Another London

Take the tube from London SW17 to London NW3 , i.e Hampstead and you are sure to be transported into another world altogether!

You immediately get the feeling that North London ticks differently; the vibes seems unfamiliar too... and you begin to question whether you are actually still in London :)

Funny that because I'm sure that North Londoners would experience the same unfamiliarity when venturing south of the river!

The reason for travelling north on this wonderfully sunny and relatively mild autumn Sunday was to explore Hampstead Heath. I've been there before. Last November when a group of South London Swimming Club members organised a "Lido Crawl". We started at home at our Tooting Bec Lido, then we swam at The Serpentine, then at The Parliament Hill Lido and finally at (get this!) the Men's Pond on Hampstead Heath! Yes, we had special permission and by the way, the women amongst us didn't get to see anything we hadn't seen before anyway :)!

Today however, I wanted to swim in the Women's Pond .. and I did!

Hampstead Heath is huge. It took stopping a few people to ask them for directions before actually getting close to the pond.

The walk was fabulous. Endlessly long avenues led through the forest. Beautiful old Oak trees showed off their colourful plumage - Some had shed quite a few leaves already. It was like walking on a soft carpet. And with the sun catching the leaves that hadn't fallen yet I definitely had to pinch myself to remember that I was actually in London!

The swim in 10 degrees Celsius was fab too.

A short walk to Kenwood House, which has been bequeathed to the nation by the late brewing magnate Edward Cecil Guinness in 1927. Now part of English Heritage it's well worth a visit.. even if it's only to take advantage of the wonderful food they serve! By now I was starving... A lamb shank hit the spot and sorted that quickly!

The walk back was just as spectacular.

Which is more than I can say for the tube ride back to Tooting. Signaling failure meant that our train was stuck in a tunnel for what seemed like ages... however we did resurface in the right place and as nice the pond experience was, I do look forward to my daily splish at the Tooting Lido!