My first visit to Hampstead was a very nice surprise! I had no clue that such expansive green spaces existed right in the city and within walking distance of where I live! Although we did take the bus, which was good considering we went on a super long walk through muddy fields and and puddles. It was a lot of fun!
Our mission was to head to a pub for a traditional Sunday roast after a nice walk through Hampstead Heath. This was my first visit to the park and the views of London were incredible! You can actually see the Shard and London Eye from the top of the hill! Unfortunately I forgot my actual camera (as usual) and so my Iphone pictures don’t do the views justice at all! We also walked past Kenwood House which used to be an estate for some extremely wealthy people back in the day but is now an impressive art gallery that is free to the public! (I love free!)
Since it was a sunny day the park was packed with groups of people out for a Sunday stroll or run. I felt pretty pretty pathetic getting winded after walking up the hills while other people were running but at least I was out!
After walking through the park and getting lost a couple times along the way, we walked through a couple very high end streets in the neighbourhood where Porsches and BMW’s are the norm. The houses were impressive!! Many of them with blue plaques stating what famous person used to live in each house and when. I’ll have to brush up on my British history since I didn’t know any of the names.
We all had definitely worked up an appetite by the time we had reached The Spaniard’s Inn, one of London’s oldest pubs. Once the local haunt of such iconic authors such as Dickens and Keats, it also played a cameo in Dickens “Pickwick Papers”. Since I’m a bit of a Dickens geek, I LOVED the fact that I could have been sitting in the same cozy back room that Dickens had sat in while drinking a pint of his favourite beer and imagining what tales he would write next.
Aside from the famous guests, the Spaniard’s Inn was the ultimate in cozy pubs! It had a huge fireplace in the back which made the entire pub smell like burning wood and Christmas 🙂 The ceilings were low, and dark wooden beams and pillars gave the pub an old time atmosphere that is exactly what I love about London pubs! I am amazed and in awe each and every time and it never gets old!
I had my first proper Sunday pub lunch complete with roast beef, yorkshire pudding, veggies, roast potatoes and gravy! Although a little on the high end of the price scale, it was worth it!! Huge portion and delicious! I also discovered a new beer “K IPA” which I picked only because of the letter K but it was delicious!
After we were all pleasantly stuffed, it was time to head home! It was a great day exploring a new area in the city and I will definitely be back! I also got to meet two new really awesome people 🙂
Now it’s breaking bad marathon time!
Thanks for reading 🙂
Kristal
krismasinlondon 