Holland Park

Laurie and I returned to the scene of the Great Peacock Stalking of 2009 on Thursday. I absolutely adore Holland Park so any chance to return is fine with me. I was a little disappointed when we found the first peacock sulking on top of a brick wall. He was clearly in no mood for posing and made this know by turning his back to us regardless of which side of the wall we were on. Laurie even got adventurous and jumped into the brush... it was like a scene from Survivor Man... but Mr. Peacock snubbed her still.

Imagine out delight when we came around the corner to find another peacock strutting about on the stairs to the Kyoto Garden.

This guy was more than willing to pose for us. He walked up and down the steps and turned in complete circles. It was like he was putting on a show for us! We watched him and took pictures for several minutes but it was starting to become monotonous.

At this point, I said to Laurie; "I just wish he would open his feathers."

And...

He did!!! Laurie is always saying I have a knack for willing things to happen... but I don't think it has ever happened in such a literal or immediate way!

With his feathers on display he continued to walk up and down the stairs and to turn and pose. At first, I thought he was trying to scare the two crazy ladies with the cameras (that would be me and Laurie) away. However, then I noticed his main concerns were the other birds (peacocks and pigeons.) Whenever another bird would come near the stairs he would become tense and shake his feathers. It was amazing! The feathers sounded like the rattle on a snake and clearly were taken as a warning as none of the birds would stick around for very long.

The peacock was so mesmerizing that it was hard to pull ourselves away. However, after about a million pictures we decided to move on! We finished our walk through the park...

I love the natural feel of Holland Park. Manicured gardens are nice, as are paved paths and sidewalks but I prefer the dirt paths and wooden fences.

Laurie was really enjoying the park, too!

We finished our walk through the park and found a cute little French cafe near the Holland Park tube station. It was nice to get inside and warm up before we finished our day off with a trip to Spitalfields.

My two favorite stores at Spitalfields. I have never been in the coffee store but I love the store front. This is what I want my cupcake store to look like eventually... Kuhn take note ;-) The market was full of English character. Thursdays is the antique market and the stalls were filled with interesting "found objects" including fish in jars filled with formaldehyde, silverware galore, costume jewelry, a stuffed rabbit and lots of peculiar but strangely appropriate items! The stall minders were even more entertaining... the men wore mostly tweed and all had on gloves with no fingers and hats. They reminded me Bert from Mary Poppins... All in all it was an entertaining experience.

After spending most of the day outside (except for the short lunch and tibe ride) and in the chilling wind it was nice to come back to the flat for afternoon tea. We enjoyed yet another scrummy (British for yummy) scone from Whole Foods and then rested until dinner at Daylesford Organic. As far as I am concerned, Daylesford serves the best lamb chops I have EVER eaten! I can't wait for our next visitors so we can taken them there...I am getting hungry just thinking about it!!!

Come back soon for a post on our trip to The Cotswolds and more pictures!

Until then, XOXO

Adventure Girl Strikes Again!!!

This time I was off to Holland Park... only about 2 miles from home but an adventure none the less! Chris saw a special on Holland Park on his flight and mentioned it to me. I decided on Wednesday night that if the sun was shining when I woke up on Thursday that I would head to the park... sure enough, we had another GREAT day! I have lucked out on the weather front lately. I had sun on Tuesday for Oxford, rain on Wednesday for the plumber, and sun on Thursday for Holland Park... however, rumor has it that is all about to end but more on that later!

Holland Park is a neighborhood (and park) to the west of Hyde Park and just south of Notting Hill. It is a VERY expensive area to live in and now I know why! I adored the park... especially the Japanese Gardens. I only knew what Chris had told me which was not much so imagine my surprise when I found this...

A full out Japanese Garden in the middle of a pretty low key park. I was thrilled and imagined myself bringing my yoga mat here in the summer for a zen moment or two. It was pretty hard to believe that I was in the heart of London... all I could hear were the birds and the water falls. I was also very surprised to see that there were GIANT koi fish in the pond. My pictures did them no justice so I am not posting them. However, without exaggeration I can tell you they were about 2 feet long! Amazing!

The next amazing moment...

PEACOCKS!!!

Now, Chris told me about the peacocks but I had completely forgotten about them until I saw them on the hill. I think they were enjoying the sun more than I was and they were definitely having their own little zen moment!

This guy was more than happy to pose for me... I sat on the steps and started clicking away. He preened and flaunted his feathers for me. I was considering ways to get him to shake his tail feathers for me but there were about 10 people watching me and I didn't want to make any more of a spectacle of myself. After all, I nearly fell down the 3 steps I was sitting on when I put the camera down and realized he had walked about 1 foot from me and had a look of hunger in his eye... he was going to eat me, I am sure of it! Punk peacock!! Lucky for me I escaped certain death... or serious deformity in the least! I scolded him while on lookers rolled their eyes and laughed at me. I promptly turned around and told everyone I was a Canadian ; )

After the scolding, Mr. Punk Peacock decided he had had enough of the shutter bug and strutted away...

After my near death experience, I decided it was time to take a load off so I headed over to the Holland Park Cafe for lunch. I had a yummy (that was just for you , Laurie ; ) cup of parsnip and apple soup with a crusty baguette and a pot of hot tea. I sat outside so I could keep an eye on the punk... I was pretty sure he was stalking me. And he was definitely in cahoots with the squirrels from Hyde Park! It was a little chilly out but between the soup, tea and sunshine I managed to stay fairly warm. All in all in was a beautiful day. Once again I was filled with a huge desire for spring and summer to hurry up.