As most of you lovely readers are aware I had a rather fantastic and luxurious 3 week holiday over to Australia to go to a wedding, see some friends and catch up with family. Some might think that I would be due a huge dose of those post-holiday blues that generally start to kick in a couple of days after one returns from a holiday and even I myself expected to be a little homesick when I first got back, having really appreciated some quality catch ups, the sunshine and my beloved ocean. (I swear if I could live IN the ocean I would!)
Alas, none of the above happened because, as much as I loved it over there and as sad as I was to leave, the silver lining in this tale is that I got to come ‘home’ to a city as amazing as London. I’m really grateful to be back here. I love this city, despite its sometimes crappy weather and the occasional grumpy local you can come across. Getting off the tube in Angel and walking past all of those lovely English-style terrace apartments, my heart skipped a beat or two and I was reminded why I love being here in this amazing city. Not to mention the fact that I was reunited with my wonderful hubby who I missed terribly and who says he missed me (although I suspect he enjoyed the ‘break’ a little more than he lets on)!!
I did come home to two sunny and warmer days which was nice and probably made the transition a little easier. And it seems I’ve managed to miss a significant part of the conversion from winter to spring – when I left the days were still short, dark and freakishly cold, whereas now the sun is with us for much longer and although still on the chilly side, it is a lot warmer. As much as I do love the winter here, this one in particular started to get really old so I am pleased to now be experiencing those longer days where the sun gets up earlier and stays up later – making you really want to get out there and do stuff instead of cosy-ing up and hiding from the cold! And what a place to get out and about in – with so much art, history, theatre, music and culture on your doorstep!
Over the course of the week we did just that – getting out for runs, spending loads of time together making summer foods like salads, checking out a couple of pubs we haven’t been to yet, going to the cinema (not very outdoorsy though), cycling around London and checking out some art.
I finally managed to talk C into going with me to my favourite breakfast place in London – The Breakfast Club. We went to the one in Angel, where usually there is a huge line out the door, which is why C never wants to go there (this man waits for no food!) and miraculously we were the first ones to be in the ‘line’ so only had to wait about 10mins for our table.
It was so worth the wait though and I think I’ve convinced C that it’s a great place to eat breakfast, though whether he’ll ever queue up for 30mins or more is another question.
The Breakfast Club is an awesome cafe/restaurant that does huge and amazing breakfasts with a Mexican twist. While they do have the standard breakfast items on the menu, be prepared to see items like chillies, chorizo and burritos on the menu even at breakfast time. The coffee there is good too which is always a plus!
Sunday we went to the Tate Modern to check out the Lichtenstein exhibition which was brilliant. A work friend kindly lent us his member’s card so we still managed to have a cheap day out. For those a fan of Pop Art – this is definitely worth a look with some of his most famous works on display like ‘Wham‘ and also displaying a few I didn’t know existed like his Chinese landscape collection. Also, I am a fan of Picasso too and Lichtenstein was always an big fan of his work as well so it was interesting to see Lichtenstein’s take on Picasso’s pieces. After the exhibition we went up to the roof top bar and had a drink and although still cardigan weather, the sun was out and it felt lovely to be outside in the sun.
I’ve also spent a lot of time in the last few days planning other things I want to do including:
– getting back to Shakespeare’s Globe for this season’s shows
– checking out Othello at the National Theatre
– maybe seeing some ballet
– checking out the play that is the talk of the town
– go to the open air cinema
– scour London for more pubs with rooftop bars or really great gardens, like The Queen of Hoxton
We also want to make the most of London’s vicinity to other interesting places and are keen to:
– check out the Yorkshire Dales
– get back down to the New Forest
– visit Brighton again
The point is, I am going to do everything I can to make the most of being here this summer, as it is likely to be my last and I want to make sure I do as much as I possibly can!!
Almost English 