First of all, I think it’s wonderful that I can go see a farm while still being in London. On Sunday I wanted to do something out of the house, but I didn’t want to do the usual things. I was feeling tired of crowds and museums and loafing around. I found a list of “alternative” things to do in London and Hackney City Farm caught my eye. I could be outside, I didn’t have to book anything, it was free, and only a short ride away. Yes please.

To get there I took the overground to Hoxton and walked about 1/3 mile the rest of the way. The farm is also accessible from the tube using the Bethnal Green stop and then also walking about 1/3 mile. The actual farm is located inside Haggerston Park. As I walked through I saw people having picnics and playing tennis. When I arrived at the farm there were a few families and small groups of adults. The clear lack of crowds was a huge plus. I also immediately saw lots of animals. Squeal!

I liked that the animals were mixed in together. I know almost nothing about farming, but the set up seemed friendly, the animals had room to roam, and everything I read about sustainable happy animal farming seems to say that mixed use and shared spaces are the best. So anyway, it seemed a good signs that the ducks, chickens, sheep, and goats were all chilling together. A donkey was nearby too. 

The first animals I saw were goats. This little kid was feeding them bread (I’m not sure if that was even allowed), but that’s why they are so eager looking and close to the fence. The goats are a beautiful tawny color which I haven’t seen much before. Nearby were some sheep relaxing in some shade with ducks and chickens noisily wandering around and poking in everyone’s business.

I was really hoping to see some pigs during my visit. I love pigs. I have loved pigs since I was a little girl. I think they are cute and amusing. I collect things with pigs on them, I have a whole Pinterest board of cute pigs, and I barely eat pork products because 6 year old me decided I shouldn’t (in recent years this has gotten lax). I love pigs. And when I told my friend Katerina that I went to this farm she asked, “did you see the huge pigs?” The answer: a pouty no.

There was a big mound of dirt and lots of signs with facts about the pigs. But no pigs. Why? It was hot and pigs don’t have sweat glands. They were hiding in this shed (photo above) to stay cool. You can see the chickens were hanging out in the shade too. Inside you can just make out a pig leg. Sigh. So no pigs this time, but I’ll be back to see them another time. I did see Charlotte’s web though. And by that I mean, I saw an elaborate spider’s web outside of the pig pen, so naturally it’s Charlotte’s Web. Since I have a new fancy camera I wanted to see if I could get a clear shot of the web. So here it is. It’s artsy, and also gross, in it’s own way.

But anyway, instead of pigs I became mildly obsessed with the chickens and roosters. I’m thirty years old, I know what a rooster looks like. But also, I had no idea how beautiful roosters are! They are so colorful! That vibrant red cockscomb, the blue wing feathers, and the jaunty jade tail feathers. This bird is faaancy! I saw more than one rooster and I thought they were all gorgeous, but the one below was my favorite. I also heard some authentic “cock-a-doodle-doo’s” which pleased my city-mouse heart to no end.

I liked the chickens first because of how colorful they were! I know that chickens can be white, brown, yellow, black, and with lots of other color combinations. However, I hardly ever see those chickens. I really enjoyed getting to see different varieties of chickens. I also like that they were just everywhere. Sure, it was a little freaky that they were just right there next to me. And sometimes when I was taking a picture I’d hear crowing so close it felt like it was in my ear. And yes, the nervous-around-animals side of me had the small panics of “oh my God is it going to come peck my feet off?!” But the normal side of me loved it. I loved that the chickens owned the place and could really be free range and come and go as they liked. I saw them leave the coop, walk around the farm, and pop in to different pens with other animals. I even saw one chicken find and eat a worm. That’s the kind of hipster foodie thing people advocate for, so I enjoyed seeing it. I also saw some baby chicks scampering around inside, which you can see in the bottom right photo above.

In addition to animals, the farm also has a garden. It’s a smallish plot, but lovely to walk around in. I enjoyed the informative signs that explained what plants were and why some things were planted and kept together. Ripening all around me I saw raspberries, apples, squash, tomatoes, and chard. The ladybug stone is very cute and was next to a pond where apparently tadpoles had just been born. I couldn’t see anything exciting there, but I like that a plain pond had life in it. Also I didn’t know that apple could grow in big bunches. I thought apples grew… independently with space around them. But, I saw a bunch of apples so I learned something new.

While walking by a tree called the Wishing Tree I saw a number of little kids playing. One of them, about four years old, walked up to me and offered me a handful of dirt while saying something unintelligible. It felt like being at work where kids do weird things and I just have to roll with it. In the end, he only gave me one stone out of the pile. Go figure. Also, I saw this tomato plant with wool in the bottom of the pot. Why do you think the wool is there? Is it to insulate it? Or to keep the water in? I really don’t know, I might have to do some research.

