This is Kingston upon Thames where I used to live. Another favourite place of mine.
I used to walk along the river whenever the sun was out, or after dinner to help with the digestion. In late spring/early summer, the cherry trees on the promenade would bear lovely fruit – they tasted ok though. For some reason they always disappeared after one or two weeks, which made me wonder if people actually harvested them for a particular purpose.
One of the places I frequented was the old town market where there are many food stalls. My favourites are two: one sells Japanese and the other Vietnamese (c.a. £5-8 per person). There are also plentiful high street restaurant chains like Jamie’s Italian, GBK, Pizza Express, TGI Friday, Frankie & Benny’s, Bill’s, you name it. If you prefer independent business, try Stein’s, an authentic german restaurant, best sausages in town, hands down. If you’re adventurous and would like to fan out and explore the adjacent area, you can try the French Table in Surbiton (about 2 min walk from my old apartment 🙂 ) – fancy food, not cheap, needs booking. Personally I think it’s 7/10 but it’s been on some list of “restaurants worth a trip” so I guess you will have to make your own decision 😛
Apart from food, surely there’s more to look at. Richmond Park and Bushy Park, the top 2 largest of London’s Royal Parks, are both within walking distance, perfect for a day out. Most of the time you can see wild deer roaming about, sometimes in herds, sometimes in pairs. Further to the west is the Hampton Court Palace which was dwelled by many monarchs including King Henry VIII. I’ve never been inside the building complex (the paid area) but I will recommend the Rose Garden. I took my mother there in the summer and she was joyful as a bird.
Wow this post is going on longer than I expected. I guess that’s how well I know Kingston and how madly in love I am with it.
everywei 