activities

It's been a great three days, and I miss Dan and the kids, but the rest of Switzerland could...wait for a while. London is just so fabulously dense and diverse and creative and delicious and I'm sorely tempted to just...stay for a few more days? weeks? months?

On Saturday my friend Ruwan took me on a walk along the canals from Hackney Wick back to Old Street. Lots and lots of hipness.

Canals are just cool.

"Meanwhile in East London, lunatics decorate a building..."

Inside Little Duck, The Picklery, where one can taste...many pickled things.

This is the playground in a trendy new development. It looks like a dog training area, presumably because it would be dangerous for the kids to climb more than a foot above ground level? sigh...

On Sunday, I decided to re-live my grad school days and join a walk with the Saturday Walkers Club. Which was every bit as fun as I remembered.

Before I got on the train I spent a penny (30p, to be precise) at Marylebone Station, where the public toilets are Monopoly-themed.

Three cheers for public rights of way!

The view over the...Chilterns, I think? It could not have been a more perfect day for a country walk. Such pretty clouds!

Holy Trinity Parish Church in Bledlow dates from the 12th century. Sadly, it was locked.

Today I met my mom at Heathrow, and we're now ensconced in our cozy rooms at the Ibis Styles London Heathrow - which is decidedly a step down, view-wise (I have a bird's eye view of the roof of gas station next door), but has everything one could want from a hotel near the airport, including good free wifi. I'd love to keep writing but it's after midnight and we're meeting at 8 for breakfast so it's time to get some sleep. Good night!