The London Loop Walk..finally!

After a really late night on Friday we were woken up pretty early on Sunday by Ro's friends asking if we wanted to join them on the London Loop Walk to Richmond. Since we were anyway awake, we decided to give it a shot, and boy did we make the right decision. The day was as gorgeous as ever and the place even more beautiful and serene. We were about 5 adults, 1 three year old, 1 baby and 1 over enthusiastic dog. The trip started off with us missing the first train to Richmond and commotion at the ticket gate when the 2 buggies got stuck and Auro (the dog) wouldn't barge without his master. Me and Ro stood back and enjoyed the commotion (how very helpful right?). So we managed to take the next train out and got to Richmond at about 11.30am. The town is pretty quaint and the shops there gave me a feeling it was very expensive. Other than the big brands, there were also individual labels which are usually a sign of being in a high-end area. We walked further down and got to the river and voila..was i right or what..huge mansions by the river side and apartments with great views, offered for a minimum rent of 3000 quid a month. Expensive restaurants, swanky yachts, joggers with expensive dog breeds etc. are some of the other qualities that made me realize it was an expensive area. So, down the drain went my dream of living there. Like a friend mentioned, 'you have to be rich to be living in Richmond.' After taking a nappy and feeding break for the kids we decided to trek up Richmond Hill and on to Richmond Park. At one point me and Ro were stuck with a buggy and Auro and we were completely lost. Ro even banged the buggy on a tree in his struggle to get it moving. And Auro gets very restless when he doesn't see his master who, by the way, was very brave and brought along his 8 month old so the mommy could have some alone time. I think that was a very kind gesture and he was unbelievably awesome with the baby and she, a darling to the core, not bothering anyone.. all the time cooing and smiling and then sleeping in her buggy. Auro required more attention than her. But the good part was...we now know what buggy to buy and how to handle it to an extent :)

Richmond Hill apparently is/was home to a lot of celebrities the most known of them being Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones). The houses were massive on the hill top and the views from there were so beautiful, it would have cost them a bomb to stay there. The restaurants and pubs on the hill were also on the expensive side and quite empty as for that matter. We made our way through to Richmond Park which stretches for acres and acres and is supposedly three time bigger than Central Park in New York and the largest park in London. After the boys spent a good 15 minutes trying to figure our where we were on the map and how to get to point B where we would have lunch, and after a few phone calls to locate a pub which was child and dog friendly (yes they are very strict on that), we made our way through the park. We spotted a few red and fallow deer and Ro managed to get a few close-up's which was pure luck though. There were a few weddings taking place in the park and we saw the grooms-men and ladies in fancy dresses and hats make their way through to the scenic areas. It was a glorious day to have a wedding, i thought aloud. The walk was longer than expected but built our appetite quite a bit. We waded through thick flora and fauna and at certain points the views were brilliant. After a one hour trek through the park we finally made it to the New Inn, a child and dog friendly pub with a huge beer garden. Settled down with our drinks and the rains welcomed us. Bag, baggage, buggie, baby we rushed inside and restlessly waited for the food. Stuffed ourselves with BBQ ribs, Chicken Fajitas, Pork Chops, Lamb Cuts, Fries and Cheese and pints of cider and beer. The bill came up to a whopping 100 odd and we were convinced that Richmond was definitely not the place for us. For the money we paid, the food didn't come up to mark, but left us satisfied for the time being. We were in no mood to walk again after the heavy meal and so decided to take the bus back into Richmond town and then take the train out from there into Central London. The day didn't end that way. We headed back to a friends place and stayed there till the wee hours of the night, partying and merry making and was so so pooped by the time we got back, we didn't wake up till 11am the next day. Aching legs and back didn't stop us from staying at home on Sunday..shopped till we dropped and caught a movie too.

On another level, we have started house hunting again and cant believe 6 months just passed by so quickly. For those of you who have been following my blog from day one, you would have read the drama attached to the house hunting session. I completely dread the whole scene all over again, but looks like we are lucky this time. Its very rarely that me and Ro agree on the same topic, but we somehow seemed to have agreed on a particular property and am keeping my fingers crossed on this one. Its a 2 bedroom property and our only logical reason for moving into a bigger apartment was either because we had family visiting or we were going the family way. Winter is approaching and no family is visiting us for another six months..and the family way..we still haven't reached a conclusion on that. But taking everything into consideration i think this is a good deal, money-wise and also apartment-wise. Will update on the scene laters.

