Brick Lane

Brick Lane is just brilliant!

I had some last minute shopping to do before we leave for Turkey next weekend so I foolishly attempted Oxford street after work yesterday. Man that place is busy! I hope I don't need to brave it again for at least another year!

William had just done a 5 km run and he suggested we go out for a curry afterwards - confessing that he needed more for dinner than our regular salad or juice ;)

Brick Lane is a street in London's East End and home to a large part of the city's Bangladeshi community. It runs for almost a kilometer from Shoreditch to Whitechapel and is lined with the best curry houses in town - I have never been to Brick Lane and not enjoyed the food. I had my usual Jalfrezi and almost fell off my chair laughing at William when he ate a whole chilli, thinking it was a green bean!

We walked home afterwards, over Tower Bridge, in the rain.


http://www.bricklanerestaurants.com/

Greenwich Park

Another perfect day, another picnic. Greenwich Park is only 2 stops from London Bridge on the Overland. We found a spot with views of the Naval Academy, the Millennium Dome and Canary Wharf - I could even see the new Olympic Stadium being built all the way in Stratford.
It was sunny all day and we stayed there for 5 hours, only leaving around 6pm.
On the way home we stopped in at our "local". The Garrison has a basement where they show free movies on Sundays, so you can watch while having dinner. Last night we watched "Valkyrie" with Swiss Cheese & Spring Onion Samosas :)

Yum Yum Dim Sum

The first time William and I had dim sum at Ping Pong was the day we bought his ring from the jewellers at Hatton Garden. Mum was visiting us and we all met with my brother at the Charing X Bridge Ping Pong restaurant for a lazy "Sumday" - all the dim sum you can eat for 18 quid.

Last night after work we met up with Nats and Ant for dinner at the Cheapside restaurant, near St. Pauls. Yummy wraps, buns, dumplings, rolls with sesame, soy, garlic and chilli. And the cocktails were fabulous too with cardamon seeds, lime leaves, ginger and corriander juice.

Yum yum dim sum!

http://www.pingpongdimsum.com

Bubbles on the Balcony

Where: Tom's Balcony.
The Time: 6pm.
The Temperature: 30 degrees!
The Drink: Prosecco

Tom has lived with this gorgeous view for 3 years, poor thing - the perfect venue at New Years and every other day of the year.

Last night we watched the sun as it set between Westminster and the Eye, with bubbles.
YUM!!

The Globe

The Globe Theatre lies on the Southbank between London and Southwark bridges and is a replica of William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre built in Southwark in 1599. Every summer they host a number of open air plays, mostly Shakespearean, but last night we saw "Helen" - a greek tragedy written by Euripides in 412 BCE.

It was a typical british summer day - kinda warm but not really - so we left home around 2pm first heading to the Tate Modern - also on the Southbank.
At the Tate we joined some friends to see the new "Italian Futurism" exhibition. Cubism, Orphanism, Futurism - not really my thing, although I do like Robert Delaunay's Eiffel Tower (1911).

At The Globe we had a drink at The Globe Bar before the play - with fabulous views North, over the Thames to St Pauls. We both loved the play - witty and tragic at the same time - watched from the "Gentlemen's rooms" in the middle gallery. A great day out :)

http://www.shakespearesglobe.org/
http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/

A Regent Summer

At last - 24 degrees and sunny! Regent's Park is our favourate inner London park mostly because it's big enough not to feel like an inner London park. It has a lake, a river, large unmanicured areas (and some formal gardens), lots of large trees and many, many waterfowl. We have our spot on the river bank, under the trees and on Sunday it was sunny enough for us to head there with our rucksack of white wine, cream cheese and crackers with chives and tomatoes from our balcony garden.

http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/regents_park/

Best Borough Market

We needed some juicy tomotoes and a courgette for a curry on Saturday, so we visited Borough Market.Borough Market is London's oldest food market and has been trading on the Southbank since the Roman times. You know you are always getting the freshest of produce, with endless variety. For vegetarians there are mountains of vegetables, and cheese and breads. For carnivores - fish and game. William says it's a bit overpriced, but he always heads straight for the German Deli for his sausage fix :) I like the festive atmosphere best at xmas time...



http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

Sanctuary

Last night I treated myself to the Sanctuary Spa. Behind it's glass door on Foral street in Covent Garden lies heaven with tranquil pools and pampering potions. It's modest entrance belies it's grand interior spanning 3 floors - where you can truely loose yourself in self indulgence for the day. aaahhhhh the spaaaaa.

http://www.thesanctuary.co.uk/

The Perfect Public House

We like to call The Garrison our "local", although it's not our closest pub. To get to it we need to cross Tower Bridge road, and then walk almost the whole length of Bermondsey street - but it's well worth it.
This little art nouveau pub with low hanging lamp shades and light interior is always busy, always friendly and the food is always fabulous. William says it has the X factor :)

Last night we wandered over for a pint after work... Perfect...

http://www.thegarrison.co.uk/

Thameside

Friday afternoon Pimms, Thameside on the Royal Festival Hall terrace - lovely. What better start to the weekend than leaving work on time, wandering over Waterloo bridge to the South Bank, to enjoy a Pimms in the sunshine?
I even had my sunnies on.