Walks: Central London Outdoor Group

Snowdonia

I dislike gyms with passion and I am not sure what I dislike most about them: the fact it magnifies every flaw I see in my body in front of spectators (the lack of flexibility being my main concern) or the fact that I will involuntarily end up getting in contact with other people’s bodily fluids and skin particles. I gag at the smell of gym equipment even if the people walking the floor smell fresh and clean. Having said that, I am not getting any younger and my body is telling me it is perhaps time to move a little bit more than the sad 30 mins of walking I do per day. To find an activity that I would love participating in which would benefit my health, I’ve written up a mental list of things I enjoy most in life and walking was one of them – I love a good walk, a long, tiring walk, yes, thank you please. And as with all things in life, once you establish what you want (or need) a way of getting it pops down your lap.

CLOG walking

The Central London Outdoor Group (CLOG) was recommended to me by a friend and the great thing about them is that they invite people to partake in three walks before having to sign up and paying the membership fee which is rather symbolic  (£30 per annum). The walks range from short 5 Km walks to overnight walks in the mountains with no obligation whatsoever to walk more than one feels like. My ultimate goal of course is visit Snowdonia and other wonders of the United Kingdom such as the Lake District below:

Lake District walk

Snowdonia

 

I feel childlike excitement stirring in the bottom of my stomach – I might be going on my first walk this very Sunday! I bought a pair of waterproof walking boots yesterday which felt like buying a luxury item, an item I do not really need but which made me giddy with happiness. Look at me, I even write like a child! I need to break them in though so I am planning on wearing them for a few minutes a day hoping that will do before the walk on Sunday (LOL yes LOL). OK so it’s not Snowdonia, but a walk nonetheless:

London Loop Section 24 (Rainham to Purfleet), 9KM in total. All I need now is to hear from the lady who is organising this walk if it is still happening this Sunday and off we go.

 

Camino St Paul’s

We have a lovely tradition in the office to go for random half-team-half-stranger lunches which last for much longer than lunch should. Camino opened it’s fourth (?) Spanish tapas place this time near Blackfriars and with a 50% discount on food, we decided it’s as good as any reason to go and have lunch there.

I am not really in a mood to rave about food here which was not bad at Camino, no, but not amazing either – it arrived on little saucers, which we were expecting, slowly, one little saucer at a time. It got better later on once the waiting staff realised which table has ordered what; the wine and the sangria’s were amazing (said in a Cate Blanchett voice) and the entire look and the feel of the place was inspiring. I could not find a half decent picture of the one we were at, so here is a little taster of Bar Pepito in King’s Cross:

Salivating at the tiles yet? I am.

OK, back to the food which was how do I describe it…tempting, sensuous and for the lack of a better word – momentarily exciting. I say momentarily because having left the place I felt a rather unpleasant aftertaste that you get having eaten food less than fresh, perhaps it was the oil that was used one too many times. In any case, whatever it was, it slightly ruined it for me.

But I must write something good about it, must I not? The size of the portions created a fairy tale like atmosphere in my tiny table space. Yes, it is tapas, but still, it reminded me of the doll’s house miniatures (if only a slightly ethnic dolls house with clay pots and dishes and ramekins in alluring copper, raw umber, ochre and auburn), everything was in such perfect miniature, it felt slightly surreal, in particular my two golf ball sized pieces of monkfish on the oil mash, having seen which I wished this was not a tapas place and I could order this in adult/proper portion size. Shame I did not take a picture of it when it arrived, but here is a small corner of the rest which looks kind of gigantic in this picture when it really was not:

We ate, we drank, we paid….50% discount on food got our bills down to just over £100, with the drinks coming at above £130 I would say this is probably the priciest lunch I have had in London so far considering half of the lunchers complained of being hungry when we got back to the office. Do go if you are near or around St Paul’s but have a credit card to hand.

Cosmos and Drawings on Fabric

Quite randomly really I came across a girl called Cosmos who does wonders with fabric paint. Swo.lt wrote about her in their weekly recommendations section which I came across while searching the web:

Next came Facebook and her page with some seriously awesome work:

Two months down the line I have my jumpers pimped by Cosmos sent back to me from Lithuania and I want more! T-shirts, vans, caps, vests, jumpers – any natural fabric can be adorned by any drawing/image of your choosing:

She is an imitation artist – she does not really draw, she takes what you give her and transfers it to fabric and the results, well you can see them yourself, are unbelievable. I have asked her if she would draw some foxes for me, but she politely suggested sending the finished work of art which she will then transfer to my item. She will listen to all of your requirements, suggest the colours that will work better and if you are uncertain, might even offer help in deciding which drawing to go with based on the size and quality of your fabric/area. I went with two jumpers to try it all out and see if this really wears well and is worth the effort. So far so good, I am mega excited having seeing one of junior’s drawings transferred to my pink jumper:

Pretty neat!

Now the logistics: 

I am lucky to have friends both here and in LT who have really really helped me – I bought the jumpers and sent them to LT via the delivery guy I know, a friend from Kaunas posted the parcel to Cosmos in Vilnius. Cosmos did her magic and sent it back to London via my friend in Kaunas. I was in no rush so I have no idea how long it took to do it’s round trip but not long. And the price? Postage there and back and payment for her work, 2 jumpers – all in – £40.

Did I mention good friends? Payment is in Litas only, no Paypal option and as I do not have a Lithuanian bank account, you’d need someone to be able to transfer the money locally and take the sterling off you.