Well, what a lovely two days. My mini-me and I in London.
Salamanca and Toledo updates are on the way, but this last weekend I have been in the city of London spending some quality time with the baby of the family. It was a little treat for my birthday earlier in the month and his impending 21st birthday in a couple of weeks, when he officially becomes an adult and I have suggested he might want to start behaving like a grown up too!😂 That went down well!
It’s also the week when I officially became the most embarrassing parent on the planet without trying. But more on that in a minute.
The location of London was decided because the secondary purpose of the visit was to go to a concert, which my mini-me had volunteered to come to with me………….he loves his music, and he loves London. My oldest one was invited too, but he is on the final push to becoming a Master of Astrophysics, and being very studious, he was doing something which he tells me I won’t understand. Because despite having a degree, and sharing my intelligence genes with him, he thinks I am rather stupid.
Embarrassing moment number one occurred before I even got to London, and is a perfect example of how my brain is sometimes like cotton wool, especially so early on a Sunday morning. I’d only got as far as the train station in Doncaster. I was travelling on my own and meeting my youngest in London as he was travelling from University, which is the other side of the country to me. I just had time to go to the toilet before my train. I paid my 20 pence to get in the toilet, when to my horror, I got stuck in there. The turnstile would not open to let me out. Ten minutes to my train departure, and with no-one in sight, there was no option (wearing a little black mini skirt and tights might I add), than to push my cabin case under the turnstile while I attempted to hitch my skirt up to climb over it. By this time two young men had rounded the corner and I was met with a round of applause for my stealth like manoeuvre over the top of a turnstile in a mini skirt. Following closely behind them I spotted the janitor, so being the kind person I am, I thought I’d point out the issue, to prevent the same happening to any other unsuspecting female traveller. She smiled widely whilst explaining about the button that you should press, that releases the turnstile. But apparently, in my defence, I’m not the first and it happens quite regularly!
So, I made it to London, the city that I like to visit, but love to leave even more! No offence to anyone from London, it’s an amazing place and I love it for a short period. If you grow up there it will be the norm, but for me it is sensory overload, it exhausts me, and as much as I adore it, I feel myself relax as the train pulls out of Kings Cross on its way back to Yorkshire.
When you’ve been so many times you run out of places to visit, and my little companion was only with me for the Sunday as he had Uni on Monday so was leaving on an early train on Monday morning. I decided to take him to Camden Town as I thought it would be his sort of place. It’s a bit like Marmite, you love it or hate it. I knew he’d love it, liking his art, music, food and clothes. I’ll share the highlights of what we got up to and you can make your own mind up as to whether it’s your sort of place.
First challenge for me was the Underground. I hate it and have a fear of it. I have an issue being in a confined space, especially with lots of people, I start to feel really trapped. It’s an irrational fear I know, but with a rational source as it comes from being inside Hillsborough stadium on the 15th April 1989, at aged 18, when the infamous disaster occurred. I guess it’s something that will stay with me for ever but I’ve managed, with help, to overcome and face that fear. Whilst I don’t think I will ever be comfortable in those situations I can now face them and they don’t interfere with my life like they did when I could not even entertain the idea of being in an elevator or any confined space.
With the Underground in London there is that awful smell too, like a mechanical oily smell. It’s cold, damp, dirty, dimly lit and with all those old tiles looks like the inside of a badly maintained public toilet. I know for some people that’s the beauty and charisma of it but for me there’s nothing nice about it, but I made it from Kings Cross to Camden Town on the Underground after meeting my little bundle of joy!
So, why come to Camden? It’s a centre of counter culture and 100% sensory overload…………………..sights, sounds, smells, colour, street art, music, food. It’s a thriving, alternative area and very popular with the younger crowd. It’s an area where everyone fits in. You can’t really stand out in Camden because literally anything goes!
First stop was a little tour around to see some fantastic street art. It’s all over Camden and it is so colourful and well done. Being very creative he loved this.
Then we wandered down the very lively Camden High Street. There is music coming from all directions, all different genres. The smell of food from every corner of the world wafts along the pavement. Everywhere you look, the shop fronts are emblazoned in every colour of the rainbow.
It was time for food, and in Camden you are spoilt for choice as it is like one huge food market. There’s Buck Street Market, Hawley Wharf Market, Camden Lock Market and the Main Camden Street Food Market. We wandered around them all, deciding what to have. Buck Street is really interesting in its layout as it’s constructed out of colourful painted shipping containers all stacked on top of each other, with a central courtyard. Hawley Wharf is a little more upmarket and newer, down near the wharf.
As it was a sunny blue-sky day, we opted to go to Camden Lock Market and partake in the offerings from ‘Burger & Beyond’ whilst watching the canal boats bob around in the canal basin in the sunshine. According to ‘Time Out’ magazine, these are London’s best burgers and I’m not going to argue with that……………..YUM!