In the meantime, here are some pics of the Richmond trip. Not the best because it was a bit over cast at times.

Riverside apartments

The expensive Gaucho restaurant

Auro

Trekking up Richmond Hill

View from the hill

Richmond Park

Deer spotting in Richmond Park

Notice the houses on the right...bloody expensive i presume

View from Richmond Hill

Lamb Chops at the New Inn Pub

Pork Roast

'Cinema under the stars'

caught my eye while surfing the 'whats on in London' web page and i decided i had to go for it. What came to my mind immediately was the scene from 'The Wedding Planner' where JLo and Matthew McConaughey watch a movie in a park eating M&M's. The event was over a span of 5 days and i had seen all the movies mentioned except the one called 'Funny Face,' a 1957 musical starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. What could be more romantic than watching a classic under the star studded sky? So I quickly did some research on the park in which it was being screened, timings, how to get there etc. and sent it out to Ro hoping he would be as enthu as i was. To my surprise he replied saying we should get a bottle of wine and just go. I was thrilled and i went a bit overboard preparing an entire picnic.

Syon Park, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, was the perfect venue for the evening. Although getting there was a bit of an issue, with us forgetting to get off at the required stop (which Ro claims was because of my non stop chit chat that we didn't notice the stop and over shot) and the sudden down pour which put us in a state of bewilderment on whether the show would take place at all, we were relieved to see a whole lot of cars at the car park and people walking in with huge picnic baskets. After paying 25 quid for both of us (yes very expensive indeed) we made our way to the park. It was so beautiful with well-manicured lawns and pretty flowers and trees breaking the monotony. There was a big glass conservatory, maintained in tropical temperature, growing all sorts of vegetables, creepers and palms. There was also a lily pond and an entire section on Cacti. The movie was supposed to start at 9pm, but it still wasn't dark by then and so we ended up finishing off our food and half the bottle of wine. There was a good crowd and most of them came fully prepared with portable chairs and huge picnic baskets and even umbrellas (which we also had brought along). By about 9.30 the movie started and everyone settled down pretty fast. The movie was ok. I expected it to be like the 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' type, but it didn't come close to that. Audrey Hepburn is gorgeous as ever and Fred Astaire is old. Towards the end, it started getting a bit chilly and the wine had made us pretty tipsy and we completely started fooling around and i secretly hoped the movie would come to an end because of the cold winds. I must admit, the whole idea of a romantic evening under the stars, huddled together with a blanket, was more appealing than the movie itself, though 25 bucks for a night out was a bit on the steep side, but what the hell...these are things you do once in your life.

There are more outdoor movies coming up in September at the South Bank Centre and are fee of cost. Only thing is, they are showing movies like 007 and Slumdog Millionaire which i cant really associate with 'romance.' I would however like to go see 'Mamma Mia,' the sing-along version again, just so i can scream out the songs :)

Events like these make me feel happy being in London.

I kicked myself for not taking my camera and had to make do with Ro's phone camera. So please bear with the 'not so perfect' pics.

The Great Conservatory, Syon Park

One of the Lily Ponds

A huge Cactus

Enjoying the picnic. See how bright it was...time was around 8.40pm

The huge screen

Thats the last part of the movie. Its not too clear.

Hard Rock calling...

It was my first visit ever to Hard Rock Cafe, London (cant count the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas..i only got a sneak peak) and i thoroughly enjoyed it. One, because i really enjoy the usual American fare and two, its the first Hard Rock Cafe in the world (opened in 1971). Since it was a weekday we thought reservations wouldn't be necessary, but to our surprise it was packed and we had a two hour wait. There was also a concert on and so we decided to check that out. Entry was separate and four amateur bands were performing. The first band was just about to start when we walked in. I was a little over excited seeing all the rock and roll memorabilia covering the walls and Ro had this totally disinterested look on his face. A look that implies he's thinking hard about some serious issues..like hes gonna give me some gyan about life in general and the root of all our arguments...the disapproval of how we should live our lives..Well we had started off on a bad note in the train and i warned him saying we should go back if he intends to stick to the boring behaviour. But we didn't and i decided to have a nice time no matter what..If Ro didn't, it was his loss.

