London Chronicles – Page 4 – The city through the eyes of a stranger

Fortnum & Mason

This year’s Portugal Day was last Wednesday. I confess I had forgotten about it until my mum sent me an email reminder, but I had already planned to go into town with my son and had been eyeing Fortnum & Mason’s website trying to figure out where to eat. It’s not as straightforward as it once was to eat these days: highchairs are useful and so is knowing you won’t be disturbing the other patrons (at least not too much).

Anyway, we arrived at Green Park at 10am, just when the stores were opening, so I went in to check the place out, see if I could spot highchairs and any accessibility issues, and maybe ask if I needed a reservation. The member of staff I spoke to was very polite and helpful and told me someone would help me with the buggy up the small staircase once I’d come back for lunch.

And so they did. Rafael and I had a very nice lunch in The Gallery. I had a glass of the Portuguese vinho verde to celebrate (about 4 times more expensive than an entire bottle in Portugal, but hey…). We had plenty of space for the buggy and the high chair, the room was bright and not busy (between 11.30am and 12.15pm), and the staff was polite and efficient.

It’s not super easy to find a nice lunch spot where you’ll have top service, a nice setting and where a little baby will not be a bother. We’d like to return at some point with Nicklas.

Kids Travel

Step-free

Post author By yaili
Post date 12 June, 2015
1 Comment on Step-free

Yesterday I wanted to go into town with my son, but, as many times before, the thought of having to ask for help to carry his buggy up and down countless stairs in the Tube put a cloud over my plans.

We could have taken a bus, but that would nearly triple our travel time. So I had a look on Transport for London to see if there was a way of getting to Piccadilly, avoiding stairs (escalators were fine) and not spending 3 hours travelling. I found their Avoiding stairs Tube guide PDF (PDF), which, albeit cumbersome to decipher, was very helpful in letting me figure out a way:

Bus up to Walthamstow Central from Leyton
Tube down Victoria line to Green Park
Walk around, eat, shop
Return from Warren Street to Walthamstow Central again
Walk back home (about 30 mins walking), as buses start to get busy by mid-afternoon

This has happened so many times: I get excited about going for a walk about town with my baby and then think of the stairs. Often I just go anyway and count on the helpfulness of strangers, but I don’t like it: I want to be able to manage by myself.

Over the last few months I’ve found places we can go without much trouble (read: lots of stairs) but somehow I feel it should be easier.

Going out Money

Free London

Sometimes it feels like all the fun things to do in London involve paying for something. But a penny saved is a penny earned, and that’s specially true now with the baby. So I wonder, apart from walking around in parks, what else is there to be done in London that doesn’t involving reaching for the wallet? Is walking around really the only thing to do with a baby around here? (Assuming public or private transportation to get somewhere doesn’t count as spending money.)

Food Going out

Bygga Bo

We’ve been going to Bygga Bo, a Swedish café in Walthamstow, often as a bit of a treat on weekends, for a latte and freshly baked kanelbullar. That way the baby can listen to a bit of Swedish and Nicklas feels a little bit less homesick. We’ve also attended a scandi parents meet up a few times, which is great fun, and I’ve even had a dozen Swedish classes on Monday evenings! It’s a great little hub. Hej då!

Living

Baby

Post author By yaili
Post date 4 February, 2015
No Comments on Baby

I’ve just entered the seventh month of maternity leave. The London I have experienced since last summer has been at most times confined to Waltham Forest: Leyton, Leytonstone, Walthamstow. I have travelled farther, but it’s certainly easier to go places that mean just a quick run back home if accidents happen. I’m sure plenty of people don’t think London is the best place to raise children, but I’m not planning on moving to the country just yet. I’m looking forward to showing my son what wonderful city he was born in.

Living

Leyton

Post author By yaili
Post date 15 April, 2014
No Comments on Leyton

For the first time since I moved to London in 2008, I am not living somewhere along the Piccadilly line, or in North London: Leyton, East and in the Central line, is the place I now call home.

We’d heard houses here were still affordable, so I decided to explore during one of my work visits, about a year ago. I was prepared for the worst.

A few seconds after exiting the Underground station, however, I knew this was it: the high street seemed pretty and busy, most streets off it were lined with Victorian houses, my mobile phone didn’t try to go into roaming mode (like when I took the Overground towards Crystal Palace) and I knew that houses were indeed cheaper.

The fact that less than 10 minutes into my exploration I had walked past a Portuguese café and a Portuguese restaurant certainly helped too.

So here I am now. I am even slowly starting to forget which—and in which order—stations there are in the Piccadilly line.

Living

Return

Post author By yaili
Post date 13 April, 2014
No Comments on Return

Gherkin tilt-shift — Photo by Robin Hawkes

After almost 2 years, I returned. The deal was to see if Belfast worked, and, for several reasons, it didn’t.

Coming back involved three cab rides, a ferry and two trains with two scared cats in tow; a completion on a house just seconds before closing time on a Friday and after several headaches that come with buying your own house; but now that’s all done and it was all worth it.

This was 7 months ago, and I have avoided leaving since. London is just as magnificent as it was before, perhaps more, and I am happy to be a part of it again.

Living Mood

My one and only

We first met when I was 14 and I fell in love. I never forgot her; it was too early for me but for 12 years I lived in the knowledge we’d be together some day. And we did. And it was amazing. Waking up every day was spectacular because I knew she was mine; we had the best of times, and when I was less than happy she was always there to make me smile.

But things change, life moves on, and I left her, safe in the knowledge I could still see her once in a while. I wasn’t going far.

I can’t tell if those once in a while visits are making me happier or sadder. But I can tell that sometimes you just find the one and nothing else will ever compare.

I miss London.

Living

Going

Post author By yaili
Post date 29 November, 2011
1 Comment on Going

The first time I visited London, in 1997, I fell in love. Until I moved from Portugal in 2008, I dreamed of how wonderful it would be to walk to work every day by the Thames, of not being a tourist in London, of feeling it was my city. And it never disappointed me. Walking by the Thames was in reality taking the rush hour tube to Hampstead, then Soho, then Millbank, but that didn’t matter.

For me, London is the best, most beautiful city in the world. Just walking along the street makes me happy like I don’t believe any other city will ever do. But the plan was always to move on, to see other places. Belfast is not Paris, but I believe what awaits me there is great in its own way.

My first return is scheduled for 6 weeks from today, so I can’t really feel like I’m saying goodbye. London will now always be mine and in my heart.

Going out Sports Streets

Ice skating

Somerset House outdoor ice rink — Photo by David Fisher

I’m not what you’d call the sporty type, but I do love London and the ice rinks that open during the cold season are some of the most beautiful winter spots in the city, especially during the dark evenings.