Then we walked around the vintage shops, because all students love a vintage clothes market! We weaved our way through all the high sided alleyways of old industrial canal side buildings and under the railway arches, which were covered by a ceiling of brightly coloured umbrellas……….very atmospheric.
Camden has been home to many famous people………..John Keats, Charles Dickens, George Bernard Shaw and J. B. Priestley, and still continues to be the home for many celebrities. We came across the statue to the Queen of Camden, Amy Winehouse. She was from nearby Enfield but moved to Camden in 2003 when she released her debut album. She felt at home there and remained there until her tragic death in 2011.
Camden is bordered by the very affluent area of Primrose Hill and its adjacent park, Regents Park. After the sensory overload of Camden we wandered over to Primrose Hill, passing through Chalcot Crescent, where the bright yellow house at number 32, is where Paddington Bear lived with the Brown family in Paddington 2.
More recently, residents of Primrose Hill area have included Noel Gallagher, Harry Styles, Chris Martin of Coldplay, model Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s quite a cool celebrity hangout. It is more like a village, and the high street is full of little independent shops: fruit & vegetable shops, book shops, cafes. It has a community feel which is quite rare in London. We took the opportunity to have a cake and coffee break before climbing up Primrose Hill.
Primrose Hill is just that, a hill in a lovely park. Climb to the top of it and you will be rewarded with a fantastic view of the city. You’ll be able to pick out the Shard, Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, St Pauls Cathedral and many more iconic London buildings.
Wander down the hill and cross the road and you are in Regents Park. This is one of the Royal Parks of London. It’s a huge expanse of green space in the middle of London, and after the overstimulation of Camden it’s a good place to wind down on a lovely sunny day. Highlights of the park for me on this bright and sunny day were the reflection of the clouds on the boating lake, the Spring cherry blossom, the very beautiful planting of Spring plants in the flower borders and my close encounter with a very friendly heron………yes it’s a real one and had no intention of flying off!
Time now for another little trip on the Underground to our accommodation in Hammersmith. We were staying in Hammersmith, at the Luma – Heeton Concept Hotel, because we had tickets for a concert at Hammersmith Apollo that night which was due to finish late so I wanted to stay close by. It’s a nice good value hotel and its concept is based on the old Osram lightbulb factory which dominated this area of London back in days gone by. There are little light bulb facts and inspirational quotes all around the hotel.
Time for a quick freshen up and change of clothes for the short 5 minute walk to Hammersmith Apollo, where we were going to see the Black Pumas. They are an American Grammy nominated soul band and this was one of only two gigs they were playing on the UK leg of their tour. Just one man with an outstanding vocal and song writing ability, another, who is an amazingly gifted guitarist/producer, and a backing band.
Hammersmith Apollo is an iconic building in its own right. It was originally built as a cinema and is a Grade II listed Art Deco building, opened in 1932. The sound is fantastic, and perfect for a concert like this. It’s hosted many famous names, many of whom have released live recordings of their concerts there, the acoustics are so good. I’d bought the tickets on Spotify presale and they were excellently positioned. It was great to see the concert was completely sold out too, so the atmosphere was electric. The only downside, like in most venues where they have a captive audience, were the drink prices. And how is it that when you make your children pay their way they stick to beer and when they know you are paying they switch to double vodka and cokes!😂His drinks cost me nearly as much as his concert ticket!
The concert was superb, and certainly ranks in my top few concerts ever………..and I’ve been to a lot! No fancy set, costumes or lights required. Just his voice and the sheer quality of the musicians in the band were all it took. His vocal register and the way he just hits each note bang in the middle is just astounding! They played all my favourites from the first and latest albums. The highlights for me were ‘Colours’, which had everyone on their feet singing together, his absolutely perfect rendition of ‘Angel’ which was sung with such emotion, and which one concert goer captured for you to enjoy on social media (link below). The lovely surprise of the evening was when we were all getting our coats on to leave, the band had left the stage, and the lead singer waltzed through the side door into the audience circle with just his guitar to stand amongst us, thank us for attending, and gave us all a tear jerking rendition of his cover of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’, while we all just stood around him, mouths open in amazement. All in all, it was an amazing concert, one of those you’ll remember for years to come.
I was rudely awaked the next morning by the offspring at 5:30am setting off for his train to Bristol, but after seeing him off I managed to catch another few hours sleep. My train home wasn’t until 7pm in the evening so I had one whole day to spend on my own in London……….what a hardship!😂
So what does a girl do when abandoned in London for the day……………..go shopping of course! I no longer have anyone clinging to my coat tails saying “Is this the last shop?”, “Can we go home now?”.
It was mainly window shopping because I’d spent all my money on Vodka hadn’t I! But it was lovely to wander around of my own accord. I spent most of the day around Carnaby Street, a lovely little shopping area which contains my favourite department store for window shopping………………Liberty! If you have never been, you have to go on your next trip to London.
The building itself was designed by Edwin Hall in the 1920’s, a period of Tudor revival. It is constructed from the timbers of two ancient ‘three-decker’ battle ships with more than 24,000 cubic feet of timber from The HMS Impregnable and the HMS Hindustan. It’s now a listed building and is stuffed full of the most gorgeous clothes, homewares, fabrics and other things that the majority of us would have to re-mortgage our homes to afford.
However, I did get myself a little treat. But it was such an ordeal and battle with myself. I’m not good a treating myself but I’m getting better. You spend so many years working hard and sacrificing things for the sake of everyone else that you get out of the habit of focusing on you. When your family are growing up your sole focus is making sure they have everything they need, sometimes making do yourself, or going without to put everyone else first.
Well, the internal battle began in the perfume department. I have an empty bottle of Hermes perfume at home. It’s been empty for 6 months and I’ve not got around to buying the replacement. I’m not a huge collector of perfume, I normally only have two bottles, a heavier going out perfume and a lighter daytime summer fragrance. It was my bottle of Hermes ‘Un Jardin en Méditerranée’ that was empty, my summer time perfume.
But I fancied a change, and spotted the perfumes of Santa Maria Novella in Liberty. The Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella was first established in Florence in 1221. In that year, Dominican friars founded the convent of Santa Maria Novella, and began to cultivate a garden whose products they used to create balms and elixirs. I first came across their perfumes on a visit to Italy. In the UK they have one store in London, and also re-sell through Liberty and Harrods and that is your only option.
I had a little spray in Liberty and fell in love with one of their scents called Rosa Novella. It is described as, ‘Evoking a lush garden in bloom as Spring awakens. This warm, seductive fragrance opens with sparkling notes of citrus, mingling with delicate white flowers and the sweetness of rose before the freshness reveals a harmony of green herbal tones that drift off into a smooth bed of moss and woods.’ Apparently, it’s based on the smell that greets you when you enter the garden of Santa Maria Novella in Florence in May. So very me, floating about in a dreamworld of woods and rose petals!🤭
But then I had the ‘should I, shouldn’t I’ debate. I sprayed a bit more and went for a wander, arguing with myself. The scent kept wafting up and eventually got the better of me, so I did the extravagant thing and spent my birthday money and bought myself a gift! I felt so guilty, but the lovely attendant on perfumes actually made me feel better. He said, “Do you want it gift wrapping, it’s free of charge?” To which I replied “Oh, no it’s ok, it’s only for me!” He then looked me straight in the eye and said, “Well that’s exactly the reason why it should be gift wrapped then!” and proceeded to get his purple ribbon and fancy paper out. He did make me think for a minute how sometimes we do put everyone else first and don’t appreciate ourselves. So, if you buy yourself a little gift my message would be don’t feel guilty about it and if they ask you if you want it gift wrapping say “Yes please, with the fanciest ribbon and paper you have!”
Just time for spot of late lunch and then a steady saunter through some of my favourite parts of London on my way to Kings Cross station. Past the quintessential British pub on the corner and through the very vibrant China Town.
Then through Covent Garden, which looks beautiful at any time of year, with a little pause to watch the street performers and read some poignant quotes which I liked a lot and I’ll share one below.
Then it was time to breath my sigh of relief and relaxation as I headed out of Kings Cross on my way back to God’s own County. Which I might add, is looking splendid, as Spring has finally sprung in my little happy place (my garden)!
I’ve just realised, I’ve not told you about my second embarrassing moment of the week. It is really quite bad, but has had everyone, except my boys of course, rolling with laughter. It involves my love/hate relationship with Strava and the use of my data, which I hasten to add I have now hidden from all leader boards! I have been completely unaware that my lovely little running route takes me through a small car park which unbeknown to me is used for something of a sexual nature which is not exactly legal. You’ll have to use your imagination as I’m not explaining it on here! But basically it has been named as such on a segment on Strava, and guess who almost became the ‘Local Strava Legend’ of such spot after repeatedly obtaining a PB on the one mile sprint to that segment……….yes me! So, the running route has been amended as I simply don’t know where it is safe to look anymore as I run through the car park and I’ve altered my data privacy to ensure no more unfortunately named awards and PB’s are pinned to my name, causing unnecessary distress and embarrassment for my children!!😂🤭
Today I have been keeping myself out of mischief by preparing for their impending arrival for the Easter weekend………….because you are never too old for one of Mum’s chocolate Rice Krispie buns with Easter mini eggs or Lemon Drizzle loaf. I figured if I stayed in and baked I could not get myself into anymore embarrassing situations. Two’s enough for one week!
