Day 5 - Hampstead Heath

Today I determined to visit Hampstead and pay a visit to Keats' House. I had to change twice on the tube and got the Northern Line to Belsize Park - the stop just before Hampstead. I emerged from the Underground into a completely different part of London - the village outskirts only 5 miles from the city. The pace of life immediately felt less rushed.

A quick search on my phone in a wifi equipped café (I confess it was Starbucks) revealed that Keats' House was only open afternoons, Fridays to Sundays.

My trusty street directory showed other sights to see and I immediately took myself to epic Hampstead Heath. What wanderings and wonderings Keats surely had around these peaceful acres. A particularly favourite spot of his is now known as Keats' Chair.

 Where did his perambulations take him? Did he walk, head bowed, past crooked oaks with craggly claws? Did he talk to ducks and gaze and nightingales? Sketch swans? Did he survey the view to London with wide empty eyes, his soul devising lines for The Eve of St Agnes?

I must have walked five kilometres. The soles of my shoes were muddied and I was badly in need of a cuppa. Hampstead Heath is a must see. Many people walk their dogs here, jog the sandy paths, stroll through grassy fields and peer into forests of willow, cyprus and sleepy hollowed oaks.