"this is school, mr. potter, not the real world."

i'm on quite a roll this week in the sightseeing department and today was no exception.

my british art and architecture class met in hampstead today, a section of north london i didn't know existed. it was about a 15 minute tube ride from thoresby and where my professor happens to live, and although none of us were excited about waking up early and getting our butts to the tube, i think we are all glad we went. apparently sting lives in hampstead, and i can't blame the guy.

the purpose for our trip was to see kenwood house, a 17th century vacation home built by robert adams, an architect we are currently studying. we walked for about an hour through hampstead heath, a big beautiful wilderness park surrounding the house, and i was in love.

i forgot my camera, so the few pictures i took with my phone don't do the town justice.

[my little sweet professor at the start of the trail through hampstead heath]

[my class hiking through the fall leaves]

[we finally arrived at kenwood house!

they filmed part of notting hill here]

i am disappointed i wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the house because the interior was beautiful and it housed a great art collection, but you will all just have to check out kenwood house yourselves someday.

everyone was rushing back home after our tour to make it to other classes, but i decided to stick around hampstead for the afternoon. i've been seriously craving to read harry potter since i finished the last book i read (big surprise) and i really wanted to read the last two books before i see the movie in november, so i found a bookstore and picked up the british versions of each.

the area of hampstead is stunning. there are trees everywhere, which you don't see too often in the heart of the city, and the shops and restaurants are built of uneven stones. i explored for a while and found a little italian restaurant tucked in an alleyway, so i decided to eat lunch alone and read of harry's adventures. best gnocchi i've ever had, hands down. and they say the food in london is bad! (it sometimes is)

i continued my date with harry in a coffee shop and then headed back for my next class a couple of hours later. it was nice to have time to myself in a beautiful part of the city, and i can't wait to find more of london's hidden gems.