Homeward Bound - deuxième partie

After good nights sleep - despite a lot of noise from outside, we packed our stuff up and headed to the Coppa Club for breakfast again. There is nothing better than sitting outside in a cabana admiring the view and enjoying the sunshine (a somewhat rare event in London - LOL). It would have been nice to just sit there and chill all morning, but what a waste that would have been.  So after eating we took the tube to Marble Arch and from there we had a stroll down Oxford Street - we all know what this means.....PRIMARK!! Wey hey, yes we had to go in. I was a woman on a mission to find a unicorn dressing gown, and I got one. Its so soft and unicorny! We ambled our way down Oxford Street, and onto Marylebone. We've never really explored this area, so it was fun to do so. We found a great bookshop called Daunt, their travel section was excellent, so I came away with a little guide book on Madeira.  It was actually quite a warm day, so by lunch time we were glad to find a nice little pub called the Angel in the Field. They had a charming restaurant area upstairs, all wood panelling with an atmosphere that led you to believe it hadn't changed in quite a long time. Lunch was good, and it was nice to have a rest. I was fascinated by a tourist who ordered fish and chips for lunch but asked for the chips to be replaced by mash and gravy!! In what country would this be normal?? A great British dish - tampered with and turned into an abomination!

 After lunch we headed back to The Wallace, and spent a couple of hours here admiring the amazing artwork. I love the Canaletto's, and there is a whole gallery full of them. Beautiful paintings! All too soon, it was time to leave. 

We headed back to Victoria and travelled back to my parents house. We spent the rest of the day there, and had dinner with mum and dad before setting off for home in the evening. Much better to drive home in the night, even though it is tiring.

Homeward Bound

There is nothing better in the world than heading home ......to London. It is where my heart is, and always will be. So on Saturday, I woke up excited at the prospect of heading south. Its a long drive, so we decided to stop at Runnymede (near Windsor) on the way. Its a lovely place to stop, there is a café for refreshments and you can stretch your legs and walk up to see the Magna Cart monument. Its just over 800 years since the Magna Carta was signed. Its so peaceful, a place to contemplate all that has happened, and all that is to come. A short walk away is the JFK memorial, also worth a visit. This one acre of land was given to the Americans and still remains property of the USA I believe.

On leaving Runnymede, we carried on our journey arriving in south London mid-afternoon. It was good to see my folks again, I don't see them anywhere near as much as I would like. So, it was nice to hang out with them, and in the evening we wondered over to the Moon and Stars for dinner.

On Sunday we headed into the City, a short break that had been arranged before the roofing issues that have almost bankrupt us in the last month. Oh, how wonderful it was to be back in the Capital.  We started the day with brunch at the Coppa Club, an  amazing place right by the Thames. Its always a favourite place to go, and the views as you can imagine are fantastic. Paul and I both had the summer berry waffles, probably the yummiest thing I have ever eaten. Waffles topped with crème fresh, mixed berries, orange blossom honey and bee pollen. When we left, we headed to Spitalsfield Market. Definitely worth a visit at the week end, there were loads of stalls, live music and a lovely lively atmosphere. it was already quite warm, but after strolling around the stalls we found a quite spot to sit and people watch. Here are some observations I made - 1. man buns seem to be the in thing as far as hair do's go this summer (WHY!!) 2. Everyone in the city wears headphones (at least it seems that way).

Our next stop was the Museum of London, an amazing place on the London Wall. It tells the story of London, from prehistoric  times to modern day. The museum is very well laid out, and you find yourself spiralling forward in time. Spend as long as you want in each area, but be warned - there is a lot to see! I like the more modern exhibits from the Victorian era onwards, but there is something for everyone. The museum has an excellent gift shop and also a café, everything you need to keep you going for hours. They also have lockers available, so for a pound you can drop off all your bags and coats and head off to explore. We were so glad of that. We were at the Museum all afternoon, so it was well after 5pm when two weary travellers arrived at the Liberty Bounds near the Tower of London for dinner. We sat at the first free table we came two, I really don't think we could have gotten much further. Dinner was good, after which we headed to our hotel - the Travelodge -  to check in. Think we both needed a sit down and chill for half an hour.  We did venture out to St Katherine's Docks later, I really like it there, we walked around looking at all the boats, and of course more people watching. I also wanted to find the 'Girl and the Dolphin' fountain, which we did eventually. It wasn't where I thought, but I am glad we kept looking. Its in an amazing spot right by Tower Bridge. Here we stayed as the sun set over London. I kept thinking, I can't believe I am here, its so beautiful. Our last stop of the day was the Slug and Lettuce at the Docks for cocktails. In honour of our fave TV show iZombie - we chose Zombies. Oh my god.....the alcohol that went into that!! Very nice, but woo hoo!!! Strong stuff, and the perfect end to the day.