January 10, 2000: Today Eddie and I went to explore Highgate Village in North London. On the tube, I realized that I forgot my SD Card, and I was unable to take photos. Highgate Village is known to be a costly place in which to live but it does not flaunt its wealth. It's a maze of streets atop a lofty bluff that merge into each other from different angles in a delightfully haphazard fashion.
We had lunch by Pond Square, which is where, before the mid-19th century, villagers would draw their water. Close by the square is St. Michael's Church, a picturesque gothic church, which opened for service in 1832 and looks to me rocket-like, as if it is only waiting to be launched into the heavens. Within view of this church, on The Grove, is a grand red brick house where the great English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived. Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which gave us the expression "an albatross around one's neck." Coleridge moved into the house in 1823 where he was treated for opium addiction by a local surgeon who owned the property. Coleridge, who died in 1834, is buried in an aisle of St. Michael's Church. Virtually next door on the Grove is the house of the gifted singer and songwriter George Michael who passed away in 2016 at age 53 after a long and public battle with alcohol and drugs. Even today, years after his death, there were numerous fresh bouquets of flowers on the sidewalk in front. Sadly, fame seems to have been the albatross around his neck. I was surprised by George Michael's home, thinking it would be hidden behind unwelcoming high walls. Instead, the dignified red brick home is on a very accessible street and not hidden from view.
Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
- from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
We had lunch by Pond Square, which is where, before the mid-19th century, villagers would draw their water. Close by the square is St. Michael's Church, a picturesque gothic church, which opened for service in 1832 and looks to me rocket-like, as if it is only waiting to be launched into the heavens. Within view of this church, on The Grove, is a grand red brick house where the great English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived. Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which gave us the expression "an albatross around one's neck." Coleridge moved into the house in 1823 where he was treated for opium addiction by a local surgeon who owned the property. Coleridge, who died in 1834, is buried in an aisle of St. Michael's Church. Virtually next door on the Grove is the house of the gifted singer and songwriter George Michael who passed away in 2016 at age 53 after a long and public battle with alcohol and drugs. Even today, years after his death, there were numerous fresh bouquets of flowers on the sidewalk in front. Sadly, fame seems to have been the albatross around his neck. I was surprised by George Michael's home, thinking it would be hidden behind unwelcoming high walls. Instead, the dignified red brick home is on a very accessible street and not hidden from view.
Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
- from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Highgate is full of green spaces which, now in winter, are full of bare trees. There are several woodsy pubs in the village and one of these is the atmospheric The Flask, an 18th century coaching Inn, which Eddie and I decided we will have to come back and visit. We decided too that we have to devote a day to exploring Highgate Cemetery where numerous notable people are buried including Karl Marx, George Eliot (pen name of Mary Ann Evans, author of Middlemarch and Silas Marner), and George Michael.
The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions - the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment - Quote, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Just decided to check out your blog and what you are up to. Sounds like, aside from the bad cold, you are having a nice time and seeing a lot. Great blogging with photos!
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