London Day One

Well, what a day of sightseeing, treats and more treats. We certainly know we're in London! We used the buses, which are much more fun than the tube. But we also walked miles, with lots of sitting down, often just to people watch (and rest my weary legs).

1. Breakfast at Yotam Ottolenghi's. JR had a very healthy fresh fruit salad, (the creamiest, thickest) yoghurt and granola. I had French Toast with (the divine) yoghurt and a fruit compote. Three huge slices, which I did slightly struggle with. The waiter congratulated me, saying most folk don't manage...

2. Drinks at the Shard. The bus we happened to jump on to ended up at there, so it would have been rude not to go up it. We baulked at the £30 each to go up to the Viewing Platform, and so the drinks prices were reasonable in comparison. We got a fabulous window seat, looking down on Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Excellent sound system too - laid back jazz at a sensible volume.

3. Wandered round the Borough Market. We had a house swap in this area many years ago, so kind of know it. We bought some treats for tomorrow's visit, and came across a fab wee Italian cafe. We had several wee divine tasty dishes to go with my Cassablanca Beer. And they all came out of a tiny wee 'kitchen' in the corner of the cafe. The bar area was bigger.

4. Coffee in the quirky Doll's Cafe in Islington on the way home. The barman was standing at the door drinking a coffee. I asked him if he made good coffee. YES. So of course we had to go in. 'Cocktails and dancing till 4am' the sign said. Just our sort of place...

We were the only people in, the music was RAP, and VERY LOUD. Eventually I shouted to the waiter at the bar,
'Got any jazz?'
'How about Ray Charles?'
And so we had excellent music for the rest of our stay. I wish everybody would do that for me. We promised we'd be back later for the dancing, but I don't think they believed us...

5. Huge ice cream in Upper Street before walking home through the park, which was full of people and dogs having barbecues, playing games, and generally just hanging out on a lovely evening.

There was a man on his knees on the Millennium Bridge, with a camera. On enquiring what (on earth) he was doing, he pointed out the teeny tiny wee paintings someone has done on many of the millions of bits of old chewing gum. He was going to document them all, an impossible task I would think.

What a smashing day. Warm too!

I'm stuffed! Too tired to go dancing.