Richmond Park - An Urban Gem

On Saturday, I met up with my friend Rob. We headed to Richmond Park which is about a 30 minute bus ride from Clapham. Richmond Park is one of the largest Royal Parks in London. According to the website, in 1625, Charles I brought his court to Richmond Palace to escape the plague in London and turned it into a park for red and fallow deer. I caught a glimpse of some deer through the trees.
http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond_park/history.cfm

The park is amazing! You almost can't believe it's so close to London. This park is this urban gem, a mini-retreat from everyday life.



It had been almost a year since I last road a bike and I was really longing to go for a bike ride. For the last three weekends, we've had really nice weather so once again I decided to take advantage of the lovely day. At the park, you can rent bikes by the hour. This was not your typical bike ride along the flat Chicago lakefront. Richmond Park has dirt trails and many hills. I felt victorious as I rode uphill. I felt so free, controlling my own destiny riding along the path. Fifteen minutes later as I was reading the sign, "You are strongly encouraged to dismount," I took a nasty fall down the hill. I scraped my palms and knee pretty bad. I blame it on being a city girl riding on a dirt road and the bald tires. Maybe???

Luckily, I have a high tolerance for pain and a good sense of humor. I picked myself up and continued to ride..back to the bike rental.



We then walked through the park and I must say, it was sensory overload with green everywhere. There were also several creeks and ponds. There was this crane, standing in the water and there were ducks playing and jesting one another.



We exited the park and walked through the town along the river. Richmond is a very posh town as well. I really loved the vibe of the town. The river front was lined with sidewalk cafes and restaurants. Similar to Clapham, there were people everywhere just lounging in the grass and enjoying the day.




This is definitely one of my favourite places in London by far.

My Traveling Partner

People have commented that I am so brave to venture out into another country on my own. They wonder how I do it being so far away from friends and family. The answer is simple. My Mom.

Three years ago today I lost my mom to lung cancer. She was my world - my soul sister, my best friend. In trying to cope with her loss, searching for the meaning of life and the courage to move on, I remembered her words to me as she was battling cancer...."Maybe now this is your time to move to another state or another country." Almost two years later, I dug deep and found the courage to pack up my life and move to London.

My mom had always known that I loved to travel and experience new and different things. She would take every chance to remind me to be financially responsible saying "Oh, you've bought too many clothes. Oh, you should save your money." Never once did she ever question my spending habits when it came to traveling. I remember when I was as young as 9 or 10, I belonged to a church that ran a summer camp in Green Bay, Wisconsin. As a single mother, she did everything in her power to make sure I could attend camp. When I was there, she'd write me letters, send care packages, and accept my collect calls, phoning her to tell her I missed her and was homesick.

So as I am here in London, 4000 miles away from home, I feel my mom with me. The coolest dream I've had is that my mom logs onto Facebook and checks out the photos of my travels.

I often wonder what she would like and dislike about London. My mom would absolutely love the mild weather. Not too hot and not too cold. My mom liked when it rained and the smell of the air that followed before a good rain. She would absolutely love how everyone smokes here. My mom smoked for 35 years. I think she would like the open markets like Colombia Flower Market, Borough Market and Spitalfields. We always loved to go shopping together whether it was browsing or to do some serious shopping.

She probably wouldn't like the transit system and the crowds. She loved having a car and running her errands fairly easy. She wouldn't really like the everyday food here but would like the occasional good restaurant. She would probably go crazy for not having a Dunkin' Donuts on every corner for her convenience.

As I travel Europe, I have these "ah-ha" moments. Last week it was as simple as lounging in the park with Stanley and being a peace. In Barcelona, it was the beauty of being by the sea. It's these breath taking moments when I think wow, I'm really here. I'm really experiencing this and not once do I feel alone because in a spiritual way I know my mom is with me. I know she would love just being with me and that we would enjoy whatever journey we were on. Always and Forever.

Carpe Diem

The last two weekends have been really nice and sunny in London. The streets are even more crowded than usual with people. The cafes are packed with people dining alfresco. Everyone is people watching. The women are dressed in the latest fashion trends for summer weather. Cool, boho chic as I describe it.

From what my friends tell me, this weather is not really common. While we do have our share of sunny days in the summer, these days are few and far between and occur around June/July. I guess that would explain why us Londoners (notice how I include myself now) take advantage at the first sign of great weather.

Until a few weeks ago, I was on the fence about my neighborhood. It was recommended to me by my colleague, Patrick, at work. He asked me which neighborhood I liked in Chicago (he's an American expat from Chicago) and he would give me the equivalent in London. I told him I really liked the Bucktown/Wicker Park area in Chicago. I loved the little cafes, cool restaurants, and boutique shops that you could find there. Patrick recommended Clapham in Southwest London. You can read more about my town here - http://claphamhighstreet.co.uk/Content/chshistory.htm and http://www.loveclapham.com/clapham-common-guide/275

Patrick has made many friends here and really talked it up. He said that Clapham is a really cool place in the summer with outdoor music festivals in the park. He said that usually people just hang out in the Common and have picnics. People run and there are organized 5Ks in the Common. Moving to Clapham in Autumn and Winter months when people tend not to go out as much really didn't help give me the full appreciation.

