Weeknote 175

Fiestas Patrias 🇨🇱

• Still no fresh offers for my apartment since the relaunch this month. Monday cleared the lounge of my dining table and sold my large indoor plant to try to make it seem more spacious following some initial feedback. Trying to remain positive in what feels like an ever tougher market to sell a modern 1-bed apartment in London coupled with relatively high service charges.
• A duo of evening meetups this week including London Web Standards and A11y Together, both in the City of London, so easy to get to from my office.
• Friday went to my first Chilean Fonda with Mena; celebrating Chile's Independence Day festivities (Fiestas Patrias) in London's Red Lion café. Although rather cool and wet, the atmosphere was happy and fun. We had an hour-long queue for empanadas and choripán from the small café in the middle of a park, but enjoyed the music and partook in some dancing including Trote – a folk dance from northern Chile.
• Sunday was another opportunity for us to visit a free London Open House venue. We arrived early in nearby Hampstead to queue for the Isokon Building. There were three apartments to look at inside including the penthouse on the top floor. Incredible the building was saved from dereliction a couple of decades ago.
• For Sunday lunch we returned to Harrison's Coffee in Paddington, the best Chilean café/bakery for empanadas anywhere it would seem. We enjoyed Pisco sours as well as Milhojas cake too.