Cock o’ the north, Dutch garden center @ Potter’s Bar; Gail’s, canopy market@ coal drop/Kings cross and Hare and Hounds@Mortlake – I ❤️ London

This trip is really about visiting people, not places as much so a better headline would be Marion at Stratton’ Tower in Potter’s bar and MB in a Mortlake. But along the way we visited a few places new and old, starting with Marion’s amazing home in a 18th century brick tower (built 1789) we once called “the folly.” It’s in the rolling green Hertfordshire countryside a short train ride from Kings cross to Potter’s Bar. Marion zipped us around in her little car expertly navigating a winding assortment of very narrow lanes lined with hedges, first to a restaurant in the local garden center, which was very busy, with nary a free table in sight (and the credit card machine was down. who has cash these days.?) So we ended up at a pub-looking restaurant the cock o’ the north, where we lingered for hours talking.

In kings cross, we returned to the “Coal Drop” area, stopping for coffee and hot chocolate at Gail’s Bakery (which we discovered has an outpost close,to us in Mortlake) and visiting the artisans at the Canopy Market. This area continues to grow and is full of life.

Dinner was with MB, my sister’s sister-in-law,who happens to live in the same neighborhood as our friends we are staying with. We met at hare and Hounds pub, which we have been to before. It has a long menu. Ingot bangers (sausages) and mash, an upscale version, which was the closest I could find to traditional pub grub. I am forever searching for a ploughman’s. Which is so 1980’s. Lovely to be here and away from the political drama and fear in the states, although the British are also very upset and worried by the election results.