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Saturday, May 05, 2018
Another 7am morning. Jet lag was not going away without a struggle. It was also quite light out in the early morning. This didn't help the cause for getting enough sleep. I kept the thick curtain closed, but light crept in nevertheless.
This day, we Tubed over to Regent Park. The weather was nice and warm. The park offered flowers and meadows to photograph. It was just a wonderful afternoon for visiting parks.
Being ravished, we tried the park's restaurant--The Regent's Bar and Kitchen. Finding a seat took some time. It was a busy day for them and a weekend of course. What sounded good to me was fish and chips. (And a beer.)
What arrived was not good. It was the worst fish and chips I'd ever had. The batter was not fried enough and was a bit soggy. The fish was bland and didn't taste much like fish or anything else. It was just a mess of a meal. I would not make that mistake again and I recommend you don't either.
After Regent Park, we headed over to Primrose Hill--another place I'd never visited. The park was a long and slow climb up to a great vantage point. The skyline of London could be seen in the distance. I'd someday need to do the same thin at Hampstead Heath.
After the park, we wandered through small and quaint neighborhoods, heading north. We came upon a nice farmer's market going on, so we walked around there a bit taking in the great smells of the food. Time was growing short, so we hopped on a bus and made our way back tot he flat. I was able to catch a quick nap, though only for 30 minutes. With the jet lag and only being able to sleep about six hours a night, this rest was essential.
We dressed up nice and Tubed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. A long line made us nervous since the Evensong would surely start before we entered, yet get into line we did. It moved along and although we missed the first 10 minutes, we were able to enjoy most of it.
The audio was splendid and the voices were ... divine. It's a real treat to take part in and I would recommend it to others. And again, totally free.
Next, we boarded a bus and headed to Camden. We exited on a grittier part of London and walked thorough a few more challenged neighborhoods (bars on windows usually indicate this). Yet, still, London is a very safe city overall. True, some knife attacks have happened, but a dozen attacks in a city of nearly 9,000,000 people? Yeah, do the math. Safety isn't perfect there, but it's incredibly high.
In time, we reached the nicer part of Camden. The swing dance place wasn't open yet, so we headed to a restaurant down the street. It was Prezzo and it offered great service and food. I just had a salad, but some bread and beer went fine with that.
After dinner, we went back up the street to the swing dance festival. It was a big "Lindyfest" weekend and Ruth had wanted to attend. My swing dancing wasn't at that level, but I went along anyway. At 8pm, it opened but was nearly empty. There were more people around 9pm though still slow. We played a game of oversized Jenga to kill time. Then around 10pm, the band arrived and many more people were in attendance. I danced with Ruth some but found the music just way too fast. I then located the cafe and enjoyed some beers and meeting new people.
Around 12am, Ruth grew tired of dancing so we caught one of the last trains back home. Another successful and fun day.