Tag Archives: london getaway

london getaway 2016 | day 2

04 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by in food & drink, friends, holidays, london, travel, trips

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Woke up and had no idea where I was. All I knew was that I was still tired and that I was hungry (having just had crisps for dinner the night before). Luckily I’d had the foresight to bring some Nespresso capsules with me, so I was able to make myself a cup of coffee. But by late morning I realised there was nothing for it but to embark on the WAITROSE DEATHMARCH to stock up on a few basics (a 40 minute walk from the apartment). Not so bad going there as it was a pleasant day and I took the river walk. And I was rewarded by this unexpected view of the Shard when I turned a corner.
london day 2 (1)

But the way back (carrying the shopping) was long and, well, long. So once I got back I was barely hungry anymore and made do with some cheese and crackers I’d bought. About an hour later (maybe 3.30?) I was feeling quite drowsy so decided to lie down for half an hour before meeting my friends Julie & Steve at Vivat Bacchus at 5.45 (dinner at 28º-50º was booked for 7.45).

So imagine my shock when, after lying down and closing my eyes “for a few minutes” I opened them again at exactly 5.45! WTF! I flew out of bed, texted them immediately, had fast shower, threw on some clothes and flew out the door, eventually arriving at Vivat Bacchus 7.00 ish. I felt bad because Julie & Steve had just come in for the afternoon/evening (their train home was booked for 11.30) and I’d lost two precious hours with them.

london day 2 (2)But oh well… as usual we had a wonderful time together. And there was just enough time to enjoy a gorgeous bottle of South African chardonnay (not usually a favourite but this one was amazing) at Vivat Bacchus before heading out for dinner. Julie had even booked our food ahead for us at 28º-50º – the massive ribeye daily special – which was delicious. It was also nice to have everything taken care of and not have to think about what to order, for a change. So we could just relax and enjoy each others company. Next time dinner is on me as J & S will be coming to Sevilla for Christmas and I’ll be in charge of Christmas Eve dinner. Can’t wait.

london getaway 2016 | day 1

03 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in getaways, london, travel, trips

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

Although officially away for ten days, with two of those days basically travel days, that meant I had eight full days in London to look forward to. Not bad! The plan was to arrive in London around 6.30 pm and get to the apartment by about 9.00, in time to pop over to one of the local pubs recommended by Jo & Mark for a quick snack and a drink. But of course I was flying with RyanAir.
london day 1 (1)

I got to the airport in plenty of time, so I just relaxed with a cold beer and did a bit of stuff online while I waited for the boarding announcement. I was one of the last to pass through into the departure lounge and about two minutes later came the announcement… a 2 hour delay!

london day 1 (2)

At which point we were all stuck in the hot and airless departure area and not allowed to go out for a drink or to comfortably sit elsewhere. Finally we were off, with my already late estimated arrival now even later. After all the faff at Stansted – passport control, customs, luggage pick up – I hopped the train to Liverpool Street Station and then got a taxi to the apartment.

london day 1 (3)

Upon arrival I dropped my bags with the porter and said I’d be back in an hour to collect the keys, then hightailed it over to the closest recommended local on my list, The Prospect of Whitby (apparently the oldest riverside pub in London). Got there about 10.40 pm and asked if the kitchen was still open. Um…no way. In fact, I was told they were closing in precisely 20 minutes. So dinner that night was a glass of pub Pinot Grigio and a packet of Kettle Chips. But on the way home I was rewarded with this lovely view…
london day 1 (5)

And once home I felt immediately “at home” once again in Jo & Mark’s beautiful apartment in Wapping (it’s the second time I’ve stayed here). I did the bare minimum unpacking, had a cool refreshing shower to “wash the plane” off me and fell into my comfy bed.
london day 1 (4)

More to come…

london getaway 2016!

19 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by in getaways, london, travel, trips

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

london

Remember back when I was thinking of planning my summer getaways in June? Well, I did book Galicia, but then was left up in the air about whether to go to London or San Sebastián, with part of that decision being based on whether I’d get my renewed passport back in time. And well, it came yesterday! So without another thought I decided to go with London, went online, booked my flights and – eep! – that’s done now. I’ll be there August 2nd – 11th!

Well okay, I did have a few thoughts. I still hadn’t heard back from my SS pal, and if she wasn’t going to be there it didn’t make much sense to go. Then a quick check by Twitter DM asking if various London friends would be around ended up with immediate responses and invitations and whatnot, so I decided to go with London. Flights clearly not as cheap as if I’d booked in June, but what the heck.

I’m going to London! 🙂

last day in london…

04 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by in food & drink, getaways, holidays, london, travel, trips

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

london thursday… and I didn’t get lost once!

Probably because I walked everywhere and it was daylight. Once again I didn’t have much of a plan, though Jeffrey @FoodieHub had set me 3 final foodie challenges: to track down and eat London’s best sausage roll, best grilled cheese sandwich, and best pizza. Well, clearly that wasn’t ALL going to happen, but the Ginger Pig sausage roll and the Kappacasein grilled cheese could both be found at Borough Market, and thus a plan began to take shape. On a whim I got in touch with Twitter pal @CoteDuPy (who wasn’t able to get to our Twitter meet up) to see if he was free to meet for a quick sherry at José Pizarro’s tapas bar in nearby Bermondsey street. And he was! So we had a lovely visit and shared some gorgeous garlic-chilli prawns before I head out on my mission.

I’d always been curious about Borough Market, though my friend José has long lamented that it was no longer recognisable. And although I’d never seen its previous state I understood exactly what he meant as soon as I walked in. Yet another charming market gone upmarket. Though unlike places like Madrid’s San Miguel “Market”, at least there were still a few places you could actually pick up a few veggies, fish and whatnot, though probably at much higher prices than before it became so trendy. To be honest, if I lived in London I probably wouldn’t go back to Borough Market. Meh.

k grilled cheese

I also found these “legendary” food items to be quite unspectacular. The grilled cheese sandwich was, well, a grilled cheese sandwich. Three types of cheese, five types of onion (really just a small spoonful was added) on sourdough bread. It just tasted like lots of melted cheese, no finesse going on there. And since I knew there was no way I could eat a grilled cheese AND a sausage roll, I decided to have the roll wrapped up to eat later as a snack at the airport.

gp sausage roll

So after checking in and all that I found a seat at a bar, ordered a glass of wine and asked if I could eat my sausage roll there. No problem. Except I couldn’t eat it. After two small bites I couldn’t carry on. Talk about DENSE. And really not all that flavourful. I will give GP the benefit of the doubt that it is probably best eaten hot out of the oven and not several hours later at the airport, but still. It was super stodgy. Ended up bringing it home and even the flatmate (who is not a fussy eater) wasn’t thrilled with it. Anybody else tried this and liked it?

And that was the end of my London Getaway. You can see all kinds of photos on my Instagram, and I do hope to actually write something a bit more than these few “postcard” blog posts. It truly was an amazing week and it left me longing to go back again soon. Oh, and I got to see Tower Bridge for the first time! 🙂