The Nurture in Nature

Perhaps my whining about how I must update this thing more often will become a sort of ritual beginning to every entry…

In any case, I’ll start with last Thursday. Brittany and I made the trek up to Hampstead Heath, in the north of London. We knew immediately as we walked down the street that this was going to be a good day. Cute shops (both chain and independent) lined the street, and as we began the walk to the coffee shop we planned to visit we came across Whittard Teas and Coffee. That’s right, the two coffee-hunters coincidentally came across a store devoted entirely to their drink of choice. Wonderful. Inside were walls lined with all sorts of teas and coffees, biscuits and hot chocolate, mugs and saucers. There was even a lower level with even more mugs and teapots…we were in heaven.

Such a great little place.

After forcibly ejecting ourselves from the shop, we walked a bit further to the lovely alleyway we were to turn down in order to reach our newest coffee destination. It was one of those backstreets that brings words like ‘darling’ and ‘charming’ to mind. Before we reached the coffee shop we were sidetracked by the Hampstead Antique Emporium. Tucked away in another backstreet (yes, it was a backstreet of a backstreet) was this haven for treasures of bygone eras. Unfortunately, the ‘Button Lady’ shop was closed, but I did end up with some fabulous vintage 1950’s costume earrings. Marvelous.

The darling and charming backstreet.

In Hampstead Heath

Finally we made it to Ginger & White, our motivation for coming to Hampstead in the first place (that and the Heath). Again it was love at first sight. That’s the things about coffee shops, your first impressions can usually tell you a lot about a place. The open-air feeling and the Pottery Barn-esque décor had my heart from the get-go. And they had a couch. If you’d like to read a full review, check out Little Cup of Heaven. But I will tell you this much…Ginger & White is currently at the top of my London coffee shop list.

Afterwards we set out to explore the Heath. It was unseasonably warm that day, and even though we’d dressed accordingly we found ourselves sweating in the noon sun. Things looked up once we got into the Heath itself…walking paths shaded by oodles of greenery, views for miles, and the kind of peacefulness parks inside London-proper simply can’t offer. We walked, took pictures, leaped and enjoyed seeing and smelling all of the green around us. Funny how nature always seems to bring out one’s inner child. No matter how old you are, the thrill of running through a field never goes away.

Leaping about Hampstead Heath 

Now flashback to a couple of weeks ago…remember when I went to the American Church in London? Okay good. Well when I went I met a guy named Will, also studying here for the semester. He traded numbers with our group so we could all hang out; we Americans have to stick together after all. Now fast forward to last Friday night. We hung out at the National Portrait Gallery’s late night, cracking jokes and having a generally good time. We decided to go for drinks afterward, and eventually found ourselves in Chinatown eating Chinese food (what, you were expecting Italian?)

For those of you who don’t know me so well, I’ve never like Chinese food (with the exception of my mom’s homemade beef and broccoli). I decided to be adventurous that night, however, and was pleasantly surprised that, by George, I do like Chinese food! All in all, it was a fantastic night getting to spend time with and know a great guy. Note to all travelers: not all of the interesting people in London are natives!

Very large deer in Richmond Park.

Sunday I set out for Richmond park solo. Nothing says nature like having a buck with huge antlers come right up next to you in the middle of a forest path. It was an incredibly relaxing day, and it felt so good to breathe in the smell of trees and fallen leaves. I chatted with several people whilst in the park, all of them elderly, and was so happy I did. It brings my heart a little bit of warmth to think that, just as they’ll occasionally enter my mind in years to come, I might just cross theirs every now and again.

Yesterday (Monday) I took the initiative and joined the Kensington Central Library. I have a research project for my history class due in a few weeks and I needed some resources that came in print-form. I can only take the Internet for so long before I need something substantial to hold and read. Ironically, despite my love of books I haven’t been much of a library person since I was a kid. I remember checking out books all the time as a child, but I guess that impulse went away when I starting collecting them for myself. I really like this library though, and the librarians are marvelously kooky.

As a side note, this project is on a fascinating woman named Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop. She was a traveler in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. She’s funny and original and so inspiring…I’ll have to write more about her once the presentation is done with. If you think your life is interesting I can assure you even a passing glance at her biography will convince you of just how wrong you are.

Brittany and I have new coffee plans for Thursday and are heading to Wales for the weekend. I promise to write a post worthy of the memories I’m sure we will make, and not just a run-down of all of our activities.

For the curious, I am absolutely loving London. And becoming quite infatuated with adverbs, it seems. The city always manages to surprise me, and even when I tire of it there is a variety of things to see and do to get me away from it. The past few days have seen me enter a kind of slump, but I’m sure it will pass. More importantly, I’m happy in spite of the slump. Quite possibly for the first time ever, I am totally content and happy with who I am. I love my life, the good and the bad, and wake up each day eager to see what God has in store. There are still things that get to me, still times I have to do things I don’t want to do, and life certainly isn’t perfect…but it is good. 

Let's see where the path goes...