camden, london...a day of canal walks, the market, and charming hampstead

A lovely day in Camden Borough

...starting with a walk along Regent's Canal

Three weeks ago I spent a lovely London day exploring a part of the city which I didn't know...Camden Borough. I started the morning off with a walk along Regent's Canal, beginning just around the corner from Pancras Station, and heading towards Camden Town.

Along the narrow canal, I loved checking out the many whimsical houseboats, viewing the interesting waterfront architecture, and snapping the cute tunnel paths.

The Regent's Canal walk gets leafier and more colourful the closer you get to Camden Town and the market area.

The street art on tunnel underpasses, shopfronts, and stairwells is fascinating along the walk. Politically motivated (aka. Banksy) or social commentary or just plain artful, I loved the graffiti and took tons of photos.

Banksy's Missile Girl

Since moving to the Rhine over nine years ago, I have become obsessed with boat names. Some are inspiring, beautiful or just funny, and I often wonder about why the family aboard gave that vessel her name. Here, along the canal, it was no different. Promise. Hope. Molly Anna. Little Drifter. Some are homes, some are cafes, and one is even a bookstore.

I met up with a friend along the canal for a delicious Venezualan lunch at Arepas. We ate scrumptious Pernil Arepas and Cachapas (braised pork shoulder, avocado, pico de gallo, spicy mayo, onions and fresh herbs), the first a corn flour cake, the second a pancake version...both excellent, good value and so filling.

Arepas

Hampstead Town

An 8-minute ride on the Northern line from Camden Town and you're in Hampstead Town. This charming community boasts London's deepest underground platform (58 metres), gorgeous lanes and alleyways in every direction, and a very impressive list of affluence and celebrity making their home here.

I decided to check out some little antique shops along the high street. Similar to visiting garage sales or flea markets, antique shops show a side of local life that you don't normally get to see as a tourist. Antique stores hold essentially the junk of the wealthy, those items they don't want or have a use for anymore. I like that...and so I picked up an old tea cup and saucer, probably once owned by a super rich person :) When in Rome...

I took A Lady in London's advice and walked her favourite lanes in Hampstead Town: Church Row, Holly Walk, Flask Walk and Mansfield Place. Perfect recommendation. These take you on a beautiful tour of the residential area, up hills and past quaint (but surely expensive) cottages, boutique hotels and hidden pubs.

Church Row

Hampstead became fashionable in the 1700's due to its healing waters, causing upper class families to flock here. Over the following centuries, many in the intellectual, literary and art communities also made their homes in Hampstead, even though the town couldn't keep up its spa reputation against places like Bath and Cheltenham.

Holly Walk

At the top of Holly Walk you will find nice views over Hampstead's rooftops. You can't see the Heath, but it's close. Hampstead Heath is London's largest ancient parkland, according to Wikipedia, and has a great London lookout point from Parliament Hill.

I always photograph tiles like the one below, which hang above a house's front entrance. You will find these all over Europe, and as far as I understand it, they date back to the middle ages before there were house numbers, to let visitors know who the home's inhabitants were. In this case, did a polo player once live here...although polo came to London at a much later date.

Richard Burton, Aldous Huxley, John Keats, Sigmund Freud, John Constable and George Michael all made Hampstead their home, because of its proximity to London City, but its exclusive village feel. Fun fact, Hampstead has more millionaires than any other area in the UK. Whoa.

Flask Walk

I took my time meandering through the gorgeous lanes, taking photos of the interesting homes here, and enjoying a rare sunny January morning.

Mansfield Place

Then back toward High Street, where cute boutiques, cafes and pubs abound. It's the perfect place for a rest stop...a flat white or a pint, or afternoon tea.

And, this lady above one shop intrigued me. I don't know what she signifies, but the imagination could run wild about what stories this building might be able to tell...if only it could talk.

Then back to the centre of town and the tube station. By early afternoon I was ready to go back to Camden Town to explore the market and have a drink.

