The good news is that we have a dryer. The bad news, or not so great news, is that it doesn't seem to dry our clothes. I've read the manual and  I know you have to empty the water reservoir and clean the lint screens. Doesn't seem to make a difference. So we have a drying rack in our living room most of the time. But it's certainly something we can live with--as a roommate he's very quiet and doesn't take up too much space. Maybe I'll even name him.

Today I decided to make use of our National Trust membership. I took the tube up to Hampstead and walked the half mile to 2 Willow Road, the Modernist home designed by architect Erno Goldfinger in the late 1930s. The building itself is a block of three homes, and the Goldfingers lived in the middle section. Ursula Goldfinger had been an art student and together they amassed an impressive collection of 20th century art, with pieces by Henry Moore, Max Ernst, Bridget Riley, Eduardo Paolozzi, Prunella Clough, Fernand Leger, and others with whom I was not familiar. The self-guided tour (because I had missed the guided tours for the day) began with an introductory film that was good. There were staff members in each room who could answer questions, so I didn't feel I missed very much by not taking a tour. Goldfinger was Hungarian born, moved to the UK from Paris in the 1930s, and became an important member of the British Modernist architecture movement. He is mostly known for his residential tower blocks (e.g., Trellick Tower).

No photos were allowed, but I did manage to sneak one of the back garden from a top floor window. There used to be a large Henry Moore sculpture in that garden, but I was told it was recently sold to an art museum in Canada (the AGO, perhaps?--she didn't know). And of course I got one of the front.

It was an interesting walk through part of Hampstead. Nice houses, and what looked to be some interesting stores. I had been up here before, but hadn't done much exploring.

I did some grocery shopping after getting off the tube. There were some interesting flavors of potato chips in the UK that we don't get in the US, even though Kettle Foods is an American company. The fact that my only food intake of the day was a small cup of soup probably accounted for my being in the snack food aisle and noticing this, and then buying them.

I must say that the British know how to make good blister plasters. I was able to walk with no discomfort today. Hooray for Compeed!

Miles walked for the day: 2+ miles (not enough to warrant the potato chips)