A Weekend In Herne Hill

Since I am now lucky enough to call Herne Hill my new neighbourhood, I thought I'd share some of the beauty this area has to offer in writing and pictures. 

Herne Hill is located in London fare zone 3, just a hop away from buzzing Brixton on one side and charming Dulwich Village on the other. It is also only a short and convenient 20-minute  train ride from central London (that is if Southern Rail doesn't act up again). After living in Norwood Junction for 6 months, deprived of cosy cafés and vibrant atmosphere, Brockwell Park and Herne Hill were quick to steal my heart. On my first exploration walk I set off in Tulse Hill and walked down to afore mentioned Brockwell Park, a giant, beautiful green space with ponds, a walled garden, tennis courts, an all-weather outdoor playing field, a lido, two inviting cafés and stunning views of the London skyline in the distance. What I loved most about the park is that it lets you escape the crazy London traffic, it lets you relax, wind down, switch off and forget about the stress outside. I can't wait to see it in spring and summer, I believe I will spend a fair amount of my free time there. 

To warm up after my walk in the park my love for cosy cafés was calling, and luckily I was spoilt for choice in this regard. There is the Brockwell Park Café in the old grand-looking Hall and the cute Lido Café, located directly in the park. As I planned on having a look at Herne Hill itself I ventured further and discovered The Roome, The Parlour and many more. In the end I settled for a Brownie and a soy Latté at Café Provecal, next to the beautiful Half Moon Pub. The café was busy on a Saturday afternoon with people coming for a late lunch and cake-lovers like myself. The interior is charming and homey, it has a unique, laid-back character and living room feel to it , thanks to the unmatching furniture and little details. Cake-and-Coffee-Lover Heaven.

Yesterday I took my new 50 mm lense out for a walk, but it looks like I need a bit more practice with the manual focus:

On Sundays Herne Hill hosts a market outside the station that is worth checking out. An array of quaint stalls with baked goods,breads, meats, vegetables, street food, second hand furniture awaits. 

Waste Less, Live More - Starting the Zero Waste Journey

These days, when I go into a supermarket and see egg plants & ginger roots (like, really?!) individually wrapped in plastic, or when I see people on the high street heaving heavy Primark bags around, I can't help but feel a bit sad/scared/disappointed, you name it. If I'm honest I can't really say when these things began to bother me, as in, there was no big moment when the scales fell from my eyes and I suddenly saw the light. It was more of a steady development, where the initial idea slowly entered my mind and grew bigger and bigger until I became hella passionate about it. I can't even have a conversation about wastefulness without seeming like a priestess on a pedastal on a busy market, announcing that the end of the world is nigh. 

All I know is that I came across @bezerowastegirl's Instagram profile one day and started following her. Her content was captivating, clean, concise and inspiring. One image in particular made me admire her with awe. It was an Instagram post showing a small glass jar containing a couple of wrappers and other waste. Underneath it said:

The rest reads:

... in our city. I have a cute adoring husband who makes a great effort to reduce his waste and this is his and mine combined. You can see a detailed list of everything we toss on Be Zero's website! 

I was so astonished by how little waste she and her husband are producing (if my calculations are right that picture shows waste collected over more than six months) that I wanted to start my own Zero Waste journey and be more mindful about the choices I make every day. Do I really need a plastic bag for my shopping? I don't mind looking like a pack mule when I forget to bring a reusable tote bag (happens more times than I care to admit). Do I really have to keep buying bottled water? Do I need to have my coffee in a takeaway cup ? These are small changes that can have great impact if we all started to act on them. Life seems to be all about peoples' convenience now. Veggies are already chopped for our convenience, they are packed up in aluminium and plastic so we only have to chuck them in our frying pan when we come home. Don't worry if you don't have a carrier bag, here is a 5 pence plastic bag that you can always rely on when going shopping, no worrying needed, for your convenience. I get that we all have difficult lives with challenging schedules, but can't we just make a little time and effort for the most basic things, like preparing our meals? Can't we get by with the clothes we have instead of accumulating more and more things we don't need?

As Andrea says in the Instagram caption, it's not about making zero trash. It's about making educated choices and rethinking this fast-paced consumerism. It's about refusing and not giving in to all these fashion trends. It's about appreciating the nature around us and changing our habits, rewiring our brains. 

I made changes little by little. The first thing I did was to ditch bottled water and plastic bags. Two incredibly easy things to do. I got myself a klean kanteen reusable stainless steel waterbottle and a GoGlass waterbottle. I then said Sayonara to ddisposable coffee cups and invested in a much-loved KeepCup. I stopped buying my lunch and took to doing some meal prep and take my lunch with me in a glass lunch box. Even though this was also motivated by different reasons (#SouthernFail) I started cycling to work now (which is really not an easy feat in London). I now buy almst exclusively in charity shops.

Andrea created the 30 day Zero Waste Challenge on her blog, which slowly helps you make those changes by giving sustainable alternatives. We don't all have to be Zero Waste Messiah's and drastically change our whole life. If we start thinking about our choices and making small changes  we can collectively make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place. 

2016 Recap

Even though 2016 was a rather tumultuous year that most people would like to wipe from their memories, it was one of the best years of my life so far. I started it the best possible way you can start a year: Traveling with my best friend and partner. We started with Australias East Coast, went to Thailand after and went on to travel New Zealand and lastly Australias Outback. The latter was one of the most special and extraordinary experiences of my life, never have I felt a greater sense of calm, happiness and self-discovery.

Coming back to Germany/Europe was difficult but necessary. It was time to go back and start the 'real life'. I applied to company after company until I lost sight of what I wanted to do and just randomly applied for any half-decent role just to start earning some money. This desperation could have led to me working yet another insufficiently paid internship and a miserable outlook on the rest of my future. As it so happened, I was extremely lucky and landed myself a job at Hootsuite. Six months into the job I still feel blessed to be working there, with truly inspiring people and friends. 

Now I am starting 2017 about to move into a room in a flatshare, which hopefully will become my home. I have found it quite difficult to feel at home in London so far, but I really hope this next spot will feel like home.

I ended 2016 doing the things that are dearest to me: spending time with friends and loved ones and traveling: