Long weekend and a trip to Hampstead Heath

After about two weeks of weather that rather resembled late November than August, Marta and Kemal were finally able to see a bit of a sun and expose parts of their bodies that should normally be exposed in summer: a bit of an arm, a bit of a leg (meaning: short sleeve t-shirts, shorts, skirts, no scarves, no coats, no hats and no need to carry an umbrella). On Saturday they sat a bit in their garden though they had to hide under the shade of a tree that grew in the next door neighbours’ garden, otherwise it would have been too hot! Sadly, it was the last day of that tree’s life, it was unscrupulously cut down the following morning…..

Without the tree giving a bit of a shade, sitting in the garden was not an appealing idea any more. They have therefore decided to take Marta’s dear brother Michal and her dear cousin Grzesiu out of their beds and to some open-air attractions. After not being able to decide what to do, they finally agreed on going to Hampstead Heath. Hampstead Heath is only a few stops away from their house by an infamous Silverlink train. The Silverlink train deserves a complete story on its own, so we won’t be getting into any intrinsic details about it here. Marta wrote something about it before and it can be accessed through her other blog: www.marta-in-london.blogspot.com. Hope that explains everything!

Here they are waiting for the Silverlink train:



Suffice to say, the trip wasn’t as bad as expected (and anything can be expected from Silverlink trains) and a short while later they ventured into beautiful streets of Hampstead Heath. They walked and walked, they passed some nice houses and they reached a busy street with lots of nice cafes and little lovely shops.

Here they are walking past some nice houses:



They stopped in one of the bakeries to buy organic walnut bread and then sat down in a lovely little café that had a huge display of cakes in its front window. They all ordered a piece of cake while drinking their coffee and tea, ate the cakes and had very good time.

Here they are drinking coffees and teas, eating cakes and having very good time:



Loaded with sugar and caffeine and feeling a bit heavy, they wanted to go back home and just lie down, but their adventurous side won the battle and they decided to have a walk to the Hampstead Heath park, at least for a bit. They walked and walked and finally they reached a hill from which there was a nice view of London and stayed there for a while.

Here they are staying there for a while:



They’ve decided that this should be the last part of their uneventful trip to Hampstead. They walked to Gospel Oak train station (it turned out to be a long, tiring walk!) and jumped on the train back to Dalston, to soon arrive home again. It was now time for some dinner, so Marta’s dear cousin Grzesiu made a delicious leek soup and two lasagnes (one meaty and one vegetarian one) and Marta and her dear brother Michal were helping him. They all ate the delicious meal and watched a Polish comedy on DVD, had some bears, ice-creams and collapsed on their beds very tired (not sure whether tired from walking or from eating). However, Marta did not get much sleep, as there was a mouse somewhere in the room above, scratching away all night long, keeping Marta quite awake!

The trip to Hampstead Heath was not very eventful, but it was very nice. It was lovely to be able to spend all day together again. They all (OK, maybe apart from Marta) are working very hard and can hardly see one another during the week. It was nice that they had one day when they were all off from work.

Marta got a bit crazy about doors of the lovely houses in Hampstead, and decided to collect “the door pictures”. She took quite a few of those. Here it is …a little door fetish of Marta:



Kemal was him-annoying-Marta-self, as usual, and was having quite a good time, in his own way: secretly taking pictures of cats and not telling Marta anything about it (who shouted at him in the meantime….), putting strange things into Marta’s hair and laughing, jumping, lying down, pretending to be in Lord of the Rings movie, etc, etc.

Here he is, being himself:



and:



Marta’s dear cousin Grzesiu was a bit unhappy that such a lovely day off was wasted on such a short and uneventful trip to Hampstead Heath. He wanted to go to Oxford or explore some of the London bits he has not seen before. Marta promised her dear brother Grzesiu that they will go to Oxford next time. But when this will happen, remains still unresolved.

Here is Grzesiu, unhappy about wasting such a nice day off:



Quite opposite to Grzesiu’s adventurous drive, Marta’s dear brother Michal was quite happy they did not go anywhere and could rest finally. Well, he felt that a cold was catching up with him again and even skipped the ice-cream bit, just in case.

Here he is, feeling happy about having such a nice day off:



The rest of the weekend was not eventful, either. Everyone (apart from Marta again, lazy, lazy!) was working hard, so Marta was left to herself and was in a miserable mood actually. Her shopping trip with Kemal (who then left her there and went to work) to Oxford Street on Sunday turned out to be a disaster as she did not mange to buy any clothes for herself and did not manage to buy a laptop and only managed to buy a bag for a laptop that seems to be a bit too small for that laptop that she does not yet have. And the fact that she has put on a bit of weight (“a bit” is an understatement) and has nothing to wear (not that she ever had, for that matter), made her even more miserable. Though, this did not stop her from eating a cheesecake in that lovely café in Hampstead Heath and later a big portion of the lasagne (well, it was delicious!). However, the reality strikes back and she had to delete half of the pictures of herself taken during the trip to Hampstead Heath. And it could be so easy – just eating a bit less, avoiding chocolate and sweets, not eating bread….Easier said than done, we know. But, come on, Marta! You can do it!

Marta is an expert on diets. She has tried almost every diet that has been ever invented. Recently, she is a big anti-diet propagator and believes in the motto that says: “dieting makes you fat” (well, she’s the best example!). She has read almost every book on nutrition and dieting and even some on exercise. She has some exercise and slimming equipment. She is so well prepared for losing weight. It’s a big wonder that she still struggles with that subject. She should be really slim and well nourished and very fit by now, well if only she ever took advice of any of the books she read for more than 2 days after reading them! The last book she bought was called “No diet diet!” but the approach of no-dieting described in this book did not work for Marta either (surprise, surprise).

But let’s leave the poor thing alone, she has enough do deal with on a daily basis as it is (trying to fit in her clothes every morning is a big enough challenge already). Let’s not make matters worse for her and let her be. Does everyone have to be slim and fit and well nourished? Well, let’s leave that questions unanswered for the moment, though we know what Marta would say. And that would be a definite “NO! Not everyone, but I DO!”

Not a big Deal

While coming back home from a visit to Gosia and Brian’s house and still shaking a bit, Marta talked to her friend Meral on the phone and was invited to go with her and her boyfriend Murat fishing in a small seaside town in Kent, called Deal. Kemal was also happy about the idea and even did not mind the fact that they had to wake up around 4.30am and meet Meral and Murat at 5am on Sunday morning. Meral and Murat came to pick up Marta and Kemal in their new shiny black car and off they went....to greet the sun on its journey up the sky.

The day looked very promising and the hues of the rising sun made the world around look incredibly beautiful. After almost running over a couple of bunnies happily occupying the middle of the road, they arrived in front of a Deal Pier before 7am. It was lovely: quiet, serene, peaceful. The sea was calm, there were almost no people (maybe apart from 1 or 2 fishers already on the pier), the beach was deserted and clean (well, no wonder, it was 7am on Sunday morning!) and only the occasional cry of a seagull disturbed the quietness and silence of the place. It was just perfect (and the total opposite of the scenery in Brighton!)

Meral, Murat, Marta and Kemal all felt very happy that they managed to wake up early and arrive in this place at that time. There is something special about early hours of the day. Although the nature is already up, the world of mankind is still soundly asleep in their warm beds and whoever does manage to get out of their bed, even in the middle of civilization and surrounded by concrete walls, is able to get closer to nature at that time.

They unpacked all their food and blankets from the car and settled down on the pier.
It was now time for some breakfast, so Meral started preparing sandwiches and Marta was helping her. They ate the sandwiches and drunk some tea (not too much as it all spilled out from the flask in the boot of the car during the journey) and Murat organised his fishing rods and they relaxed. Nothing much actually happened, as it turned out that the fish in the sea was not hungry that day, so Murat and Kemal decided to sleep a little on the benches and Meral and Marta decided to go for a little tour on the pier. The view from the pier was really nice and the girls enjoyed themselves a lot.

Here is the view from the pier:



Then, when the shops started opening, they decided to go and visit Deal. Before they left the pier, they were stopped by the pier guard who showed them his photographs of the place that he printed and sold to the tourists. Meral and Marta pretended that they liked them and ended up buying one each out of politeness. Good girls!

So, they went for a coffee first, which was a bit strange tasting, but at least half the price of any coffee in London – so it wasn’t too bad. Then, they went to visit the shopping centre, but most of the shops were closed. Then, they went to see the Deal castle – although it wasn’t a big deal and then, they ended up on the beach, trying to relax a little. That was the best part of the trip around not a big Deal.

Here they are on the Deal beach:



It started getting hot, so on their way back to the pier they bought some ice cream for everyone. But when they came back on the pier, they saw boys sitting there freezing in the wind that was getting stronger and stronger. The fish did not become hungry, so all that Murat managed to catch was a few crabs and a couple of squids….which he then threw back to the sea. A bit dispirited, he came up with an idea of going for a picnic somewhere else.

