Parklife

Wonderful day in London, starting with breakfast with the Stegers in Holland Park (which strangely I think I've only visited once before today) and ending with dinner with the Frenchs in Hampstead. Great to see them all - out of the China context. 
In between we drove through Notting Hill, Maida Vale, Kilburn and - on a whim, re-living our past - to Cricklewood. In the mid-80s Liz and I lived a few hundred yards apart from each other in Ebbsfleet Road and Fordwych Road respectively, overlappingly & unknowingly.
On to the rather posher surroundings of Kenwood on Hampstead Heath which unfortunately  was closed for renovations, but we enjoyed a fine lunch in its still open cafe. What an incredible place the Heath is: nearly 800 acres of un-manicured heath and woodlands, a stone's throw from central London - which we viewed from Parliament Hill. The vista has changed a bit from the stainless-steel panoramic plaque which was placed there in 1984. Since then a whole clutch of iconic buildings have made their way into the skyline: Tate Modern, the Gerkin, Canary Wharf and of course the Shard. Yet it still looks like a glorified village.