Camden Town & Camden Lock Market

Walking from the tube station toward Camden Lock Market feels light years away from the small-town vibe of Hampstead just 10 minutes away. It felt I had landed in 1980's New York or present day Berlin. Cool people of all walks of life are here to be seen. It is colourful and, anything but boring.

The market has a complicated history, and has changed and redefined itself many times over the past few hundred years. Its current state, since 1974 and called Camden Lock Market, boasts 28 million visitors a year! Although the actual Camden lock is not in use anymore, there are 3 dual locks on the canal which runs along the market area.

Camden Market includes the Stables Market, which is a covered series of large 'rooms' which once housed the Pickfords Stables and Horse Hospital dating back to the 1700's. The horses at Pickfords were responsible for pulling the barges up the canals, until the invention of the automobile changed the company into a van and lorry business.

Outside of the market I walked along Chalk Farm Road, looking for a bakery that was on my list to visit and taking many a pic along the way.

Soon enough, I found Luminary Bakery's Chalk Farm location. The staff were lovely, the atmosphere lively, and my scone incredibly good. I really like the story and continued mission of Luminary, which provides training and a supportive workplace for women needing a bit of sunshine in their life. I will be going back there whenever I'm in the city.

Luminary Bakery

And, to close, here is my number 1 tip for new visitors to London: skip the hop on-hop off buses and get an Oyster card and ride the real red double-decker buses! They cost a fraction and get you everywhere you want to go with the exact same view as the tourist buses. And, even if you're not quite sure where you're going, just get on and take in the views of this great city. That's what I do!

If you go:

-first of all, check out A Lady in London's blog for tips, ideas, great photos and guides to everything London. That's what I do. www.aladyinlondon.com

-get an Oyster Card for the tube and bus network. It's so easy to use, easy to load and way cheaper than any other mode of transportation. You'll get the hang of the tube in no time!

-like any city which is popular with tourists, try to find spots for tea and pub lunches and great eats where the locals go. London is expensive at any time so going where the locals go will ensure that you're getting the most for your buck (pound).

bath, somerset...5 must-sees and a mistress named popjoy

The honey-coloured houses welcomed me first, as I left the train station and began the walk through town to the inn we were going to be staying in for one night in Bath.

An easy 1.5 hour train ride, this day trip from London should be on your list, not just because it's a pretty town, but because it is full of the most interesting history going way, way back.

Pubs are ubiquitous here, and with names like ‘The Raven’, The Griffin’, 'Home of the best pie!', 'Local Ales!' they offer the most wonderful invitations to stay and rest for a while, which we happily took advantage of every 2 hours or so.

A large plaque caught my attention in the centre of town, dedicated to Beau Nash. With a mistress named Juliana Popjoy how can anything go wrong? The so-called ‘King of Bath’, Nash and his mistress, Miss Popjoy (could there be a better name for a mistress?), ruled the town in the late 1700’s. 

The organized “entertainments” and made Bath the ‘it’ place to be, not just for its healing waters, but for fashion and fun. It is said that Miss Popjoy’s ghost occasionally pops by (pardon the pun) to check if guests of Bath are being entertained to the degree she and Beau Nash would have approved of, over 200 years before.

So, in order that you are as entertained as I was on my recent visit (no mistresses involved), here are the five must-sees in Bath, along with a little story: 

Royal Crescent

The Royal Crescent is where I experienced Jane Austen. I could absolutely imagine her walking the lawns overlooking Bath, and the hilly countryside, as she contemplated her next book or wrote her sister letters. The Crescent was never her address in Bath, when she began spending time here in the late 18th century. Her family didn’t have the means for such a home (few do), but the energy here feels romantic and storybook...just like Jane. 
 

A fascinating architectural feature of the Royal Crescent is the uniform, terraced housing which one sees from the front, which completely betrays the chaos and unevenness from the back. This design is apparently common in Bath and bears the whimsical name of “Queen Anne fronts and Mary-Anne backs”.

