Since first falling in love with my East End neighborhood, I have been meaning to post a bunch of the "everyday sights" I enjoyed during this fall. So, here they are - a smattering of the things I was fortunate to walk by on a daily basis...

After a last meal at Pellicci’s and one last walk around the neighborhood, I met Shane at the flat for a very generous and helpful escort to Heathrow. The trip from London to Boulder felt like some kind of traveller’s purgatory -- no sleep, yet too tired to do anything useful with the painfully-slow-passing time and many mixed emotions. The fluorescent-lit plastic patriotic poster that greeted me as a returned to US soil was simply ...

After bringing Willa to airport, I took the tube back to City for a bit of aimless walking punctuated by a few final errands. I strolled through Seven Dials one last time in the cold, stopping for a quick bite at Neal’s Yard, and then on to National Gallery. I couldn’t help myself and took a quick tour through Impressionist gallery and perused the Dutch landscape painters. Back at the flat, packing up proved to be a challenging jigsaw puzzle that lasted far too long and led to a late night dinner at my favorite double-decker bus, including a slice of good-bye chocolate cake...

This was it. My last Sunday for my most favorite Sunday activity; perusing the East End markets. Willa and I hit the Columbia Flower Market first, then on to stroll the vendors on Cheshire Street, Brick Lane, stopping into the Laden Showroom for a spell, and onto Spitalfields Market. With Christmas around the corner, the markets were especially packed and we exhibited excellent shopping endurance. Willa headed back to the Tate Modern in the afternoon, while I started packing at the flat. We regrouped later, and headed over to the newly opened Beach Blanket Babylon ...

Despite walking by the infamous Tower of London many times during my stay, I somehow managed to completely underestimate its size and significance. Once inside the intimidating walls, a small village unfolds complete with rows of flats, guarded jewels, towered lookouts, historical landmarks, and raven lodgings. All the usual accoutrements of any medieval village...<< MORE >>

Now, no visit to London’s East End would be complete without the set breakfast at Pellicci’s. They even, surprisingly, have a vegetarian version, which did not disappoint Willa. With a solid meal in our bellies, we headed to Westminster Abbey. A quick note of advice on visiting this incredible landmark; spend the extra four quid on the audio guide. It made the visit all the more worthwhile and the experience would not have been nearly as rich without this relatively small sampling of the history and stories that this great building contains. We then walked ...

We were up early to catch train to Amersham to meet Ray. Since Willa didn’t bring her bike and wouldn’t get to ride in the Chilterns, Ray and I figured a tour of Old Amersham and a drive around the area would at least give her a sampling of the English countryside. We walked around Old Amersham and then did an “American Tour” of the Chiltern Hills with a stop by the Berkhamsted castle ruins. We got to the Red Lion by 12:30-ish, scooping up Margaret along the way, for pints and one more helping ...

Adrian met us at the flat, and we three walked down to Tower Pier to catch a ferry to Greenwich. It was another bluebird day – perfect for a ride down the Thames. We walked around the Naval Academy grounds, watched more skaters there and then toured the Queen’s House and the Royal Observatory...

Although the weather seemed to have finally shifted to more winter-like temperatures, it was a bluebird day – perfect for a hike to the top of St Paul’s. After that, we crossed the Millennium Bridge and stumbled upon the filming of a commercial, which oddly, did not shut down the traffic on the bridge. Naturally, Willa turned on her heels and walked back by the actors as if she was one of the extras, while I got a few pictures of her potential little-screen debut...

Willa arrived after a bit of a flight delay, but none the worse for the wear in spite of going directly from the Colorado Cyclocross Championship race (in very cold and snowy conditions) to DIA and on to London. Now that’s some versatility and dedication! We went back to flat for a late lunch and quick shower, before heading out again to catch the No. 8 bus to Oxford Circus just as it was getting dark. What better way to introduce Willa to London than from the top of a double-decker bus ...