After the garden, I went into the shop. They sell cute farm-themed kids toys, books about bees and composting, and branded t-shirts and bags. Additionally, they also sell eggs, honey, produce from the garden, and some potted tomatoes. A small bag of potatoes was just 80p which I thought was an incredible deal. The farm also has a pottery studio with drop-in classes for both adults (£15 per class) and children (£5 per class). It was closed while I was there, but I peaked in the window and the studio looked spacious, bright, and like a lot of fun. I’ve never used a pottery wheel, but it seemed like a fun thing to try. After walking around it seems like most people end their visit in Frizzante, the cafe at Hackney City Farm. The decor is cozy and contains a mix of well loved wooden furniture. The menu is Italian focused and uses local and seasonal ingredients. It’s a great place to sit and rest your feet after wandering around the farm. If you’re visiting on a Sunday and still  have energy after the farm, my friends have recommended walking onward to the Columbia Road Flower Market. I didn’t know it was so close and so didn’t do this, but maybe for a future Tourist Tuesday I’ll go – and also return to the farm to see the pigs.

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This past weekend I was in the mood to get out of London. I had visions of train rides outside the city to somewhere lovely and beautiful. But, as is so often the case weekend laziness and the desire to sleep in kept that from happening.

Instead, Ryan and I went to Kew Gardens with our friends Adam and Angie. Kew is absolutely wonderful and just as good as a trip outside the city. At one point, Kew was considered the countryside (in the way that uptown Manhattan was once the countryside for downtown). Anyway it’s such a beautiful space, so large, and so charming that it really does feel like being away from the city. 

We jumped on a tour and I fell in love pretty much immediately. The tour guide and our walk through Kew melted away my winter blues and showed me that spring is coming. The skies were blue, it was sunny, and I was wearing a light jacket. I know that’s a mean image for my east coast American friends who are enduring snow – but I don’t care. Spring is coming and I saw it.

Our tour guide had such a great way of explaining things. She talked about the “perfumes, the colors, and the shine. Seriously, shine. Look back at the first picture from the top of this post, and that tree on the bottom right shines as if it’s been polished. It’s the kind of thing I would never notice is someone didn’t point it out to me. She would pull down branches and show us tiny buds and flowers that were starting to peak out. She’d point out bright and astounding splashes of color that were showing off through the brown and grays of winter. In addition to lovely plants, we saw a peacock! And that peacock was straight chillin. He was sauntering around, not at all penned in, as if he owned the place.

Kew is also incredible for it’s history. And sure, there were Kings and Queens who were here – but that’s not the cool part. It was at Kew that people started to index all the botanical names of seed plants. This project started in the 1880’s, and has evolved and today is done in partnership with some other organizations. But back then, people were calling plants all kinds of different things and that wasn’t great for medicines and things like that. So this project, directed by Joseph Hooker at Kew, started to name the plants. This place named plants. That’s awesome.

There are also some hugely awesome trees at Kew. In the photo just above this, the tree on the right, and bottom middle, is a weeping beech. The branches grow downwards and then when they touch the ground those branches take root, and form a new tree! Isn’t the crazy!! Why does a tree grow down?! I thought it was beautiful, all gnarled and a bit tragic, but also tall and dignified. But that is not the coolest tree at Kew. The coolest tree is the pagoda tree in the photos below.

This tree is older than the United States. That fact astounds and humbles me. Seriously, I feel humbled by a tree. Because, old is relative. What’s old for a person, for the U.S., for the world, is so varied. This tree dates back to 1760 and was there for the beginning of this wonderful garden. As you can probably see, it’s in slightly rough shape. Over two hundred years will do that to you. There’s a brick wall build around it and metal crutches to hold it up. Our tour guide said that every fix known to man has been done, and while everyone expects it to go soon, no one wants it going under their watch. This tree is important not only because it’s old, but because they believe it was planted on  the original acres of land and was one of the first 5 of its kind in the country.

We ended our tour with a trip to the orchid exhibition. Orchids are the biggest show offs don’t you think? What with their vivid colors and crazy shapes, orchids are all “look at me.” And how could you not look at them?! They are gorgeous. I took dozens of close up shots of orchids, but I’ll spare you each individual photo.  My favorite orchid is the one in the top right in the photo above. I like that rusty, wine color. I always think of orchids as white or jewel tones, and I like that this one surprised me. Orchids feel special and tropical and like vacation. They’re just wonderful to look at/

And speaking of looking, did you know that insects can see into the ultraviolet spectrum of light? I don’t know if it’s all insects, but some can. In the photo above, in the middle left, that’s an ultraviolet look at an orchid. Kew had a whole room with photos and then changing lights to show the difference in how insects and people see the colors. It was a nice bit a science, and that’s how we ended our trip.

