We are learning that there are many ways to spot a Londoner. For instance perpetual use of mobile phones and a guerrilla attitude to walking. A Londoner can also be identified when you spot The London A-Z Guide in their hands. It is the essential map book in the City. We were discussing a particular neighbourhood with my uncle, a lifelong Londoner. He reached behind himself and conjured up an A-Z that was literally falling apart to determine the streets in question.

Left with little to do in the evenings, Joanne and I took to looking in our A-Z Guide and picking a place, route for our walks. Just owning an A-Z makes us feel like we belong in this city. Often we would aim our feet towards parks within walking distance of our flat. When you are unemployed, that can be a large arc.

One of the places we ended up was Primrose Hill Park in the North West. The greatest feature of the park is the spectacular view from the crest of the eponymous hill. From the summit, you command a sweeping view South. You look down the hill, over the park full of picnickers and games of pick-up football.

Past Primrose Hill, across Prince Albert Road is Regent Park. Visible over the tree tops is the green copper roof of the monkey house and the netting of the aviary in the London Zoo. The canal with its brick tow paths leads all the way to the Camden High Street and beyond. Here, inside the concentric ring roads, Shakespeare is performed in the Open Air Theatre. This is where we saw the memorial ceremony for the victims of the 7/7 attacks.

Beyond Regent’s Park is the London skyline. What is clear is the contrast between the old and new. The dome of St Paul’s cathedral was built after the Great Fire that destroyed vast areas of London in 1667. It can be found amongst the modern counterpoint of the Swiss Re building (also known as the gherkin) and the London Eye.
[The gherkin can bee seen in the very centre of the picture. It peeks out through some non-descript office buildings.]

We put together a picnic lunch on our last Sunday of unemployment. We sat in the shade of a huge plain tree in Primrose Hill Park. With our sandwiches and Sunday Times and London spread out, it was just the place to be. As you can tell, this was written earlier and was going to be posted through the week. Larger, more pressing news elbowed its way past however. London is great city full of surprises like the ones this week.

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge them.]