cooking classes in a wide variety of cuisines from around the world. Migrateful is a non-profit organization with a wonderful mission – to “support migrants and refugees on their journey to integration by enabling them to teach cookery classes to the general public” [per their story]. Their classes are incredibly popular – we booked tonight’s class over a month ago, and it was one of the few with available slots. After our group of 14 made four interesting dishes, we sat down to enjoy a delicious dinner: