Wednesday August 14, 2024.
As we had some time away from work and the girls were away from school for the holidays, we decided to spend some time visiting some sites in London.
We booked a taxi and headed to Watford Junction, where we caught an Avanti West Coast to Euston and, from there, a Northern line train to Archway.
After topping up on a few snacks fro the day we caught a 210 bus to Compton Avenue, where we alighted and walked the short distance to Kenwood House.
Kenwood House is a former stately home, which was originally built circa 1616. It was remodelled by the architect Robert Adam in the 18th century and was home to the Earls of Mansfield until the 20th century.
Besides being a stately home, Kenwood House is home to historic paintings by the likes of John Crome, Anthony van Dyck, Claude de Jongh, JMW Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, Rembrandt and many more.
During our visit there was an exhibition by Stephen Farthing entitled 'Strike a Pose: Stephen Farthing and the Swagger Portrait'. These are portraits of Lord Howe, reimagined by Stephen Farthing, and were pretty spectacular.
You can see more photos from Kenwood House by clicking the link below.
After visiting the house we sat in the grounds and ate our lunch, before we took a stroll through the grounds, eventually finding ourselves heading south through Hampstead Heath.
The weather was perfect for a wander through the Heath, with many people jogging, walking dogs, having a picnic or, like this, just taking in the surroundings.
We made our way to Parliament Hill Fields, where we left the Heath and waited for a C11 bus to take us back to Archway.
Once we had alighted from the bus, we sat in Navigator Square, with drinks, and looked at our photos. As we sat there, with Emma opposite and Erin and Keilyn to my left, we started to glance around at each other. The chairs we were sitting on were beginning to vibrate. It turns out Navigator Square is directly above the London Underground and the trains, whizzing by below us, caused vibrations to travel up into the chairs. It was a weird sensation.
With the time approaching 15:00, we made our way around the corner to MacDonald Road, which made me chuckle as it has a McDonald's on the corner.
Next to this was Premier Inn London Archway, which is where we would be staying, overnight.
We were on the fifth floor and our view was impressive, except for a tower block that partly obscured it. We could see from Canary Wharf all around to the west, including the Crystal Palace transmitter.
Suitably refreshed we headed out of the hotel and made our way down Junction Road to the Workman's Cafe and Restaurant, for some dinner.
Keilyn ordered egg, sausage and beans, while Erin had a quarter pounder cheese burger with chips. Emma went for the lasagne with steak chips and salad, while I decided on bangers and mash with onion gravy. The food was amazing with all of us clearing our plates.
Milkshakes and soft drinks washed the food down.
From here we took a stroll along Junction Road, visiting a wonderful little shop called 'The Toy Project', which was an Aladdin's Cave of toys, collectibles, bric-a-brac, books, games and so much more. After a good look around Erin and Keilyn both decided that they would like a Rubik's Cube. So, we brought them one each.
From here we wandered up Highgate Hill to see 'Dick Whittington's Cat Statue', before walking along Magdala Avenue, to see the 'Windrush & Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Statue', which stands at the entrance to the Whittington Hospital.
Both of these were fascinating, the latter of which I had never heard of.
So, fully cultured we headed back to Premier Inn and settled down for the evening, as tomorrow was going to be a long day, too.
Distance travelled:
- Bus - 2.1 miles
- Cable Car - 0.0 miles
- Car - 0.0 miles
- DLR - 0.0 miles
- Ferry - 0.0 miles
- Overground - 0.0 miles
- River Boat - 0.0 miles
- Taxi - 1.4 miles
- Train - 15 miles
- Underground - 2.6 miles
- Walking - 2.2 miles
Nice day out there
ReplyDeleteIt was a good first day, indeed.
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