The oldest house and street in London

 OK I survived the 90 degree heat. Trying to sleep isn’t easy when you’re sweatin’. The windows here are not the pull up type. They are the open outward type. They don’t open very much. There are no screens  So I hung my head out window in the 6 inch opening all night. Har. This all reminds me of childhood when nobody had air conditioning. We maybe had one fan. it

Yesterday I had one goal: Visit Cloth Fair street. The oldest street in London. On it is the oldest house in London. 

It is named Cloth Fair because once a year merchants would awa was have a fair in the church yard across the way and sell, you guessed it, cloth.

The house was built in 1600. I’m sure the street had been in use way before that. The church across the street was built in 1123, St Bartholomew the Great. 

It just blows me away to stand on one of the original streets in London that dates back so far. To think what it must have been like in 1123. What were the peoples lives like?

 Their houses would have dirt floors. There would be animal pens, barns all around you. Surrounding the village would be farm fields. You were ruled by a king.  You would live til maybe 40. Women wore long dresses covered by tunics. 

The house and church survived the great fire of 1666 in which 50% of London was destroyed. Imagine half your city lays in ruin.

This is what I love about London, the history. It’s so interesting and it’s  around every corner.

London heat wave

 We take the central line tube every day. It’s hot as hell, always crowded. (Complaint department officially open)

So today it gets up to 91. Apparently there is one heat wave a summer and this is it.That should be fun. People stuffed in like clowns in a tube car, sweat pools forming on the floor. Slippery conditions. Yuck.

Fights may break out today in the race to get that one remaining seat. Those Instagram worthy makeup jobs will melt into a ghoul face. 

 A couple of edgy young men will still have their puffer jackets. I may have to slap one of them. I am unpredictable in hot weather. 

So off we went. M and I were going to different places. It was late morning so not as many people. Stuffy, but not as bad as expected. As usual, very few shorts, some sweaters sweatpants. I give up. It’s a cultural quirk. 

So we decided to meet up at the Westfield mall to cool off before going home. No one has air conditioning here. Had something to eat. I had Mexican. M had Nandos, a very popular ?Potugese fast food place.

How was the Mexican? They had the basics down but not nearly spicy enough.

This is a giant mall like the Mall of America. It was part of a redevelopment along with a huge park next to it,  for the 2012 Olympics. Apparently it was a run down area beforehand.. The park was where track and field, soccer events took place. There is a huge aquatics center where swimming events were held. The stadium that was built is now home of West ham soccer club. (SOCCER,SOCCER,SOCCER)

The area is now home to multiple high rise condos. Very expensive looking.

The mall is like something out of the U.S. 1980’s. It’s obvious young people come here to be seen. They all look like Instagram models. Everything from women in hijabs to midriff baring tops to athletic wear. If people are wearing it , it's on display here. Hair is sharp. Clothes are sharp. Looking good at the mall.

We head out.Standing on the tube platform and there’s a young man in jeans, shirtless. It’s obvious he works out. He is strutting back and forth like a peacock. “Hey ladies look at this!” I guess you can be shirtless in malls and on tube trains.

Only one stop to our stop Yeah.

London is old, very very old

This blog will sometimes jump back and forth in time

We took the tube from Heathrow to Leytonstone. The first thing that struck me is how old everything looked. Everything is made of brick. The majority of houses are row houses. Lots of brick with white trim.

They were made in rows so more people could fit in an area. Most have the same design: 1st floor has living room and kitchen, 2nd floor two beds and bathroom.

In Leytonstone* there is a back garden. In front is an area for your car to be parked in front of the house. I don’t know if this is true in other neighborhoods. 

The street signs are weird here. It’s weird, they appear at random places on walls. At least in my neighborhood.

The row houses are old. Most around here were built 1870 to 1910. The condo building building I stay in is old. One of the locks requires a skeleton key. The other is one I remember from my childhood.

There is also a lot of very modern housing here. Tall apartment and condo buildings in different places. There seems to be a housing boom here with this kind of housing.I’m sure they are very expensive. It reminds me of all the expensive apts they keep building in downtown mpls. only these are way fancier and taller.

*This picture looks exactly like the houses in my neighborhood.