Hampstead in the Rain

We have had a wonderful day catching up with Nick and Fleur in their little patch of London.  We started out walking to Addlestone Station in the rain, ready to catch three trains – Addlestone to Weybridge, Weybridge to London Waterloo and then the London Underground to Belsize Park where Nick and Fleur were waiting to meet us.  The trains linked up very well until Waterloo where we missed our first underground connection by literally one second.  Of course, trains come every few minutes so we didn’t have to wait long.

Nick and Fleur had a great agenda set for us, starting with coffee at a café that caters to Antipodean coffee tastes – the waiter was Australian and the barista was from Auckland.  The latte was perfect.  So, any Kiwi coffee loving friends who come to London – we can wholeheartedly recommend Ginger & White in Hampstead.

Once the caffeine fix was dealt to, we ignored the rain in order to enjoy a lovely ramble over Hampstead Heath.  Fleur wanted to take us to Parliament Hill to see the view over London but we didn’t get to that.  We suspect the view wouldn’t have been at its best in the rain anyway, and we enjoyed the Heath itself.  There was a little farmer’s market at the edge of the Heath, where I got some delicious proper home-made fudge and Fleur added to her candle collection.  I particularly liked the ‘dog creche’ section where people had to tie up their dogs before wandering the market.  It was unfairly close to the sausage sizzle though, poor pups!

By now it was lunchtime, and still raining steadily, so we were taken to a favourite watering-hole, The Stag, to enjoy drinks and food.  On the way we stopped to drop Fleur’s purchases off at their home; it was nice to finally see their place and be able to picture them at home. 

The pub we went to for lunch was very nice – beer drinkers can check out the beer notes at the end (I just had apple juice).  We had a very leisurely lunch, enjoying the food, the atmosphere and especially the company.  It was quite surprising to realise we had actually seen Nick and Fleur less than a year ago, as it feels like longer.   So after lunch, the decision to simply head to a different waterhole, The Garden Gate, and continue chatting was easily made.  Nick and Fleur had lots of great advice for us regarding next steps now that it is time for us to get settled.  Apparently the flats next door are being done up and should be ready in May; Fleur said we should just move in next door.  That way when it’s pub-time they can just put a sign in the window!  While the thought of leasing a London flat before we are sure we have jobs is scary, the idea is a tempting one.

We didn’t want to leave, but at the same time we didn’t want to be negotiating trains in the dark, so it was time to head back.  The morning coffee had been so nice that we walked to the tube station via Ginger & White to get a take away to have on the train.  Coffee-wise, a great idea; cup-wise, not so great.  We really struggled to find a rubbish bin for our empty cups.  I noticed signs on the trains about disposing of rubbish properly rather than littering; this would be an easier task if there were any bins about.  Grant eventually asked a policeman at Waterloo who advised him to leave the cups on a newspaper stand and someone would come along and clear it later!!

We made it back to home-base by 7pm, so it was still a bit light.  It has been wonderful day; thank you Nick and Fleur.

Tasting Notes

Pale Ale – Sambrooks – Quite nice and very drinkable.  Typical pale ale and not overly hoppy.

St Peters Cream Stout – Very dark and a nice bitter flavour.

Cutthroat Porter – Odell Brewing Co, Colorado – This was nice and warming on a cold day.  Slightly unusual to find an American beer on tap at a UK pub, but a good beer.