Fall in London

We had a stay at home weekend pretty much at the WTF household. Kiki had a
birthday party and sleepover on Saturday night and that pretty much dominated the weekend. Sunday morning, Chizz and I decided to take a short jaunt through Hyde Park over to Kensington in search of a few pubs (as always). Even thought the weather was a bit gray, the fall colors are starting to pop out.
Other colors were popping out too. We caught a glimpse of this guy near Speaker's Corner. While I would call it colorful, I think he is more spring than fall. I enjoy this time of year, the landscape is beautiful, the weather is still good enough to walk around with just a sweater or light jacket. The air has like a crispness to it, you can almost feel it snap. The parks are beautiful here year round. In spring, it is an obvious, hit-you-in-the-face-beauty, with all the flower beds with the most beautiful flowers in bloom. In the fall, it is more delicate beauty, more subtle. You have to pause to take it in, it doesn't hit you in the face but it is just as gorgeous.



I also came across this. I saw no farmer, no wife, no child no nurse, no dog, no cat, no rat, nor a lonely, little cheese.


We stopped at a pub called the Nag's Head in Belgravia, which is where Harrods is located. It was built in the early 1800s and from the looks of it, hasn't been remodeled since. I like old pubs, I like to imagine who was in there before us, what their lives were like. This one is decorated with all kinds of stuff, that you get the impression was just left there over the years. They had some old Victorian picture boxes, photos, bed warmers (from the days when it was an inn), some wooden skates etc. Sort of a lost and found right up there on the walls. I really liked it. After that we moseyed over to a very popular pub called the Grenadier. The Grenadier is in all the tourist handbooks. The night we were there there were quite a few Americans. It is supposed to be known for its bloody marys with a secret ingredient but we weren't much in a bloody mary mood. Maybe next time. The Grenadier is supposedly haunted. The upper floors of the Grenadier once served as the officers' mess for the Duke of Wellington's soldiers. Apparently a young officer was discovered cheating by his colleagues and they exacted punishment on site, beating him viciously. He died at the pub and supposedly his ghost haunts the place regularly, especially in September - the month he died. I didn't notice any extraordinary supernatural activity but then again by this time, I had a couple of pints. It would have had to been really extraordinary.

Around just about every corner, something beautiful or something interesting. Hi-Ho-the-derry-o!