Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival is a yearly event, known as Europe's largest street festival. In fact, it's the world's second largest after Rio's Carnival in Brazil.

A predominantly Caribbean themed event, Notting Hill Carnival is home to many wonderful scents and flavours such as jerk chicken, fried plantains, cocktails in fruit shells and curry goat.

In addition to the colourful food, it also attracts a number of colourful characters, such as Elvis here who seems to appear at just about every London event like this we've been to.

The carnival is also known for its famous parade which is family oriented on Sunday and not so much on Monday (the bank holiday). The music is loud, and the beat strong, and people know how to move their bodies. Costumes are colourful, wild and on Monday, relatively scant. We were there on Sunday so only got to see some of the parade and mainly the part directed more for children.

Though we couldn't stay long, we enjoyed the summer sun - an unusual site on an English bank holiday - and enjoyed a taste of the Caribbean with some jerk chicken.

In the heart of Hertfordshire

Recently we've been doing a lot of cycling around the area where we live, known as Hertfordshire. We have a wonderful map which shows all the possible routes including footpaths, bridalways, country lanes and even elevation.

CW cylcing off down a country lane

Our trips have taken us to a handful of tiny little villages, hamlets and collection of farms such as this one called Childwick Green, which is on the Childwickberry Estate, formerly owned by Stanley Kubrick the director and now by his widow and children. Once the homes of the people who worked on the estate, the cottages are now home to people who fair a bit better (not all one house, three or four in the photo, but nevertheless a wonderful place to live).

As we cycled, we came across this church, Ayot St Lawrence, which is now just in ruins. The church dates back to the 12th century but was left in ruin and then picked apart in the 19th century. Today it has been restored to its former state of picturesque ruins for all to enjoy.


Nearby, we also went past a mysterious gate that looked as though it led to nowhere. Through the bramble and stinging nettle, however, lay a beautiful little forgotten cemetery. The graves dated back to the 1800s, and even some from after the World Wars, but sadly, it has gone uncared for.

Still loads more to explore in this beautiful part of England...

A Blacksmith's BBQ

Recently we got together with a couple of our neighbours and decided to put together a street BBQ. Being a really small street, and one with a dead end, we thought it would be a great idea to close it off, move out the cars and set up a BBQ in the middle.

Though it was almost postponed due to the weather - or rather, for a few pints at the pub instead because of the poor weather - a few Blacksmiths Lane residents were adamant about having it so we did. Miraculously, even though it was damp and relatively cold, the rain did hold off until just at the end of the night.

Food was aplenty, as were drinks, including some Sloe Gin one of the neighbours at the end of the road had made himself as well as a bottle of wine he made in 1977 which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. With the exception of two houses, every resident joined including the woman that lives across the street from us in her early 80s who was born in that same house and grew up there. The street is also home to a lovely Canadian couple, a Slovak woman married to an English guy with a Goan background and another couple who travelled the world until recently. Oh and of course, a few dogs - namely Guinness and his neighbour friend Douggie, a black cockerspaniel.

So all in all, it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening and a great way to get to know our neighbours.