Monday, June 04, 2007

Didn't find Heathcliff on the Heath

The weather finally changed for the better this weekend (horray!!) I attended a friend's piratey birthday party at a bar next to the Golden Hinde ship on the Thames. We all dressed up to varying degrees, had a good assortment of noise-making plastic cutlasses, and said "Arrrrrgh" quite a lot. It was quite a photographed event (and not just by those of us attending the party), and garnered a fair bit of attention from the 5-9 year-old crowd passing by.

Sunday Hank and I decided that spending the day outside in the sun would be good, so we took off for the posh neighborhood of Hampstead, specifically the Hampstead Heath. It's a massive open space with lots of ponds (some for swimming, some for ducks), hills, great views over London, and cool shady paths through the trees. I forget how little I get to hear birds singing in London. Our flat is quiet enough from traffic noise, but it's definitely lacking in nature.

While we were walking, I thought we took a path that was essentially circular, that would take us back to where we'd started. However, I really just managed to take us in a straight line to the opposite side of the 2-mile wide park, meaning we had to walk the 2 miles back to our starting place as the bus we needed doesn't run on Sundays. So, I've learned two things: 1) I will not survive long in the wilderness if I'm actually expected to get somewhere to be rescued, and 2) London transportation on Sundays and holidays is a pain in the arse.

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