Day 3: Sep. 6, 2018 - Little Venice & Hyde Park

We wake late in the morning after a fitful sleep. Today is our first full day, time for a bit of an adventure. We prepare for the day and head out to “Granier”, a coffee and pastry shop two blocks away. We have coffee and pastries, then head north to the canal that is just north of the Westway periphery road.

There is a path along the side of the canal. Many boats are moored along the side of the canal. It’s a little like the houseboats in Lake Union in Seattle, but these boats seem to be more movable; they’ve got to sail to a new moorage every week or so or the owners have to pay a 25 Pound/day moorage fee.

It’s a very nice day to walk along the path. We enjoy the sights.

We continue on the path, cross the canal and walk past the Paddington Basin, the end of this end of the canal. One of the boats catches my eye. It has a motto painted on its side: “house elves welcome here”. I look at the name of the boat: “Dobby”.

Next to the embankment is “M & S Cafe”, a place to purchase ready-to-eat food. Looks like we have found lunch! Our new plan is to walk down Edgeware Road to Hyde Park and find a spot to sit and eat whatever we purchase at this store.

The walk down Edgeware is really interesting. The shops are highly geared to a Middle Eastern clientele. Lots of Lebanese, Iraqi, Syrian restaurants. A few hookah bars, as well. We continue to Marble Arch and cross into Hyde Park, looking for a place to sit. After a few minutes, we find the Serpentine and an empty bench, where we dig into our lunch, an Orzo salad for me and a quinoa, goat cheese and barley salad for Amy. We split a Ham on Baguette sandwich.

It is lovely sitting in the sun and enjoying the people-watching. After a bit, an older woman comes along dragging a small luggage bag and sits next to us. She then pulls out some seeds and old bread and starts feeding the birds. We are assailed by pigeons, ducks and even a few swans. Soon, we finish our lunch and bid adieu to the flock.

We continue around the southwest side of the Serpentine. There is a huge edifice? sculpture? dock?

Christo's Mastaba

Actually, it’s a piece of art-work by the artist Christo. I remember him for his Running Fence in Sonoma and Napa, created in 1972. It ended with a dramatic continuation of the fence into the ocean (which the artist did not get permission to do). He also wrapped the Reichstag and the Pont Neuf. The Mastaba is his latest work which harkens back to ancient buildings, but is made from oil barrels.

We continue along the Serpentine. Our next stop is marked “Peter Pan” on the map:

This sculpture was a gift of J. M. Barrie to the people of London. It was commissioned after the book was a success.

We continue on to the north-west corner of Kensington Gardens and then wend our way north back to the flat. It has been a long walk and we are both tired, so we take a rest for a couple of hours. After regaining our energy, we are ready to head out for a nice dinner. We get lucky when we enter Mediterraneo. Shortly after we get seated (with no reservation), other people come in and are turned away due to no space.

We shared a Burrata with Avocado, Tomatoes and Basil. Amy has the Spaghetti with roasted tomatoes and parmesan cheese and a rocket salad. I have the tagliatelle with veal ragout. Note to readers: rocket is the British translation for what we know of as Arugula. We aren't quite sure of the derivation. The dinner was all delicious! Probably going to go back to this restaurant.

After dinner, we stopped into the Sainsbury Local to buy some groceries, including milk, cereal, yogurt and a few treats. By the time we got home, we were all in and ready for sleep. A really good day!