United Kingdom – David Kotz

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.

Hiking the valley of Eden

28th consecutive weekend hike!

I’m back in England and today gave me another opportunity to hike through the rural forests, pastures, and villages in the greater London area. For this week’s hike – my 28th consecutive weekend hiking – I chose a counter-clockwise loop hike in the valley of the River Eden, through the historic villages of Chiddingstone and Penshurst. Spring has arrived! and the landscape is about as different as different can be, compared to last weekend’s hike!

Following the public footpath through the pastureland near the Eden River.

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.

Dover Castle

A visit to Dover, its Castle, and the famous White Cliffs.

We decided to spend the day visiting Dover, a seaside city to the east along the English Channel. Famous for its chalky white cliffs, and for its history. Because it is the closest point in the United Kingdom to France and the continent, it has been strategically important for centuries. We spent most of our time at the Dover Castle atop the cliffs, where we toured the underground tunnels cut for military use in the 1790s and used extensively during World War II.

Dover Castle, within the broader castle complex.

Cissbury Ring hike

Climbing over 2,300-year-old earthworks with grand views of the sea.

The weather was beautifully clear for my 25th consecutive weekend of hiking, so I decided to head once again for the south coast and do a sort-of loop hike that would take me from a tiny coastal village, up to a hilltop capped by a Bronze-age earthworks that once served as a Saxon fortress; through the pastoral village of Clapham; to lunch in a 13th-century building housing a 17th-century pub, and over the highpoint at Cissbury Ring, a massive earthwork created in 300 BC and used (on and off) as a military asset for more than two thousand years. Read on!

Outer and inner earthworks of Cissbury Ring, atop a hill outside Findon.

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: