Hampstead Heath

Gorgeous Hampstead Heath snapped by me

MY FAVOURITE. AND EVERYONE ELSE'S

I love Hampstead Heath. There, I said it. 

I know I'm supposed to be more original than that but I can't help it. The Heath is so big and diverse that you can never get bored exploring it It has everything: woodlands, fields, a bog, a pergola, hills, bathing ponds, regular ponds, playgrounds, Tennis courts, running tracks and last but not least the manor Kenwood House.

So far I've been too absorbed  with the outdoors to visit Kenwood House properly but it operates a nice café  and I'm told it hosts English Heritage Picnic Concerts in summer. Don't know if I feel the need to watch Tom Jones, Gypsy Kings or Liza Minelli in the park but live music in parks are usually a great combination.

Kenwood House, www.wikipedia.org

I don't just come for Parliament Hill and the Hampstead landscapes. The delightful (some might say 'cutesy, but whatever') Hampstead and Belsize villages also draw me back on a regular basis as well as the fact that you can always find a place to wander undisturbed, picnic or in my case get completely lost on the Heath.

Clearing so pretty I had to run to straight to it after taking this photo

 

Hampstead branches... trying to catch the red flowers.

View of London from Parliament Hill on a cloudy day - hopefully, you're encouraged to go see what it looks like up close.

Apparently there is a Parliament Hill Café in the area next to the Heath's bandstand. I have yet to visit it. 

       

Abandoned coffees (and a scone!) at the Burgh House, local history museum and café in Hampstead Village

 POLISHED NORTHERN NEIGHBOURHOODS

I usually have coffee around Hampstead High Street before going up to Parliament Hill or the opposite direction up Heath Street to the Whitestone Pond. 


Both walks are lovely and they take you past some really pretty houses before getting to the park. As corny as it is, I really enjoy the polished look and feel of the Hampstead neighbourhood. I've had some trouble catching its charm in photos though...

Sign and police officer (?) in Downtown Hampstead

Blue and Red cars in Downtown Hampstead

Hampstead side street 

KEATS, ORWELL AND FREUD

On your way to Parliament Hill you might stop by Keats House on Keats Grove. The poet lived here from 1818 to 1820 and reportedly wrote 'Ode to a Nightingale' under the plum tree in the garden. 


Fittingly, the next-door neighbour is the Heath Public Library.

On my way to Keats House...

  

Not Keats's House but I had an urge to go in and find out whose... 

   
At the very top of Parliament Hill you'll find this plaque:

www.wikipedia.org

... on this house, no. 77:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25127834@N07/3153411847/

This house is actually still a private home but like Keats House you can visit the Freud Museum at no. 20 Marsefield Gardens nearby. I've only been past once and unfortunately the museum was closed. It looks like this:

The Freud Museum in Hampstead, www.wikipedia.org 

PONDS AND WOODLANDS

This is just to try to give different impressions of the Heath, what I've photographed here is mainly open woodland at different occasions:

Around Parliament Hill

Up Heath Street to Whitestone Pond...

And into the forest...

Sun in the treetop

Not my best tree-shot 

Even the public restrooms look like something out of a German folktale.

The ladies in Hampstead Heath

The Three Graces on the Heath, Helena is photographing.

My next quest will be to find the 'secret' Pergola, it looks absolutely beautiful. It could take a while, though, since maps are rare on the Heath.... However, wandering aimlessly in parks is what this blog is all about so I'll embrace the challenge. I honestly feel more comfortable 'losing myself' in a park than any other place in London. See the 'about section' if you still fancy a map.

I'll be sure to let you know when I have some personal shots of the pergola, but until then these will have to do: 

Pergola: A raised, covered walkway, www.wikipedia.org

Another shot of the Thomas Hayton Mawson Pergola at Hampstead Heath, www.rawd.edu.net 

FIND OUT ABOUT...

Closest tube: Hampstead, Hampstead Heath

Most of Hampstead Heath is accessible 24 hours a day, see any variations under visitor information. 

Hampstead Heath

Hampstead Heath Visitor Information and Map

Kenwood House

Kenwood House Concerts

Burgh House

Keats House

Freud Museum 

Victoria Tower Gardens & Westminster Abbey Gardens Teaser

Houses of Parliament from Victoria Tower Gardens, www.urban75.org 

PRETTY GREEN IN WESTMINSTER

Trying to catch the same gorgeous view of the Victoria Tower... :

...without changing the angle at all:

Victoria Tower Gardens is a pretty little green patch next to Houses of Parliament where you can rest mind and body when out and about in central London. It makes a nice green change from the many famous tourist attractions.

Here are said famous tourist attractions at an earlier and more grey occasion, photographed  out of a bus window and from a duck bus, respectively. Decent photos and none of the claustrophobia that usually comes with a visit to Parliament Square.

Big Ben

Houses of Parliament from the Thames

RIVER + TOWER VIEWS

The side-view of The Victoria Tower from the Gardens is striking; especially when the trees are in bloom. You won’t get it to yourself, but there is certainly less crowded here than in front of the Westminster Palace.

The Lambeth Bridge from a distance...

The Gardens are located on the north bank of the Thames, so grab one of the benches facing the river and watch the traffic go past as you enjoy an ice cream or a cold drink, which is exactly what I did...

Getting closer you can make out the characteristically red paint scheme

Had I been smarter, I would have turned left after snapping the above and photographed the green Westminster Bridge as a contrast. 

The colour of each bridge corresponds to the red leather seats in the House of Lords and the green leather seats in the House of Commons. Three guesses which of the two Houses is closest to Lambeth Bridge... 

AN ECLECTIC (?) MIX OF MONUMENTS

What Victoria Tower Gardens lacks in size it makes up for in monuments - a rather odd mix of them if you ask me. 

• The Buxton Memorial: A Gothic drinking fountain commemorating the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834

The colourful Buxton Memorial

A statue of the sufragette Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928)

Mrs. Pankhurst, founding sufragette, www.newworldencyclopedia.org 

One of the twelve existing casts of Rodin's bronze sculpture The Burghers of Calais

The Burghers of Calais, www.wikipedia.org

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO...

Westminster Abbey, www.goeuroupe.about.com

While in Westminster I wanted to visit the the three small Abbey gardens as they are supposed to be an overlooked garden gem. However, someone's wedding or rather all of the live media caravans blocked my way in. I plan to go post-William&Kate. Stay tuned. 

FIND OUT ABOUT....

Closest tube: Westminster, Pimlico


Victoria Tower Gardens is open to the public from 6 am until nightfall.


Victoria Tower Gardens 


Westminster Abbey Gardens 


Westminster Abbey

Houses of Parliament

The Buxton Memorial


Emmeline Pankhurst


Auguste Rodin

Regent's Park

Regent's Park by night, view from my window. Unfortunately, the day shot didn't work.

REGENT'S PARK = MY GARDEN

I am fortunate enough to have lived literally right next to Regent's Park since September 2010 so naturally I have spent quite a lot of time there. I almost feel like part of it is mine alone. 


Sometimes I go there to have my morning coffee or lunch by the pond - just because I can! And the inevitable 'squirrels attack' follows. I have yet to actually feed them. They are so unnaturally tame that they scare me but I'm probably the only person in all of London who doesn't find it endearing.    

Obviously a v. tame grey squirrel

I mainly get excited about the British squirrels because they are grey and exotic compared to their red cousins in Denmark... 

A duck in the Boating Lake in Regent's Park

There is a small coffee and ice cream shop right by the playground close to the York Gate Entrance. It's called the Cow and The Coffee Bean and is just one of many places you can have snacks or drinks while at the park, but if I were you I would make my own sandwiches or buy them (+ coffee) from Pret A Manger near Great Portland Street Tube Station or on Marylebone High Street. 

QUEEN MARY'S GARDEN

My favorite part of Regent's Park is the Queen Mary Rose Garden in the park's Inner Cirlcle. It's true that for a good part of the year it doesn't really seem like much but when the roses are in bloom it is the most beautiful and fragrant place in the whole park. 

The gates to Queen Mary's Gardens, http://canadian-turtle.livejournal.com/281126.html

Visits to Queen Mary's Gardens were a must for me during several family vacations in London when I was younger and one definitely on the to-do-list again when my family comes to see me in May.

The red roses could be Ingrid Bergmans, but then that is just one out of hundreds of possibilities... www.wikipedia.org

As you might have guessed from my previous posts I'm no expert on plants... maybe that's also why I become overly fascinated by the glamourous and sometimes just plain odd names given to different rose species. Whenever I pass 'Ingrid Bergman', 'A Shropshire Lad' or 'Moonstruck' I can't help imagining some intricate backstory to each name... 

REGENT'S CANAL AND LONDON ZOO

On the northern edge of Regen't Park flows the Regent's Canal, running through the London Zoo on its way to the Limehouse Basin Lock in East London where the canal joins the River Thames.

There are three possible boat trips on the Regent's Canal between Camden Lock and the canal area Little Venice in Maida Vale. Check the 'about'-section to find out more. 


The canal tour I want to take makes a stop at London Zoo before going to Paddington and Little Venice.  

FIND OUT ABOUT...

Closest Tube: Regent's Park, Great Portland Street and Baker Street


Regent's Park is open from 5 am all year round. Check the website for exact closing times as they vary according to season. 

Regent's Park


Regent's Canal


London Zoo

Kensington Gardens & Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace, http://benbloomfield.wordpress.com/


A LONDON CLASSIC

Granted; Kensington Gardens is hardly a secret, but it seemed like a good choice especially considering my first visit was in February and I needed a park that had a fabulous indoor attraction in case the weather was bad. Kensington Palace seemed like a great 'Plan B' 

It turned out that I would need that indoor alternative but first I wandered up the Boardwalk, tempted to rent a Barclay’s bike at one of the park gates and take a pleasant, not to mention safe ride on the smooth pathways.


Others had obviously had the same idea and despite the grey and windy conditions joggers, dog-walkers and the rest of the usual park crowd were out and about.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/niznoz/5262214253/

It is no surprise that these beautiful, landscaped grounds, which used to be private gardens for the royals at Kensington Palace, are still drawing people in and has been since they were first opened to the public during the reign of George II in the 17th century. Together with Hyde Park and St. James’s Park, Kensington Gardens form a great ‘green lung’ in central London.

Sky Mirror, 2006 in Kensington Gardens, http://www.zimbio.com

ANISH KAPOOR AT THE SERPENTINE GALLERY

I didn't know about the Serpentine Gallery inside the park, but they had an outdoor Anish Kapoor exhibition on while I was there called 'Turning the World Upside Down'.


It consisted of four different sculptures set up around the Gardens, all mirroring the surroundings - turning them upside down. One of them was the above 'Sky Mirror' which stood by the Long Water where I also found the famous statue of Peter Pan. 

My personal favourite from the exhibition was the 'C-Curve', 2007:

C-Curve, 2007 in Kensington Gardens, http://speculumspectator.aurora-publishing.co.uk

A better photo of 'C-Cuve', 2007 in Brighton, 2009: 

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/our-work/anish-kapoor-sculpture-trail/

Apparently, the Serpentine Gallery often use the gardens as an outdoor exhibition space for their many contemporary works, which makes for a great and very different art experience compared to any of the more classical museums in the Kensington area.

On a practical note, making use of the outdoors also means that you are never as crammed together as you sometimes are for indoor exhibitions. 

I should add that I have recently visited the V&A to see 'The Cult of Beauty' exhibition as well as 'Sexual Nature' at the magnificent National History Museum. Both are of course well-worth a visit, crowd or no crowd. 

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to see all of Kapoor's works. I blame the winter weather and the fact that they were quite spread out - just look at the map: 

http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2010/03/anish_kapoor.html

So I went into the Enchanted Palace instead... 

http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/Palacehighlights/EnchantedPalaceintroduction.aspx

AN ENCHANTING PALACE

Fortunately for me the crowds had stayed at home and I had this truly amazing, theatrical installation art exhibition almost to myself. Ahh, the luxury of being able to visit museums on week days!     

My ticket

The exhibition was set up as a treasure hunt for the seven former royal residents of Kensington Palace, who each had a room dedicated to them.

Map of The Enchanted Palace

The Map came with a Dance Card, where you could note down the seven princesses:

My dance card - all empty...

SOPHIE IN WONDERLAND

The rooms all had huge installation pieces that were often both beautiful and scary - many reflecting the fact that often the life of queens and princesses were lonely and difficult, even if they belonged to a pampered elite.


For example, one room was dimly lid with green and blue tones and had a giant bed like the one from 'The Princess and The Pea' surrounded by a handful of huge string-puppets. 

Room of A Sleeping Princess, www.cratycrafty.tv

In each room a poem, written for the princess in question, revealing her circumstances, were read out aloud and the installation pieces included furniture, clothes, toys and other personal effects. Often you were even allowed to touch certain parts of the art work.

William Tempest's Dress for Dreaming About Freedom, http://www.fashion-stylist.net/blog/2010/03/30/the-enchanted-palace-at-night/ 

All around the palace you could find 'Explainers' aka kind and knowledgable museum staff willing to answer questions and tell you more about Kensington Palace and the people who lived there. These 'explainers' were a great alternative to the usual audio guides, which would surely have ruined the enchanted feel and the multi-media experience of the exhibition.


I can't in any way do The Enchanted Palace justice so I have included two short interviews with core participants, which I hope will inspire you to visit Kensington Palace and experience the pieces for yourself.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Interview #1
Sue Hill from the theatre company WILDWORKS. The company specialises in place-specific theatre and helped create the exhibit:

Interview #2
The designer duo Aminaka Wilmont talk about the Dress of Tears they executed for The Room of Royal Sorrows, dedicated to Queen Mary of Modena: 

Fun fact: Note Markus Wilmont's authentic Danish accent... Lovely.  


I spent several hours enjoying every bit of the exhibit and I will gladly go back for a second visit.

TEA AT THE ORANGERY

Same goes for the exquisite and extremely white Orangery.

The Orangery, http://www.dailymail.co.uk

And from the outside in February:

Someone holding hands, on their way to the Orangery 

I know Afternoon Teas don't have to be that costly (these days they come costlier) but you only live once, so I went and had a lovely, but not spectacular, banana/walnut cake and green tea with lemon in the pale tea room to end the day in style. The Orangery also does lunch and dinner, but I didn't have room... 

It tasted much better than it looks 

FIND OUT ABOUT...

Closest Tube: High Street Kensington, Bayswater

Kensington Gardens is open the public from 6 am to nightfall.

Kensington Gardens


Kensington Palace


Serpentine Gallery


Anish Kapoor