Painting: crossroads

I went for a walk in the beautiful Epping Forest with a friend before the winter set in. The skies were grey but the leaves, on the trees and the ground, were a beautiful golden colour.

summer on Hampstead Heath

London is a city with so much history that it's written into the buildings, the streets and even several feet underground. When we examine the history of a city, we look at its architecture, its layout, the people who built it and the ground it's built on.

View of London from Parliament Hill

One thing we often forget is that there are green spaces in a city, and that they may be as old or even older than the buildings that surround them. We visit, photograph and read about landmarks like St. Paul's Cathedral or the Tower of London, and we forget about the ancient heritage of St. James's Park or, in this case, Hampstead Heath.

View of Hampstead Pond no.1 from Parliament Hill

New Jersey staycation

Our Lincoln Center jaunt was such a good time - and just in time too, as the looming threat of Omicron finally descended on Broadway and shut the bright lights for several weeks. On top of that, I caught a virus (we tested to make sure it was not THE virus) and we had the first big snow of the new year.

finding new spaces

Unlike the tidy grids of New York, the streets of central London wander around oddly shaped properties, cross themselves, and split off in small paths that may lead to a dead end. Walkers in a hurry usually stick to their prepared routes or rely on map apps to keep from getting lost.

Baroque by the River: architecture around the Thames

London is famous for the history of its architecture, but the River Thames in particular is a treasure trove of buildings with stories. Walking around the river is wonder | wander | women's favourite way of connecting with this ancient and beautiful city.

side streets and secret avenues

Back in the Before Times, wonder | wander | women liked to walk for the sake of it, and we especially liked to meander.

Shoreditch Town Hall

tiny wanders

Now that may cities are out of lockdown people have been going around in greater (maskless) numbers, so we've mostly been walking at home, with the help of the very energising Leslie Sansome. In lieu of the sights of the neighbourhood, we enjoy what comes flying into the garden.

spring creeping up!

It's been a freezing few months, with snow, fog and winds keeping us from walking around our neighbourhoods. But in London at least, there are signs that spring is moving in again.

small things: healing through walking

“Exploring the world is one of the best ways of exploring the mind and walking travels both terrains.” 

― Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

don't just look down, look around

Sleep has been patchy lately. Our worst emotions feel closer to the surface, ready to bubble up at each new shock. We're hyperaware and hypersensitive, over-mindful of our space and the proximity of others. We have to remind ourselves that we are still in a living, vibrant world.

food trips: neighbourhood restaurants

The best thing about living in Central London is that so many amazing restaurants are in walking distance. You can walk down to the gastropub after work, take in some amazing Thai food, fill up on vegetarian Japanese, or have a limoncello-ginger cocktail with some handmade pasta carbonara - without having to shell out for a taxi or ride a busy train.

the Church aesthetic: setting the scene

Around London it's the big churches that grab the attention: Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, St. Bartholomew. But even on everyday walks we're arrested by the gorgeous architecture and looming belltowers of the hundreds of small but beautiful churches that are scattered through London.

silence

Our lives are full of 'one more thing'. We're always chasing something, catching up, keeping busy, keeping up. Where is the pause?

St. Pancras Old Church and Gardens

garden walks

The wonder | wander | women are hardly ever in the same time zone, much less in the same place. So we spend as much time as we can in each other's company. Our favourite thing to do together (besides eating!) is take walks around our neighbourhood. (Often after eating!)

London: night walks

A walking culture generally thrives in any large city, and London's is one of the oldest and most fanatic. Here where the sun sets early half the year, long walks at night seem almost as common as in the daytime. Many books have been written about the subject, from Charles Dickens' Night Walks to the newest non-fiction hardbacks.