Richmond (and surroundings)

Posh old London.

That's the way Richmond has been described at times, and there may well be a kernel of truth. For starters, there is nothing like Richmond in anywhere Finland that I know. The place is downright idyllic. In fact, the whole place looks like it was lifted from a BBC village drama.

And according to external resources, quite a few productions have been in fact filmed there...

Images will not do the place justice. The best description of the place I can come up with is that it looked incredibly nice even in slight gloom with the sky pouring down on me.

Across the river, to the west is:

Twickenham

Twickenham was slightly more crowded. One big reason may be that it's not Richmond, and so the riverfront is incredibly packed. Everything that did not fit into Richmond wanted to make sure it got as close to it as possible.

Both of the places are extremely good fits for families. And both have a couple of major roads that actually cause a fair amount of noise. So any flat or house in either Richmond or Twickenham should be sought at least a street off of the major arteries.

The narrow streets of Twickenham and the tightly packed houses give off a vague resemblance to Prague. In a good way.

Somewhat further down south is a rather big town.

Kingston upon Thames

This town felt busier than either of the previous two. It also had quite a fancy combination of upscale feel with somewhat lower rents than in Richmond. If commute times weren't an issue, Kingston would be an incredible place to live in.

The main road is scarily busy, but a couple of streets off it's difficult to imagine that so much traffic is passing through the place. The noise of the road simply vanishes.

Slightly east and a good deal towards north, there is one more interesting area.

Wandsworth

Wandsworth gives off a mixed feel. It's still next to the huge Richmond park, but on this side the park is fenced off almost entirely. Not to keep people out, but to keep the deer in...

The area also sports an alarming number of flat-roofed houses. For someone considering to move to London, that's an unwelcome surprise. Finns learned their lesson with flat roofs during the late 80's and early 90's when practically all of the 70's buildings had sprouted systematic moisture and mold problems. In the climate next to river Thames, one can only imagine how badly the houses fare.

A nice place to be in, nonetheless.