Add to this the fact that the sloping lawns in front of the crescent are cut by a ha-ha, and Bath could really be straight out of a novel (not surprising that it’s the setting for so many). A ha-ha is an actual term for the ditch, which on one side is a steep slope of lawn, betraying the other side which is a stone wall. The effect is one of a continuous green slope. Ha-ha! 

The Circus

Much quieter than, say, Piccadilly Circus, this circus on the north-end of Bath, easily walkable from the centre of town, is a residential square...but yet a circle...and surely not for your normal resident. A completely round circle of elegant townhouses, with 3 entrances into in, the circus was designed in the mid-1700’s by John Wood, to mimic Stonehenge.

The Royal Baths

Be prepared to spend quite a bit of time here if you are inspired by the stories of the past, like way in the past (AD 43). The 3D holographs which appear in the many excavated rooms of the bath describe in detail the normal routines of the Romans, and the importance of these communal places... to catch-up with each other, to visit and share experiences, to rest and rejuvenate together, through hot, cold and healing waters.

At the end of the self-guided tour you can taste the earthy, mineral water for yourself and ponder the worth which was placed upon it over the past hundreds, if not, thousands of years. There was even a Royal Mineral Water Hospital!

Bath Abbey

Founded in the 7th century, the Bath Abbey is home to thousands of people who were buried under the cathedral's stone floor, with over 800 stone tiles dedicated to prominent city members hundreds of years old. The current abbey, which sits on the remains of a Norman cathedral, has been undergoing gentle excavations and reconstruction in order to stabilize the ground beneath, which has deteriorated due to the crumbling bones of upwards of 6000 people. Walking over the engraved stone floor, I felt like a trespasser, treading upon the gravestones of long-gone souls.

Pulteney Bridge across the River Avon

I saved the best for last, in my opinion. As you walk across the bridge it feels like you're walking along a cute lane, with quaint storefronts and a tourist or two (huh!). But, peeking around the side and looking over the waist-high stone wall, you see a construction so beautiful, with the greenest of waters flowing beneath its rounded arches. And, then there is the River Avon...which brings every book-lover's heart to swoon.

Now, back to Miss Popjoy, because I just can't resist. Her paramour, Beau Nash, was a dandy. This is a word that we should absolutely bring back into colloquial language. Do you know what the definition of a 'dandy' is? I didn't! But, oh does it make me laugh. 

A dandy, historically, is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self. (wikipedia)

Mostly, a dandy was a man pretending to be more than he was...an impersonator of the upper classes while actually coming from a much lower class. Essentially, a betrayer...a ha-ha.

By all accounts, Beau Nash was the Kanye West of his time. A fashion innovator, a host of great balls and parties, a bundle of chaos mixing himself up in politics, nobility and the normal folk, and crossing boundaries and pushing limits. Nash was bewondered by many, achieving a high-flying life of women and influence, leaving his last mistress so distraught upon his death that she lived most of her remaining years in a hollowed-out tree. Now, that is what I call leaving a mark on someone! Alas, Miss Popjoy was joyful no longer.

Either along the cute lanes, among the imposing historical sights, or inside the cozy pubs, a trip to Bath will no doubt leave you entertained, and possibly even inspired.

If you go:

- For tickets from London Paddington to Bath Spa - 1.5 hour trip one-way www.trainline.com

- Bath is very walkable, with all the sites easily reachable on foot. You don't really need a hop-on, hop-off bus or tour. Stop for a pinto or pie in any of the great pubs whenever you need a refreshment

- If you stay the night, I highly recommend The Griffin Inn...so cozy, with excellent pub fare, run by super-nice people www.thegriffinbath.co.uk

- Where to eat, The Raven has the best pies (IMO) having won awards for them! And it has the coolest history. Ale and pie...what could be better! www.theravenofbath.co.uk

- We skipped going into the thermal bath in Bath, because let's face it, it's super expensive (36 Pounds for hours, on a weekday). So, we toured the Roman Baths instead (18 Pounds, on a weekday), and were not disappointed! It was an incredible experience, so interesting and pretty. So, if you have to pick one or the other, go with the original :) www.romanbaths.co.uk