Casual London...

London has been so casual here with Kerry. We went to Hempstead for a lovely day yesterday. It was a late start too since we were up late chatting with my other friend, Jonnie, from the ships. We got out and the strike in the tube was off. Fabulous. What a stroke of luck. They are talking about continuing it next week, but for now they stopped. Hempstead is a beautiful area and quiet. It's a posh area like Shaker Heights in Ohio or Forest Hills in Queens. It has a very large and beautiful park that really makes you feel like you're in the country. Central Park can be that way at times, but on the outer edges you can still see the tall skyscrapers of Manhattan and hear the sounds of the city even in the deepest parts. With this park you felt totally isolated from the city and there were no visual cues that you were even in London. This park also holds the home that was used for the filming of "Knotting Hill." Unfortunately we never found it since we couldn't find a map of the park anywhere and Kerry didn't know the park all that well to just hunt it down. The park was so large we just strolled through, enjoyed it, and left. Before we got to the park though we stopped for lunch at this creperie that's been open now for 27 years. It's just a little roadside stand that sits on a sidewalk in Hempstead and has now become a permanent fixture. Only 2 ladies were working there and there are only 3 grills running. She said the line can get pretty long and twist around the corner these crepes are so good. We finally got our way to the window to make an order and I got a savory one with spinach, ham, and garlic cheese. It was HUGE!! The crepe itself was mouthwatering delicious and all the things put together inside were fabulous. It was crispy because she had to cook it so long for the inside contents and it was crispy with loads of butter. Whoa. That kind of filled us up pretty good before our walk through the park as well as the cider that we had at the beer garden before heading in and then we came back after and had a sweet crepe. I told her that if the line was long, we wouldn't stop and we'd just go to Starbucks. I was just craving something sweet. We turned the corner and it was short. Damn. Now I had to get one. Oh well, I'm on vacation. I got a banana and Belgium chocolate crepe and Kerry got this crepe with cream, maple syrup, bananas, and nuts. Yikes! These were sinful and just as large as the first one. Mine was oozing with chocolate and it was soooo delicious. We were definitely full after this crepe and I think even overwhelmingly full. We got in the tube again and made our way to Camden Lock. This area is an actual Lock like in a canal. It's also very Bohemian with hippie, punk, and goth styles amidst everywhere. You can get your stripper supplies here, bongs, and cheap second hand clothing. People are expressing themselves in the way they dress and look just like you'd find in the East Village. We started to get tired after all the fresh air after walking around the market and headed back. We're coming back to this place for dinner or lunch to get the cheap offerings at the market. I crashed when I got back for a bit and just took a nap. I think that might happen quite a bit when I finally get home. Kerry made some dinner for the evening and then we headed out with Jonnie for a pub-crawl. It was a good night. The pubs close around 11:00PM generally, but we ended up in one that played music and was open until 1:00AM. We closed the place. The pubs we went to were all in a place called Angel. Just a name for the part of town and the pubs were all happening right up until the end. I was beat for the day and fell asleep on the bus ride home of course and was knocked out last night. I'm going to need a vacation to recover from vacation.