Cromer 2020 - an eat, pray, love holiday

 

It was difficult getting away in 2020 because of the Covid19 Lockdown, so this made our week away to Cromer feel very precious. It was also special as it was the 25th time me, my mother and my daughter had been on holiday together.

   

London parks of the central line

I have been exploring different places in London throughout my life. In the Lockdown we have mainly been exploring parks, which has led me to this reflective post on London parks of the Central Line.

1. Holland Park

The nearest big London park to us is Holland Park. I was very keen to visit this park in Autumn 2019. We were looking for a waterfall to help with a bedtime visualisation meditation. We found one in the beautiful, Japanese, Kyoto Garden in the heart of Holland Park. The waterfall flows into a pretty pond full of goldfish. Elsewhere in the garden are wonderful trees, architectural planting, rocks and lawns. It was well worth visiting.


2. Hyde Park

Hyde Park is so vast it is served by three Central Line Stations (Queensway, Lancaster Gate, Marble Arch). We have visited it on numerous occasions over the years. One memorable occasion was January 2011 when we visited Winter Wonderland, we also spent some time around the Princess Diana memorial fountain by the Serpentine. I think it is good to visit parks at different times of the year.

3. Mile End Park

Mile End Park is a surprising park in Tower Hamlets. My favourite parts were the Arts Park and the Eco Park. It also includes a lovely walk by the Regent's Canal. I wasn't sure what this park would be like in real life so I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

4. 2012 Olympic Park

It took 8 years for us to visit the Olympic Park at Stratford. When we first wanted to visit it, in 2013, it was all locked up. It was wonderful to finally visit it in July 2020. There were still bits that remained unfinished and bits that were closed due to the Covid19 Lockdown. I really liked seeing the Olympic rings, the West Ham football stadium and the orbital spiral podium up-close and personal. It was also good to stand on a bridge and take in a breathtaking view of the River Lea.

A year of nature walking

  

My daughter and I discovered the walled garden a short bus ride from our house in August 2019. Since then I have been a regular nature walker. It was to be something we could do every week and sometimes daily; a New Year goal for 2020. During the Covid19 Lockdown, nature walking has been closer to home, but with lockdown easing we hope to get out and about more, visiting a glade near Uxbridge and other natural beauty spots. Nature walking is mindful, taking in trees, clouds and streams. Appreciating flowers and gardens has been good as has walking by rivers and through woods. Picnics in the park took over from cafes and pubs, however we have been really looking forward to the cafes and pubs reopening. August 2020 marks a year of mindful nature walking; I hope this relatively new activity will continue.
 

  

  

  

Upside-Down World

Upside-Down World was a SubVerse poem, it was meant to highlight the paradoxical nature of finding strength and control in acceptance and surrender. I found it also came in handy when discussing difficult and potentially contradictory concepts in Christianity.

Visiting the three capital cities of Great Britain

I have loved cities for most of my life. One of my big life goals was to visit New York City. It was one of my 5B450s, I spent a week there in 2017, it was one of the best weeks in my life. I have visited Paris five times in my life, it is always lovely, vibrant and exciting. A newish life goal is to visit Belfast, the fourth UK capital city, but unfortunately this has been postponed because of the Covid19 Lockdown. Therefore this blog post celebrates the delights of the three Great British capital cities that I have been enjoying in the years 2010 to 2020. I hope to visit the fourth UK capital city sometime in the not too distant future.


London

I have lived in London for over fifty years and my relationship with it is always changing. When my dad was around and my daughter was little I made a point of visiting all the major attractions, although Madame Tussaud's really was the last straw. From 2015 to 2019 I made a point of visiting London's hidden gems in Secret London and London Interrupted. I now put wellbeing first and seek out the most therapeutic places. Kew Gardens is great for nature therapy as are the great London parks and London Zoo. Art galleries and museums are therapeutic in their own right, I particularly like the V&A and Tate Modern. The Tower of London is great for time therapy and the Greenwich Observatory for space therapy. I find walking along the Thames path is also very healing.

Edinburgh

Our one week in Edinburgh in 2012 was the last holiday I had with my dad before he died. He was born here, near Edinburgh castle, he grew up in the Portabello district. Edinburgh is a wonderfully Gothic city, the weather was quite miserable when we visited, which I think is quite normal. The Fringe Festival was going on, there was a lot of street entertainment and that made our time here even more special. One of the most memorable things for me was me, my mother and my daughter going on the Edinburgh ghost walk, it was the ideal time and place for a ghost walk and was notably spooky and quite disturbing.

Cardiff

Cardiff was our fist city break after my dad died. We spent just over a long weekend here and had to get used to being three rather than four. Despite these difficulties we had a great time. I think it is a tribute to Cardiff that I have such fond memories of this holiday, it is a very pretty city, very green and blue, with the beautiful castle and park area and the barage and bay area, by the sea. We did a lot of walking here, I think we were walking our troubles away. The BBC is a big presence here and every time I watch Torchwood I am reminded of our lovely 2013 trip.

EPL Holidays 20/21 - third time lucky

It turns out that it was a really bad idea to try to organise my three EPL holidays for Spring and Summer 2020. As things stand I am still hoping to get to Cromer and Belfast this year. Our Brighton holiday has been postponed until April 2021, nevertheless I am really looking forward to it.

London, Interrupted

I started my 'Secret London' project to support my short story 'The Assertiveness Group'. I have long thought that my short story could be developed into a much longer story and my initial thirteen places could be expanded into 52 and the story and places could cover a whole year. As part of this development I have also been working on 'A Year in London' idea which supports my story with 52 London place descriptions. The 52 places I chose can be seen below, although I do change them from time to time. Some of the descriptions can be found by clicking on my London label, they start with 'Secret London'.