One thing I won't miss about London is having to deal with all the people on the sidewalks. It's like a constant Times Square. At times it feels like an obstacle course, or that I'm trying to maneuver my way through a football field with people coming at me, and I'm so tempted to elbow them out of my way as I try to get past. But of course I don't. It's worse in the late afternoon, when the people passing out the free daily papers stand right in the middle of the sidewalk turning this way and that to distribute the news. And then there are the groups of two or three people walking towards you who take up the whole sidewalk and expect everyone to get out of their way, instead of moving over to take up only half so that others can get by. (And they're usually the ones walking at a snail's pace in front of you, too.) Oh right, I forgot, it's all about them. Or those who stop in the middle to have a chat. Maybe one gets used to it, but I don't know.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. That is one reason it was so nice going up to Hampstead Heath today. It was like a breath of fresh air, literally. My goal was to visit Kenwood House, but the Heath was an added bonus. It was a 30- to 40-minute walk from the Hampstead tube station through the Heath to Kenwood House. The house is really a neoclassical mansion that was built in 1616, and remodeled by Robert Adam in the 18th century. Lord Iveagh Guinness (of the brewing company) donated it and his wonderful art collection to the country in 1927. The collection includes a Rembrandt self-portrait, Portrait of the Artist, Vermeer's The Guitar Player, a Frans Hals, a rather nice Turner (I'm surprised to hear me admit that, but it was an early work), many Gainsboroughs, Reynolds, and Van Dycks, and a Swiss female artist of the 18th century that I have previously overlooked, Angelica Kauffmann. They are having a special exhibition of her work beginning October 17, so I will have to make another trek up there. Not a hardship.

The walk back to the tube station was delightful. The heath is 320 hectares (890 acres) of rolling meadows and woods. I passed a Barbara Hepworth sculpture and a Henry Moore. I was afraid I would get lost, but fortunately didn't. As it was I got home over an hour later than I should have. It was student dinner night, and a nice group of students it was.

Plaque of the day: John Constable