We were at Kew for a few hours, and saw a lot, but in actuality only scratched the surface. We didn’t see the pagoda or the tree top walkway! But it doesn’t matter. I am smitten with Kew and will definitely be going back to see more when the weather warms up.

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On Saturday, Ryan planned for us to go to Hampton Court Palace. This was Henry VIII’s home. What you might not know about me is that I’m crazy about Tudor history. I have read so many books, both fiction and non-fiction. I was obsessed with the Tudors TV show. I had TWO mugs that when you put hot water in them, Henry’s wives would disappear. I love Tudor history so I was really excited for this trip. I was buzzing with excitement. I was the kind of excited children get when you take them to Disney. For all I have read about Henry VIII, I never thought about going to see his palaces or anywhere else related to him. So Ryan planning all this, was fulfilling a dream I didn’t even know I had. It was amazing.  He won some major husband points. Anyway, let me nerd out a ton so I can tell you about my greatest day.

We get there and we’re in line to buy tickets, and I convince Ryan that we should become members. We get free admission to Hampton Court and five other places! One visit to Hampton Court and the Tower of London (which I haven’t done yet but am DYING to) covers the cost of the membership. So now we’re members and I’m so flipping exciting because now I can go back whenever I want. We walk in and I’m overwhelmed with things to look at. We started in the kitchens where costumed interpreters were actually cooking meals. One guys was making a crown out of marzipan and gold foil! He was saying you can actually ground up lapis lazuli into fine powder and put it on the crown, but that it doesn’t taste very good. We saw huge casks for wine and ale and a gigantic fire place. It was so amazing.

We then went out to the main courtyard to meet up with a costumed interpreter for a mini tour. The main court has a fountain that ran with wine! WINE. How cool is that? We met our guide, Jane Seymour’s father (before he was father-in-law to the king), and he took us to meet the king himself! I took one picture and it has half a guy’s head in it but oh well. We listened to that for awhile, then peeled off from the tour to look around for ourselves. Ryan and I picked up the audio guide, which was well worth it! The guide is told with lots of voices, from curators, historians, and costumed interpreters. The screen on the device also shows images and videos, which was a really cool touch. Not only did the guide tell us about the history, but it also told about the conservation of the palace and its contents.

We used the audio guide to tour Henry’s apartments. I was blown away by the great hall. There were amazing tapestries and huge stained glass windows. The room was arranged with long tables and on the table cloths were printed period appropriate etiquette tips. Over the course of the tour we saw where he married Catherine Parr, where Katherine Howard screamed for her freedom, and where Henry went to church. In one hallway there was a painting of Henry with his children and the deceased Jane Seymour. I have read so much about that painting that when I saw it, I audibly gasped.

After that, we toured the gardens, which were truly spectacular. There were immaculately trimmed trees, bright flowers, and beautiful fountains. I can’t adequately describe the love, attention, and beauty that is evident in the gardens so you’ll just have to look at my pictures to understand. Also, I took a creeper photo of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour’s father strolling through the gardens. Is it possible to be star struck by a long dead monarch? If so, I totally was. I loved the trip and left with a souvenir kitchen towel. It’s completely tacky with pictures of Henry VIII and all his wives. I don’t care that it’s tacky. I love it.

Sunday, it was drizzly and we were tired from our long day trip, so we stayed in. I made breakfast and then we went out to the pub later to watch the Arsenal game. I decided to make this breakfast because I thought it looked cool – and that’s really the only reason to make this. It does look cool, but basically it’s toast and eggs. So unless you’re showing off, save yourself the effort and make a regular breakfast. If you’re looking to get mildly fancy, then this is the recipe for you. It’s yummy and satisfying and a nice Sunday brunch treat.

Ingredients:

butter

bread (as many slices as eggs you want to make)

eggs (as many as slices of bread)

salt & pepper (to season)

Directions:

1. Use a glass, or a circular cookie cutter, to cut a hole out of the center of the bread. Set the circle aside.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat. If you’re making more than one slice of bread, you may need to lower the heat between batches so you don’t burn the bread.

3. Melt the butter in the skillet. When it’s melted, add the slice of bread. Let it cook until it is just getting golden brown. For the first slice this may take 5 minutes or more, for later slices when the pan is hot, it can take 1-2 minutes.

4. When the bread is getting golden, crack the egg into the bread’s hole. I cracked the egg in a glass first then poured it in the skillet.

5. Let the egg cook until the egg white is set enough that you can get a spatula under it. You can flip it after 1 minute if you want a runny yolk, or you can wait longer.

6. Flip the egg and bread. Cook for 1 minute, more if you want the yolk mostly cooked through.

7. Remove from the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Use the bread’s circle to sop up extra yolk.

8. If you’re making more than one, be sure to butter the skillet between times.

Messy level:  Two spoons. The first one I flipped I splattered egg white all over the pan. After that I was more careful and let it cook longer. Other than that, there was no mess!

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