Clapham is starting to grow on me. Patrick has introduced me to some of his friends. We went to a neighborhood pub on a Monday night for a pub quiz. Once after pizza in Brixton, we headed over to this other pub and played card games. Over the last few weeks, I've been exploring a bit more. I love to have breakfast and checked out a French cafe. It was followed by boutique shopping where I bought this really cute dress.

The most recent highlight was this Sunday. It was an exceptionally beautiful day. I had taken it easy most of the weekend and it was more of a go-with-the-flow kind of day. No hurry to do anything. I decided that I would have enough patience to take Stanley for a long walk to the Common. The Common is not really far in terms of "human" walking distance but with a partially blind, small dog that likes to sniff and mark everything, the peaceful experience can become frustrating very easily.

Not this Sunday. I kept Stanley focused and we made our way to the Common. To my expectation, there were tons of people out. You would think people were queueing up to watch some event. I liken it to July 3rd in Chicago when people stake their spot along the lakefront and Grant Park to watch the firework display. The only difference is that people were just lounging around to enjoy the day. It was funny because you'd see people with orange Sainsbury bags from the supermarket filled with goodies for a nice impromptu picnic.




I couldn't help but feel like a tourist and document this for my friends back home. It was really cool.

Stanley and I made our way through the Common and found a nice spot in the shade. We did our share of people watching.

I texted Patrick to see if by chance he was around because it seemed like everyone from the neighborhood was in the park. To my surprise, he was at the local Starbucks. We met him there and then found another place to relax. I let Stanley off the lead and let him sniff and mark to his heart's content.


It was a perfect day - eerily quiet and clear skies because of the flight restrictions in the UK caused by the Volcanic ash but perfect nonetheless. Life is really good. You have to seize days like this. Carpe Diem.

My Workout Plan

Slowly, I am taking steps to establish roots in London. A few weeks ago, I found a hair stylist even though I almost freaked out as he was cutting my hair. I had been going to Ella in Chicago for 6 years. It felt like I was cheating on her....I have my favorite Thai place that I go to often. A certain brand of bread that I really like. Little things that are becoming routine for me.

I haven't quite been able to commit to a mobile phone package yet.

The biggest commitment I made so far was to join a health club. I joined Virgin Health Clubs which is a popular chain of gyms throughout the UK. Note - I only signed up for 3 months. I had to pay a bit more however because that I walk everywhere, I am afraid it won't be convenient enough for me so I am on my own personal trial basis. I also decided to sign up for two personal training sessions to give me the extra motivation. Today as I met this young 20-something girl, I wished for my old trainer Lisa. My new trainer was really nice though.

She asked me the typical questions - What are your fitness goals, how much weight do you want to lose, blah, blah.... We proceeded to take my BMI measurements. The first obstacle to overcome - how to convert my height into centimeters....no idea....Second obstacle - translate my weight in pounds to kilos and stones....She had no clue so she had me go on the scale at the gym. It was so funny.

As we proceeded to develop a workout plan, I went on the treadmill to warm up. When I was initially on the treadmill, I noticed I wasn't going as fast I would have expected had I been on a treadmill back home. She pointed out that I needed to be on the treadmill that calculated miles per hour. We were trying to figure out what my mileage would be in kilometers. How complicated. I swear the treadmill I used at my old gym gave me the distance in kilometers.

My experience pointed out the obvious that I already knew - only Americans have their own metric system. The rest of the world uses kilometers, centimeters, celcius, the correct date format. However, it's sooo hard to unlearn all the years of thinking in a certain way...Sometimes I get a headache when I have to write 13/04/2010 or 12-Apr-2010. Imagine big project schedules??

After my training session, I went home and converted my weight from stones into pounds! I turned to my trusty google tool bar for a conversion tool. Geez I have some work to do!

Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?

I love the lyrics of Paloma Faith's song for so many reasons. The truth is that I am really loving London. At times, I am torn between the familiarity I have in Chicago and the newness of London. London always wins out because I will call a new friend and make plans or think about all the things I still have to do in here.

This weekend my cousins are here from Chicago. Tonight we had drinks, dinner and drinks in Covent Garden at Harry's Cafe and Lounge. Despite the rain, it was a great night. We ended the night at Cafe Boheme. Most of the pubs close around 12:00a.m. so we walked over Cafe Boheme and ended the night there. We also made friends with this Australian guy.

It feels really good to have family here. Hopefully I will get to see other friends soon.

5 Month Reflections

March 2nd marked my 5th month living in London. Wow..almost half a year. Ever since I came back from my trip to Chicago, I've had a renewed spirit for London. I look forward to planning my social activities and holidays here. Perhaps it wasn't that my spirit needed to be renewed however, I just wasn't quite sure how I felt about London.

The last month has been milestone month for me living here. I feel like I've hit my stride at work. I love my job. My responsibilities have expanded here. I have a great working relationship with my manager. He supports my career goals and really sees me as an asset to the company. I travel quite a bit. Every month for the next year, I will be in Paris for a monthly client meeting. When the weather is nicer and Sofia is free, I will make a few weekends of it. This Friday I am flying to Copenhagen for a meeting and then I am extending the trip into the weekend to do some exploring.

