London Blog Pt. 2 - "A lovely day for a walk"

Today was gorgeous day in London. With a high of 75* F and most of the morning and afternoon in the upper 60's/low 70's it was a good day to spend out walking around (over 18,000 steps according to my pedometer). This morning we started out walking down to the river and then along the Thames to St. Paul's Cathedral, where we stopped for a rest and to give Alex his lunch bottle. It was so gorgeous out! Clearly summer is something to celebrate here and not recoil from like back home. In July in Phoenix the streets and parks are like ghost towns. The only people in sight are scurrying from their cars to air conditioned buildings. But here the people are outdoors as much as possible. Every restaurant and cafe's outdoor patio seating is full, people fill the benches and sit on any patch of grass to eat sandwiches they get from local deli's and cafe's, workers escape their office for a lunch time run along the river or through the park. Even the tourists take advantage because they're either coming from somewhere cool where they appreciate a lovely day or they come from somewhere hot (like me) and realize what awesome weather we're having. And all the locals joke about how you're lucky you made it in time for their two weeks of summer. Back home I don't appreciate the sun (how can you miss something that never goes away?) and I crave cloudy/rainy days. But here I can see what it would be like when you have mostly cloudy/rainy days. Days of sunshine and perfect temperatures is something to celebrate and enjoy.

After leaving the garden at St. Paul's we picked up lunch for ourselves at Pret A Manger (yum!) and hopped a bus up to Angel to see a movie. But not just any movie. This was different, and very awesome.

When you think of a movie screening for moms with babies you'd think of a children's film, right? But this was so much better! This was a theatre showing new films, out in cinemas now, but specially for moms with babies (and definitely babies, not toddlers, because these are films for the mom, not the kid). We saw The Bling Ring, the new film by Sophia Coppola. Every mom (and a couple dads) had a baby under a year old (by the looks of it). Yes the babies cry, but you really don't notice it. The lights don't dim, but it doesn't effect seeing the screen. There are comfy seats and couches and we nabbed a couch in the back. Included in the ticket is a piece of cake and a drink and the place has a very relaxed movie lounge feel. All the moms help each other lift the strollers over up the steps and no one blinks if anyone starts breastfeeding. All I could think is, why is this not a thing in the States!?!? I know so many moms with babies who would jump at a chance to see new films in the theater. This is a business opportunity that's being missed in Phoenix. Of course, we don't have many independent theaters that could do this once a week but there are some, maybe they need to start thinking more creatively. 

Anyway, the movie was alright (Emma Watson is amazing and probably the only reason worth going) but the experience was awesome. We'll see what's playing next week and maybe go again.

After the movie we came back to the flat for a bit and then headed over to the neighborhood my friends are looking at moving to for a neighborhood party celebrating a new mural that's been painted on the side of a building, so I got to explore a new part of London. We walked through a gorgeous old cemetery (seriously old, so cool) and saw lots of fun shops and restaurants. Seriously, can I just move here?

Now we're home and there's an interesting game of netball going on in the court behind the flat. We have the windows open (because it's 65* and we can do that here). I'm feeling pretty tired, it's still light out but it's nearly 8:30pm. But for the first time in a very long time I'm feeling like summer is a beautiful thing. :)

Before I go, here are some pictures from the day. There aren't a lot, so far I'm taking time to enjoy London and see it through my own eyes rather than constantly through the lens of my camera.

The monument to the Great Fire of London.

The Shard from across the Thames.

The Millennium Bridge with the Tate Modern museum to the left. 

Walking up to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Waiting for the special lift (I think it was called an "inclinator") to get us up, instead of lifting the stroller up all the stairs.

This is pretty much what every park/grassy area looked like today. Especially during lunchtime. 

Outside the cinema.

A latte and carrot cake make for the best movie experience.

Walking through Angel after the movie.

On the final walk home this evening we passed a pub that had this sign out front. I couldn't resist taking a picture.