London: Around Londontown: June 11

June 11, 2013: On the way "home" from Hampstead the tube made a stop at this place:

 I get such a kick out of all the history in this place! Real AND imagined!
We were exhausted! and starving. Remember all we did this day: left Oxford, went to Harry Potter, found our place in London, then got lost in Hampstead looking for cheese rolling. Finally we were on our way "home". After the metro, we were so tired, we got on the bus but then missed the stop. (still trying to figure out where we are!) But it was a happy accident. We just went a stop or two past ours and so as we walked back down the street we found this fun looking little cafe "Da Lisa," that was surprisingly still open, or so we thought. It must have been close to 11:00 and we went in. It was packed with people and the owner, a lovely Italian woman named Lisa helped us. Because there was no place to sit, she actually took a table out on the sidewalk for us and served us out there. The prices were pretty good, and the food was fantastic. We found out later that she had been closed for an hour!

 She was probably in her 40s with dark hair in a neat bob. She was dressed smartly, and had quite high heels on, which I found fascinating, seeing how she had been on her feet all day, and the way she was still hustling. I have a new found respect for Italian women.

This is her little fluffy dog (I could never quite figure out his name) but he kept watch. Everyone seemed to know him and he just wandered around in a little perimeter, staying away from the street and guarding his territory. We were so worried about our bags, we had to keep an eye on him so that he didn't "mark" them, ...if you know what I mean....

It was funny that we seemed to always be eating Italian in England, but so far, it has all been terrific. Merinda, Joseph and I did the same thing we always did, and ordered 3 different dishes and then divided them up. This was Lisa's pasta with meat sauce.

We pretty much had to get this one. She kept going on and on about it, and "how much it was good!" It was like a potato thingy...not sure how to explain it. She wasn't either. It isn't a quiche, in that it doesn't have eggs in it, but it was similar to that. So we got one since it was her special of the day, and "wouldn't get it another day". It didn't disappoint.

The last was a lasagne. That's all that needs to be said. :-)

Joseph and Merinda inside, negotiating for dessert. :-)

 And this is what they came up with:

 A lemon custard-type thingy, cream filled cannoli, and an almond paste thing that looked like an apple. All were good, but all were too sweet for me. I think my favorite was the cannoli, it was the least sweet.

After dinner we thanked her, told her we would be back, and then started walking home. One of the buildings on the corner was lit up green. No idea why, but it was pretty.

 Our street at night. We were staying in an International Student Center of some sort, called Metrogate. It was like a dorm, with a common shared kitchen and common room for each floor. Although Joseph, Merinda and I shared a room in Oxford, we split and she had her one one here. We found out though, that she had to share her shower with the floor...which meant boys and young men. Awkward! So she came down and used our shower...Joseph and I were in a room that should have housed 4...we had bunk beds, and so had our own bathroom. It was light, clean and comfortable.

 The view from our room. It was really quite a pretty street. We were just a few streets down from Kensington Palace actually! We could walk to Hyde Park, which we did later. :-)