More new people and new places

Yesterday, I met with another American woman, Luba - who has moved here with her husband from Chicago. We spent the day together while she showed me around her neighborhood, Kew Gardens, and another beautiful area nearby, Richmond. Together, we climbed Richmond Hill, walked through the town, and talked, getting to know each other.

(Anyone who knows Queens, New York, will recognize the names of these neighborhoods-- all taken from here in London, I now realize. Obviously, those early American revolutionaries didn't rebel against everything in England.)

We walked along the Thames River in Richmond, and had lunch at a local pub, supposedly one of the oldest in London. I took a picture of the Thames from the top of Richmond Hill overlooking the park. Luba told me that Mick Jagger has a home somewhere at the top of Richmond Hill -- with this view.

The Underground (the tube) took me to Kew Gardens and Richmond, and the Overground (the rail line) took me home again from there. My wonderful Oyster Card worked on both. The trip took 50 minutes each way.

Wednesday evening, I attended a meeting of the book group at the St. John's Wood Library. It was a really good group of about eight women -- most of them my age. It was a delightful evening; I enjoyed the conversation very much, and plan to return for next month's meeting as well.

Thursday morning, I went to a local physician who had been recommended by the pharmacist in a St. John's Wood drug store. The physician met with me and wrote a local prescription to fill the one I had at home. He told me that he would be glad to be my doctor -- and Carl's doctor -- while we are in London. I am happy to have that in place.

Another important person I have found here is a stylist to cut my hair. On Monday I went to Josh, the owner of a fashionable salon on St. John's Wood High Street -- and he did a great job with my haircut. While in his salon, I noticed he had a number of photos of very creative hairstyles hung up on the wall. When I asked him about it, he told me that in London each year there are several competitions held among hair stylists and awards given out for different categories, e.g., Best Avant-garde Stylist, Best Newcomer Stylist, and Best Stylist in London. Each competitor fixes the hair of a model, takes pictures and then submits the pictures for entrance in the competition. Then, if the photos are selected, the stylist gets to compete against others in real time, creating a hairstyle for a woman within a certain time period in front of judges. Josh likes to compete in the avant-garde competition, and has won the award in the past.
Josh told me he doesn't hire models for his pictures because of the high costs. He just selects local young women who look photogenic and asks if they would let him fix their hair and then photograph it. Most often, the women are happy to do it.