Blogs from Hampstead, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

We left Fenton House just after 12:30. We took a shortcut. We walked past New End Square, Burgh House to Well Walk. There were a couple of pubs where people were celebrating the Royal Wedding. Later on, we heard that 25 millions people watched the Royal Wedding. And, thousands of people had flocked to the West End on 29 April 2011. Thanks to this, Hampstead Heath was peaceful, and pleasant to walk. We had a picnic lunch, walked up to the Parliament Hill, rambled along the lake, and explored the woodland around Kenwood House in the afternoon. There were quite a few people with dogs and children on the Parliament Hill. It was hazy in the direction of the West End. The church bells were ringing throughout the afternoon to commemorate the Royal Wedding. It was ... read more

A charming 17th century brick house, i.e. Fenton House, stands among the Hampstead village on the Hampstead Grove, which is along the Holly Hill, off High Street. The brick house was initially built in 1686. The wealthy merchant, Philip Fenton bought the house in 1793 and his nephew James named the mansion Fenton House. You will find the portrait of James Fenton in the entrance hall. There were a number of residents and servants lived between 1793 and the beginning of the 20th century. Nevertheless, it is said that the features of the architecture of the house has been almost unchanged during more than 300 years of occupation. The last resident was Mrs Billing. She gave the property and contents to the National Trust in 1952. Her memorabilia and collections include oriental, English, and German porcelain, ... read more

An early and inspirational design, an unusual property for the National Trust to own, the brick terraced building was designed by the surrealist movement architect, Erno Goldfinger in the late 1930s. Designing it as a family home for himself and his family in 1939, he lived at 2 Willow Road until his death nearly 50 years later. He had an interest in the integration of art and architecture. The Goldfingers were keen to host and organise the exhibitions at home and collect art works. They collected 60 art works over the 50 years of life at 2 Willow Road. The building is ideally suited for displaying sculptures, paintings, and ornaments with its exceptionally good use of light and those art works are displayed in the large area of wall space and on the wide window ledges ... read more

So, I'm going to try something new and relinquish control of my blog. I have recently found a new travel partner (some might call him my boyfriend, but why argue over semantics), we'll call him Chris (remember him from the trip to Japan?). Since he so graciously let me drag him through the UK, I figure I should let him voice his opinion on the trip. Have no fear - I will be editing and adding comments as necessary. :) Hello, faithful Kate in Africa readers. I sincerely hope none of you will take issue with the fact that this entry is neither written by Kate nor about Africa. But she's taken a very literal approach to our holidays - that is, by making me write her entries while she's lounging around and reading the latest ... read more

This is my first attempt at publishing my Travel Blog. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you. ... read more

This will be my travel blog while I am away - a little premature I know but I am too excited about going! Feel free to leave me any messages/hints/tips of places to visit if you been there! And importantly, updates on football scores! ... read more