But as soon as our drinks came and the band was in full swing, the moods changed. Ro so totally is a music buff and he enjoyed it. I love the American joints like TGIF and Chili's and now HRC for the variety of fancy Cocktails they serve. The boring pubs in UK have wine, cider, ales or beer (100's of varieties of those but no cocktails. Now who cant go to a super market and get those?) But cocktails have this personalised feel to it and you mix and match and you get something either good or something horrific at the end). 

Once in TGIF, when i was finding it difficult to make up my mind, the bar boy (gorgeously cute) told me,'I can make anything and everything love, tell me what you want. And i said, 'Go ahead,surprise me.' No actually i asked him for a Long Island Iced Tea and he convinced me I'd like the California Iced Tea instead (forgot what the ingredients were) and it was amazing.

My Berry-rita

Coming back to HRC....I had a Berry-rita which is the cranberry version of the Margarita. Was so so good, except I need to ask them to go easy on the ice the next time. It kinda gets diluted after a while. Ro had the same ol Gin and Tonic..something i also have recently started to enjoy with a hint of orange lemonade. 

Two hours went by quite fast with the bands in full swing and we went back to the cafe just in time for our table. Our dear waitress Anna from Poland was at our service. Ro has this habit of striking up a conversation with anyone and everyone (fellow passengers in a train, the barber, the guy at the till, the concierge etc). I on the other hand hate having to make conversation with people leave alone strangers. I pray that my hair dresser doesn't start talking to me, i go to the self check-out section to avoid chit chats at the till and in the trains..i pretend to sleep. How made for each other are we? So yes, you guessed right..Ro got her entire life history and as he said..if i hadn't glared at him, he would have also gotten her phone number. She, in the process of yapping her life story, forgot our order and had to ask us again (no tips for you, Polish woman!).

American food..oh how absolutely tasty they are- the ribs, spicy chicken wings and steaks and sandwiches. The quantities are also humongous unlike Brit food which is bland and tasteless and variety-less. All the freaking pubs here have a pie, fish and chips, roast beef or chicken (trust me they are horrible) and if you are lucky, burgers (by now you may have realized how biased i am). Our drinks came in (I ordered a Hurricane (Keepers they are called if you want to keep the glass as a souvenir) and Ro had some rum based cocktail-forgot the name in my excitement on seeing the souvenir) followed by a Trio platter of BBQ Ribs, BBQ Chicken and Smoked Pulled-Pork served with fries, beans and coleslaw and the Hickory Smoked chicken wings with a bleu cheese dip and celery sticks (did i mention I'm off the Kelloggs diet for this week?). There was just way too much food and we ended up wasting a bit. I wanted to try the desserts, but had absolutely no space for it. Will go back another day and have it.

It was a bit expensive which was to be expected since its American fare in UK. In the US, its dirt cheap and they have a wider variety too..we used to frequently visit the TGIF's in Chicago and they finally gave us a membership card (yeah!).

It sure was a night i enjoyed after a long long time and thank you Ro for making it fun filled and not grumpy-like. Although my ramblings were about the cocktails and the US/UK comparison, I'm guessing you have at least a faint idea about the Hard Rock Cafe in general. Posting some pics to add to the fun:)

Hurricane (I got the glass as the souvenir) and the Rum drink

Some of the stuff on the walls

Madonna's Jacket (Ro was upset her spiked undies were not on display)

Privacy eh?

When we moved to London, numerous comments about where to stay came pouring in which confused us to the core. Certain areas in London are to be avoided for obvious reasons and since we were new to the place, we had no idea which place was known for what. I started my apartment viewing sessions and whatever I could gain from the area on my visit, I did but not to the extent of knowing if it was safe and secure. The estate agents obviously put the places up on a pedestal and paint a rosy picture. Some places gave me the chills the moment I got out of the station, others made me feel at home and those were places which were mostly far away in zone 3 and the like (London is divided into 6 zones. Zone 1 is Central London and you can’t afford to live there, unless of course you are part of the Royal family). The further you go, the more you get for the money you spend but it also becomes inconvenient and expensive to travel into Central London. It’s perfect for couples with children- huge town houses with gardens, parks and good schools- who wouldn’t have time to do anything else. But my whole trip of being in London was to be part of the scene. Take in the culture, events, food, theatre, concerts and everything else that London had to offer. London is a great place to be in summer, or so we were told and we succumbed to that blindly. We were left with very few options since we decided not to go beyond zone 2.

