Swiss Cottage

Swiss Cottage:  I left home with various tasks incomplete, so today became a complete workday. I found Camden Borough’s central library just a few blocks from where I am staying. There I occupied a table for a few hours in the morning and returned in the afternoon. This library was part of a larger community center; it should be a model for the U.S. where we continue to build free-standing libraries rather than making them part of mixed-use, pedestrian friendly environments. With plenty of space and a good wifi connection, I had a very productive day.

It was my lunch break that was most memorable, though. On Wednesdays, a small plaza next to the Tube station hosts a farmers’ market. Artisanal farmers from the southeast set up shop and trading begins. The fresh produce is all organic. Here is what I had for lunch: a lamb burger (grilled in front of my eyes) on a freshly baked roll with fruity chutney, a pint of whole, raw buffalo milk (any raw milk is difficult to find in the U.S.), and a large bottle of "pressed apple juice" right from the orchards. I ate my lunch where everyone else ate theirs, outside in the sunshine, on a grassy lawn that sloped down to a "water field" fountain. I actually spent the entire day in Swiss Cottage (northwest London), and regretted it not a bit. In the evening I went to the theatre.

Hampstead Theatre:  London’s West End is the theatre district, the equivalent of Broadway in New York. A performance at Hampstead Theatre (at Swiss Cottage) is the equivalent of "off-Broadway." There, I saw last night a new play called "Little Eagles." Sounds almost American doesn’t it? But, no, it is a play about the Russian cosmonauts and the chief designer who put them into space. His name is Koroliev and he called the cosmonauts his "little eagles." Few Americans care to remember that last month was an important anniversary: fifty years since Yuri Gegarin became the first man in space, put there by Koroliev. The play was spellbinding, the acting superb (Royal Shakespeare Company), the theatre small enough to be intimate (I had a second row seat), and the price of admission a bargain (22L). For those who grew up during the early Cold War years, you will recognize all the characters; for those who didn’t, the story is still excellent. I am sure this play will pop up on the West End and maybe even Broadway; it was really that good. And next to me sat a ‘fit Brit’ (maybe a few years younger than me) who had bicycled across the United States coast to coast: makes flying around the world look like nothing.

Just in case you were wondering:  there is a Swiss cottage at Swiss Cottage.

Geographically yours,

D.J.Z.