Personally, I continue to meet new people and explore different areas of London. For the last two weeks, I had been in the West End for a few nights out. Last weekend, I had two friends of a friend turn up and stay with me. I had never met them but they knew a friend of mine. They were grad students doing their MBA and needed a break after mid-terms. I was meeting up with my colleague and his friends for lunch so I brought them along. We had pizza in this really cool place not too far from me that I never knew existed because I had gotten in the habit of going straight to the tube for work - http://www.francomanca.co.uk/ Everyone got on very well. Later that evening, they also met up with me in Notting Hill for drinks which resulted in us making our way to the West End.

This weekend was pretty relaxed. On Friday, I met up with Jacqui and her mum, and sister-in-law for dinner at the Cattle Grill in Balham - http://www.cattlegridrestaurant.com/. I had a really tasty burger...not the salsbury steak texture they typically have here. Her mum invited me to Perth for Christmas and to Melbourne for New Years Eve.

On Saturday, I started training hardcore for the 10K Bupa run that I signed up for in Edinburgh, Scotland. From what people tell me, Edinburgh is very beautiful. It's about a 4 hour train ride. Most likely I will be going solo. I am looking forward it. This will be my redemption for my past experiences traveling alone. I also realized it had been awhile since I ran regularly so it's definitely a good training challenge.

On Sunday, I was in East London at the Spitalfields market with my friend Lucy. I love hanging out with Lucy. She encourages me to shop and we talk about the fashion in London. Spitalfields is a very funky, eclectic market. I love to people watch and see everyone's individual style who roam the market. Unfortunately, there was a power outage where the main stalls were at so we didn't do too much shopping. We did find a really good food hall and I had an arepa with chicken and cheese. Somewhat of a Mexican gordita. In the food hall, you could find everything from Ethiopian, Indian, Chinese, French, Italian, to Mexican food. Lucy and I had fun tasting the samples including the cheesecake.

After I left Lucy, I headed to an American Expat meet up group that was being organized in a pub in Hackney not too far from the market. I met Amber there. It was a really great time. We were kind of skeptical because Amber said they were not very organized in the past. There was about 10 -12 people and they were all very friendly. They were from all over the place - New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, New Jersey, and Milwaukee. We even had two Brits. One of them was a die hard Bears fan. He was sporting a Bears cap. I love him already. He said that there is a Facebook group for London Chicago Bears fans. I am all over that! I was great to hear their personal stories about how they came to England and their perceptions of this country. We definitely agreed it was hard to make British friends. (That's my new mission, befriend 3 British friends outside of work) The single girls talked about dating here which is very intriguing to get their perspective. By the end of the meeting, I had exchanged numbers with most of the people I met and I am looking forward to making plans with them when I get back from my trip.

So this is typically how my weeks have been in London. I try and make new experiences for myself and meet new people. I am keeping an open mind and taking every opportunity to venture out and create my own way here. It's been great!

Double Three 3-3

Two weekends ago I celebrated my 33rd birthday in the West End. I met up with some friends that I have made here - Jacqui (right), from Australia, Amber (left) who I met in Barcelona, from Oklahoma but last lived in Chicago for 6 years, Jacqui's friend, Louisa and some of her friends.


In looking back at my blogs, I realize I've never speak too much about the new people that I meet...So here goes....

Jacqui's been one of my best friends since I've moved here. She's so sweet, the life of the party, enjoys cheap wine with me and loves Stanley. She's been a great Auntie, watching Stanley when I am away for business or on holiday. She even had him running short sprints with her! Her husband (also a great person) introduced me and Stanley to Sunday roasts which we love.

Although I just met Amber, I think we knew each other in another life. We arrived in London around the same time, both from Chicago, have similar interests, share similar stories, fellow single lady....to name a few...Notice how we almost match! And it was not done on purpose. I'm looking forward to our Easter holiday in Lisbon.

Back to my birthday....We headed out for a nite on the town stopping first at a "Mexican" restaurant for dinner. Food was tolerable for British Mexican food. From there we headed to Verve, a lounge/club in the West End. In the West End you'll find the theater district, night life, Chinatown, and loads of people always up to have a good time. The night was spent dancing to great music, laughing and just being silly. I had a memorable night that evening.

On Sunday, my actual birthday, I was invited for a Mexican lunch at my friend Rob's house in Chelsea. The food was awesome and it was great to meet his friends.

To cap off my birthday weekend, I met up with Jason. We had a few drinks in Chelsea at the Big Easy and he surprised me with a nice gift. I walk around with these white bobbie socks. Well Jason upgraded me to some white and purple checkered socks from a foo-foo place. I love it!


Jason was my first friend in London. We share a love of R&B music, he gives me great advice and he just cracks me up. He's shown me the ropes around my neighborhood and in London yet empowers me to learn some things on my own. I am truly grateful for his friendship.




It is my wish that every year, I continue to meet great people like Jacqui, Amber and Jason and make lasting friendships for a lifetime.