i *heart* the heath

hey there faithful readers - it was another lovely weekend in the city of london - i managed to stay outdoors as long as possible and got some great rays.  saturday it was back to london fields (see previous post) for some giggling at the fashion choices of my fellow east londoners and a pint or two with DL at the cat & mutton - tee hee hee. 

but alas, my house keys decided that they wanted to spend a little bit more time in the park and didn't make it home with me.  after a trip out to east ham to see lesia the cleaning lady who had a spare set, the weekend was finally back on track.

sunday was another adventure outdoors, this time to hampstead heath.  HH is just a few stops north on the northern line, and it consists of a series of parks and ponds that have been around since the 900s (yes, that's more than 1000 years ago).  one of the things that HH has kept over the years is a series of single-sex ponds, which you can imagine is a big hit with london's queer set.  i was just happy to be there, soaking up the sun, listening to GaGa on some ipod speakers near by and munching on some snacks from the tesco's down the way.  the single-sex aspect was just icing on the cake. :)

a couple of more observations though to help you set the scene:

1) aussieBum, like Lady GaGa, is everywhere.  unfortunately, the bodies that are usually seen in aussieBum ads, are not.

2) you apparently are not allowed in the park unless you have an open container of some sort.  that is what london's take is on the open container laws we yanks are more accustomed to.  i like.

3) the other big fans of male-only swimming ponds (besides the obvious)?  Hasidic Jews!  because apparently they can't swim in a pond where women may be menstruating.  i'm not kidding.

so, definitely adding HH to my top london picks for sure...