So, they all packed their food and their blankets and went back to the car. Murat then drove through picturesque little villages to Dover and then to a nice spot nearby, next to the cliffs on one side and the sea on the other. They stopped on the way to take some photos of the scenery.

Here is the scenery:



The weather was perfect for a picnic. So they lay out their blankets again, ate, and fell sleepy. However, before they managed to relax, a guard came and told them that they were lying down on a prohibited patch of grass and that they should move to a “designated picnic area”. And so they did. Now, nothing could move them from there and they all fell asleep. Except for Marta, who managed to take a few photos of the place.

Here are a few photos of the place:







They slept and slept and the sun shone on them and shone. Soon, they all became quite reddish. They would stay there for much longer, it was such bliss, but big clouds started covering the sun and without the sun shining on them and quite a strong wind blowing from the sea, they started freezing. Well, not exactly freezing, but it became uncomfortably cold.

It was time to head back home and two hours later, after being stuck in a huge traffic jam and seeing some nasty accidents on the way, they arrived at Marta and Kemal’s place for a few glasses of Turkish tea. Marta’s dear cousin Grzesiu was busy making baklava and Murat fell asleep on the little couch in the kitchen. Meral and Marta were testing some secret equipment in Marta’s room and their faces burned with red heat that was now starting to come out.

Everybody had really great time in Deal, though it wasn’t big and there were no fish.
Sometimes just going and spending a day outside of London in good company can feel like real holidays. And that how this trip felt to Marta and Kemal. It was just perfect – a real treat! and they are really grateful to Meral and Murat for making it possible for them to happen!

Gosia and Brian

After a successful trip to a hairdresser on Saturday morning with her dear brother Michał and dear cousin Grzesiu, Marta went to see her friend Gosia and her almost two-year old son, Brian. They live in a remote area of London (well, at least it’s remote from Dalston, where Marta and Kemal live), so it took Marta around 2 hours longer to get there then she initially planned and so was around 2 hours late! Gosia wasn’t too upset about it and came out with Brian to meet Marta in front of the house.

Brian was already smiling at Marta when he saw her in the distance, so all the upsetting thoughts about long trips and being late quickly vanished. They walked back home, Gosia prepared a nice meal while Marta played a bit with Brian, they ate, drunk, played some more and decided to go out. In the meantime, there were a lot of laughters from Gosia and Marta at Brian’s latest antics and fashion choices.

Here is Brian’s latest fashion choice:



Apparently, Brian’s favourite place is a small playground near their house, and so the three of them went there. The next 15 minutes were the most stressful 15 minutes of Marta’s life and even up until now, she cannot stop thinking about it and starts shaking uncontrollably whenever she’s reminded of the experience. For Gosia it was normal 15 minutes of the day, not more unusual than the remaining 1,425 minutes that she spends with Brian every day!!!! So, she was quite calm while Marta had almost torn all her hair out!

The reason for all this trauma was Brian – happily running around the playground!
Well, maybe it looked happily from Brian’s own perspective, but for Marta it was a dangerous, life-threatening, terrifying, frightening, horrifying, scary, petrifying and hair-raising experience! The are so many hazards in such a small area that a child not expecting anything can run into – there are sharp edges, swinging metal seats on chains (that people call swings, but Marta calls them guillotines), there are dangerously high slides, chains, metal polls, scary benches, high steps, merry-go-rounds (though there is nothing merry about them!) other children running happily (they are the most dangerous things!) and of course there is the ground that a child runs around on and can trip over and fall down and get hurt! Oh my God – was the only thing that Marta was able to utter after the worst 15 minutes of her life were over! Brian was still alive and had all his hands and legs still intact and both eyes and all the teeth that should be there and no blood was pouring down from his nose or other organs of his little body, and he was still smiling!!!! What a relief!!! Though to Marta’s amazement, Brian did not feel too happy about going back home – apparently he really had good time and Gosia and Marta exchanged knowing looks and there was a silent agreement between them: let’s get Brian away from this place as soon and as far as possible!

Here is Brian happily running around the playground, unaware of the many dangers lurking around him:




Here is Brian having great fun, while Marta’s hair is standing on its end:







Exhausted by the constant fear and terror she went through earlier, Marta was happy to get back to Gosia’s and Brian’s flat! She could not believe what had just happened and Gosia tried to calm her down a bit. But Marta’s mood lifted only when Gosia started bathing Brian and Brain started smiling again….

