London: Parkland Walk and Green Lanes - plus Bulgarian Crepes, Yogurt Dip and Turkish Gözleme!

This morning we had a big brunch around 11:30 AM. Nancy and Chris had gone on a 10 mile run; Anna and I slept late.

Then we headed off to Highgate to go on a walk. We took the Parkland Walk, which used to be a railroad, but now is a partially paved, flat trail that goes for 3 miles uninterrupted (since it goes on bridges or tunnels when passing roads). It was a really nice trail - very green, with some nice views of the city and various landmarks. If I lived anywhere near it, it would be great for running too. I'm really excited that London has things like this - so much green and so many outdoor things to do when the weather is nice.

Here are some pictures from the trail.






We ended up in Finsbury Park, where we came across a baseball game! It was a real team, with uniforms and everything! I was surprised to see it. We continued walking onto Green Lanes, which is a commercial area with a big Turkish population. Our first stop, however, was at a Bulgarian restaurant where we had a takeout order of crepes filled with chicken, and some delicious cucumber yogurt dip. They were very good, and the lady at the restaurant was very nice. I'll have to go back! About 1 block later, we stopped at a Turkish restaurant that had gözleme, which are also crepe-like and filled with different things. We had two made w/ spinach, very fresh. They were similar to Afghan bolani, like the ones sold in San Francisco. This place seemed great too, and I'll come back to try their Turkish pizza and kebabs.


I took a picture of peppers at a Turkish market.

We continued walking all the way to Turnpike Lane - living this far up wouldn't be ideal, but it's on the Picadilly Line which has direct trains to my school....so it's a possibility. The idea of good Turkish food all the time is tempting.

We took the tube from Turnpike Lane down to Finsbury Park tube stop, walked around there for a bit, then took a bus part way home.

After resting a bit, I went out again to meet up with Caroline and Laurence, friends of Becca and Kyle (and other Tufts folks). They are both really nice - they live a bit far out in South London, but they had lots of good advice for me. I am looking forward to seeing them next fall as well - hopefully they'll have some BBQs in their big garden. We had some food and some drinks, and then I came home to check in to my flight for tomorrow. I checked in right on time, and it appears that I got emergency exit seats for the flight to Hong Kong. If so, that will be great.

Anna and I unpacked my package that I shipped to London directly from San Francisco. I'm happy to report that Kelly Clarkson made it safely!


I'm all up to date now...tomorrow I leave for China!

London: East London Adventures

On Friday night, I met up with Chris from the airplane for some drinks. It was a lot of fun, and I'll definitely hang out with him again once I'm back in the UK in September. It's nice to make an actual friend on a plane ride - I don't think this has ever happened to me before.

On Saturday I slept a bit late, and when I woke up Nancy and Chris had just returned from the farmer's market at Hampstead Heath. I decided to go for a run, but thinking ahead, I slipped a 5 pound note in my pocket. I ended up running to the Heath, probably only 1.5 miles total, before I ended up at the farmer's market myself. It was quite nice - lots of baked goods, sausages, cheeses - and a fair amount of veggies too considering it's only early May. I met one vendor selling different salsas, and asked him about his chili peppers. It turns out that he grows them here in the UK and in the summer and fall he'll be selling fresh ones at his stand. So that's good to know, since many chilies are hard to find here. I ended up buying a chocolate croissant to eat as I walked home - it was beautiful out, but I couldn't help missing going with Jess to the Alemany Farmer's market in San Francisco. There were no empanadas at this one, or pupusas, or meyer lemons. But I did see kale!

I didn't get out of the house till nearly 2 PM, but when I did I ventured off to East London to scope out different neighborhoods. Perhaps I'll end up living out there, so it was good to see them. I first went to Shoreditch, then walked from there up through Hoxton Market. Next I took a bus over to Broadway Market, then through London Fields. London Fields reminded me of Dolores Park - lots of young people picnicking and drinking beer. Broadway Market was nice too - lots of stalls selling vegetables, sandwiches, cheeses, juice, etc. I bought a nice goat cheese and grilled veggie sandwich.

Next up I took a bus down to Bethnal Green (which was a very nice area - I'd definitely live near here), then over all the way to Roman Road, then down to Bow Church. Then I took another bus back toward Stephney Green and Whitechapel before getting back on the tube again. I liked some areas on this journey more than others, but overall the trip was well worth it - I got to see yet another side of London.

After this I met up with Adam again and we went to Regent's Park to throw frisbee. It was still really nice out, so this was fun. After throwing frisbee for a while, we went to look at the ducks before I took the bus back to the Barker's house.

The Barker's and I went out for Indian food at a place in Highgate - not anything too special, but even un-special Indian food here is better than most places in the US. Then we went to see a movie called "In the Loop" which is a new movie. Here's a link to the preview.

I thought it was okay, but I got kind of lost in the end. Overall, it was like watching the West Wing, but with British people too, and lots of swearing. I think Nancy, Chris and Anna felt about the same. But it had the girl from "My Girl" in it, so that was cool.

Here are some pictures I took - unfortunately I barely took any on my East London journey.


Canal near Broadway Market


Frisbee players on London Fields