We were in a hotel in North Greenwich for about three weeks and we ended up liking the area a lot. So we hunted for apartments in and around that area. I found this one I liked a lot and was hell bent on taking it. It was just beautiful in my eyes. It was nicely furnished and set up very appropriately. Ro on the other hand was more practical and took into consideration space, wind directions, storage and important things like that which did not or would not have gone through my head at all. My face just lit up the moment the agent opened the door and Ro had to give me the stares to stop me from showing interest in the place because it would then be a negative point in bargaining for the rent. I just couldn’t hide the excitement. We left the apartment and then it was discussion/argument time. Ro said it was too expensive and was tiny for the amount we will have to pay. I defended saying we didn’t have to buy anything since it had everything in it including cleaning accessories and crockery and cutlery (which actually I’d hoped was not there because I loved going to the department stores and picking up stuff for the house), the tube station was a stones throw away (exaggeration) and the nearest dept. store was also walking distance (ya right, like I would walk anyway. I definitely will take a bus even if I can see the store entrance from my window). I could just imagine myself reading a newspaper on the balcony and cooking away at the shiny hob to which Ro replied, Nish you never read the newspaper, and making coffee is not cooking. Men are mean. Whatever you do for them, its always a joke, atleast for my husband it is. Hmmpff!!

Anyways, I was in the process of convincing him and there, we see an ad in the newspaper for another apartment and before I realize we are on our way to take a look at the same. We had to change two trains to get there and I already hated it. The apartment was nice, spacious, furnished (not as good as the previous one), had a gym, a pool, a convenient store and the best part, it was a 100 quid lesser than the previous one. This was obviously a good deal and this time Ro’s face lit up. We go and open the curtain leading to the balcony and there, the deal breaker, you can see what your neighbours are having for dinner or rather breakfast, lunch, tea and everything in between. Its like living with them. We take a walk around the area and its really dodgy. But then according to Ro safety is not much of an issue because immediate requirements can be quenched from the convenient store on site and major shopping is just a train ride away and the station is right at your door step. I do not agree saying I need to walk around and in Greenwich I can walk to the grocery store in which case we would be saving on bus fares. So then we discuss this apartment and I bring up the privacy issue. We could always leave our curtains closed, but then whets the point in having a balcony if we need to leave it closed, and summer can be hot. Now the difference between us desi’s and the locals are: we have issues about people peering into our personal lives. Here, no one really looks into each others apartments how much ever they are left open. No one cares what others are doing. People on the ground level apartments leave their doors and windows all open and wear the skimpiest of clothes and walk around. No one even looks and they know that. Its us desi’s who are so tempted to peer into the apartment and get all excited if we see a girl in an underwear talking on the phone or a guy with jus a towel around his waist. Its just natural for us to do that and we keep thinking everyone else wants to do the same. So I finally win the battle over the privacy and the safety issue after a lot of teary endeavours and Ro is sold on the idea it’s going to be menace. Yaay we get the fancy apartment in Greenwich.

So we now stay in a huge apartment complex with about 10 to 12 blocks and they are all far apart. We are on the 5^th floor and like I mentioned before, we have an amazing view of the Thames River on one side and the O2 Arena (where all the concerts happen, has restaurants, bars, pubs, a movie theatre etc.) on the other. Night falls, lights are on and there you go, everyone can see into each others apartments. Maybe not as clearly as what they are having for dinner, but yeah you can still figure out what they are up to. And here, its not just the apartment opposite, you can see what the inhabitants of the entire block is up to. There’s a huge garden, a bus and a car lane separating the two blocks and it’s still so so obvious. Its absolute time pass for me and yes I’m nosy (I don’t have a TV or a proper internet connection as yet). I just sit on my sofa and have a nice time ‘watching people.’ I vaguely made a comment a couple of days back about how we can see into other peoples apartments and Ro nodded back saying, well you should remember they can see into ours as well. (I conveniently forget the privacy argument we had and conclude its a menace). I get the, ‘this is what I was trying to tell you,’ nod and I shut up. So last night I was again cosy on my sofa all ready to apartment gaze (also had a book, just in case) and Ro walks into the room, switches off the light and takes his place next to mine. That way, they don’t see what we are up to; it’s just a one way thingJ

Since we made a mistake, might as well make use of it right?

PS: And by the way I take a bus to the dept. store and Ro takes a bus to the tube station. We have ended up spending double. I also do not roam around, atleast not yet. On the other hand I could have made use of the gym to shed the extra pounds I gained and used the money we would have saved to go on our Europe trip.

Moral of the story: don’t always listen to what women say.