Here is Brian bathing and smiling again:



Going back home, Marta had plenty of time (that was around 2 hours again) to think over the events of the day and most importantly, the events that took place on the playground. She thought about how difficult it is to be a mother, how difficult it is to find a balance between total control (that would for Marta mean, keeping Brian all the time in her hands and sitting down on a bench and looking around and that’s it!) and letting Brian run around and experience life – dangerous as it may be….. These are the difficult questions of life and, all in all, it was a good lesson for Marta too. She learned that she was not yet ready for such choices and maybe lack of a descendant (in Brian’s age in particular and any in general) in this moment of Marta’s life, is actually a good thing. Not only for Marta, but especially for the descendant him- or herself!

At the seaside

As the weather suddenly remembered that it is summer actually and that there supposed to be some sun shining from time to time and that big dark clouds are a definite "no, no" and that the temperature should not fall below 25˚C and should preferably stay at around 30˚C, Marta’s dear brother Michal and dear cousin Grzesiu had a brilliant idea of going and spending a day at the seaside. Kemal decided to stay at home and without anyone to distract him, study a bit for his exams.

So, they woke up on Sunday before 11am (which was a big accomplishment), ate a quick breakfast and after dropping into a Polish shop for a piece of cheesecake (no trip to seaside can be called successful without a piece of Polish cheesecake) travelled to…Brighton! They took the train from London Bridge station and around 1 hour later, they set their feet on the hot beach pebbles.

Here are the hot beach pebbles:



They decided to stay on the hot pebbled beach for a while, though it resembled more a rush hour in Oxford Street than anything that can be associated with a beach. Marta’s dear cousin Grzesiu decided not to be put off by anything silly like this and went swimming, like a normal person enjoying the beach and the sea.

Here is dear cousin Grzesiu swimming (or shall we say James Bonding):



Marta and her dear brother Michal decided against even getting knee deep in the water, though they tried as much as possible to enjoy themselves none the less. Marta had to concentrate hard to actually come to terms with the fact that there she was on a beach – at the seaside – in – Brighton! It wasn’t easy. It just did not seem real, “beachy”, or even “seay”. She tried hard, she closed her eyes, tried to smell the sea, tried to hear the sea….but it was no use. The noise of people’s voices and of the traffic from the street not far in the distance made it simply impossible. Marta’s dear brother Michal decided to at least get a bit of a tan and… fell asleep. Marta’s dear brother Grzesiu slept a bit as well, probably he was exhausted by the swimming in the sea, and Marta read her Polish magazine, which was about “life as celebration” and felt happy, in spite of all the earlier disappointments.

However, the next disappointment didn’t let Marta and dear brother Michal and dear cousin Grzesiu wait for itself for long. It all started when they felt hungry and decided to try some nice fish. Being at the seaside and not to try a fish? No way! Finding a nice fish restaurant at the seaside that has a nice fresh fish and does not leave you bankrupt at the same time – no way too! So, they ended up at a small, smelly beach fish and chips place and had a very disappointing fish and chips that did not leave them bankrupt.

Here is the very disappointing fish and chips that did not leave them bankrupt:


Guess the picture speaks for itself.

Next, with full stomachs and with lots of money still in their wallets, they decided to check what the Brighton Pier was all about. That it was a disappointment was no surprise to any of them, but they took some photos, looked back at the crowds spread on the whole length of the beach in both directions, and could not help it but have some ice-cream and try to escape the madness - back to the peace and quiet of Dalston, London.

Here they are checking what the Brighton Pier was all about:




Here they are having some ice-cream and trying to escape the crowds - back to the peace and quiet of Dalston, London:



Waiting for the train, they decided to go to a pub for a pint of something that would help them forget about all the disappointments of the day and maybe to enjoy themselves for a change. The pub was nice, and so were the pints of Guinesses:

Here they are, forgetting about all the disappointments of the day:



However, the biggest disappointment yet was still to come! And that had nothing to do with the beach or the pebbles or the sea or the fish and chips or the pier or Guiness. And had everything to do with crowds and public transport. Suffice to say, they had to wait for another train to arrive as the one they hoped on taking was too crowded to even get on. Using their wits and cunning, they managed to board the next train back to London Bridge that was half an hour later and they even got the seats. Though the train kept stopping on the way because of some drunken young men trying to have fun destroying the already dilapidated train that only still worked by a sheer force of a miracle, they arrived home at around 11.30pm – that is 4 hours after the nice pints of Guinesses.


Sunday trip to Brighton? No comment! Next time we want to go somewhere exciting and with Kemal!!!! (and where there aren’t any people preferably, any ideas?)