London Walks

According to my London MoonWalk training pack, this is now officially Week 1 of the training schedule. I’ve got until 12 May to get fit enough to walk 26.2 miles across London, at night, in a bra*, to raise money for breast cancer charities.

It is also clear that a few brisk walks round Crystal Palace park aren’t going to cut it. At some point before 12 May we have to fit in around six 6 mile walks, three 7 mile walks, a 10, a 12, a 14, two 16s and, the big one, a 20-mile-er.

Ignoring the immediate question of ‘When am I going to find time…?’, and moving on to the slightly more fun question of ‘Where am I going to go?’ I’ve dug out my Time Out London Walks books, my collection of leaflets on things like the Green Chain and Thames Path (I am a compulsive leaflet gatherer) and hit Google, but could do with some extra suggestions.

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Living la vida local

This hyperlocal thing is getting out of hand.

In fact, I’m thinking of starting a competition to see who can go the longest without leaving their own neighbourhood*. [*And maybe a secondary competition for the best alternative to the grating americanism that is the word ‘neighbourhood’, without resorting to ‘look at me, I’ve done TEFL’ continentalisms such as ‘quartier‘ and ‘barrio‘.]

Here’s my bid:

Something for the weekend – Crystal Palace

Like most of my so-called ‘training walks (did I mention I’m doing the Moonwalk in May?), this one involved a 50 minute all-out brisk walk, followed by a less-brisk browse around an interesting area I hadn’t visited for a while (in this case Crystal Palace), culminating in an impromptu spot of lunch somewhere new I’d spotted (in this case dim sum at Urban Orient). OK, so it’s unlikely I’ll lose any weight through this training regime, but I can tell that my team mates (several of whom seem to view exercise as an end in itself – weird!) are secretly jealous of my laissez-faire workouts.

Even though Crystal Palace is only just far enough from where I live to work up a sweat, and that’s mainly because it’s uphill, I don’t go there nearly as often as I might. So I was pleasantly surprised to find it full of even more interesting junk shops and nice cafes/restaurants than last time and, of course,  amazing views. On that Sunday, the ambiance was humming with a relaxed local vibe – busy, but not the sort of oppressive busy you get in East Dulwich on a Saturday. Just about the perfect amount for a sunny Sunday.

Here’s some of the bits that caught my eye:

12 Resolutions for 2012

Without knowing how things are going to pan out on the work/money front in the next year, here’s my not-very-taxing list of achievable resolutions for 2012. And the probability of my actually doing any of them. (I’ll probably add more later, but this will do for now.)

My MoonWalk training starts here

I’ve decided to make today officially Day #2 of my new regime. I’ve had a few trial runs but now I think I should commit. From now on I will be doing a brisk 2-4 mile walk EVERY morning after dropping my son at school. Ok, almost every morning.

Don’t worry, I’m not about to ‘do a Brooker’ (his recent Guardian column on accidentally becoming a runner sums up a lot of how I feel about fit people). There is no danger of me going to the dark side and becoming actually sporty, although I have bought some highly engineered trainers to lessen the chance of injury and have been eyeing up some Stella McCartney leggings on the She Active website (and, having seen the price, will be going to Primark or Uniqlo instead).

Reclaim cool bars!

Why should cool bars be the preserve of the young?

I’m the first to admit I don’t get out enough these days, but that doesn’t mean to say when I do go out I only want to go to child-friendly restaurants, book groups, or pub quiz nights. In fact only the last of those do I go to with any enthusiasm.

Supporting the local economy, one mouthful at a time

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love it when people send me free food.

So I was very pleased when Kristina from Makerhood arrived on my doorstep this morning with this:

It’s the first ever raffle prize I’ve won (if you don’t count a bag of dog biscuits 8 years ago – and I don’t even have a dog): a hamper from  Brixton cafe/’corner shop’ Cornercopia.

50s fun at the new Royal Festival Hall shop

Another day, another great South London shop (yes we can claim it, it’s south of the river).

The lovely Royal Festival Hall shop reopens TODAY, with more space and more Midcentury-inspired designs. Being a big fan of all things Southbank, I went along for a sneak preview.

#70 Climb One Tree Hill

Unexpectedly finding myself at 9am on what began as a sunny Sunday with three free hours, and a red wine hangover trying to attract my attention, there was nothing for it but to go for a walk. As I was already out of the house when I received this temporal windfall (otherwise I’d have just stayed in bed, obviously), I just kept walking.

#63 Comfort food, part II

When the going gets tough, the tough, as they say, get going. Meanwhile the not-so-tough reach for the carbohydrates.

A series of disasters last week left me with a serious need for potato. It’s got a history of providing sustenance to the poor and down-on-their-luck.

My friend Violet and I have for years talked about opening an exclusive potat0-oriented restaurant, where the focus of each dish is the potato element rather than the protein, as we find this is usually what influences our menu choices  anyway.

And with last year’s comfort food post still trending as the most popular on this blog (what are you people like?) and snow falling from the sky in soft powdery white flakes then lying on the ground like an icy death trap, I felt a sequel was called for.

So in no particular order, here are my top ten potato dishes. Most of which I have, I’m ashamed to say, actually eaten in the past ten days. As I say, bad week.