morning day dreams

Hello Day Dreamers,

I may have been a little sad to see my brother and his wife move to England in November. Who really wants their family to move far away?? Then again I now have an amazing excuse to go to the UK! Last week I traveled to London for a quick one week visit with T & F. I have never been before so I was super excited and they had a super packed itinerary for me too!

I flew over night and arrived bright and early in London and in an effort to get me adjusted to the 5 hour time change, we went straight out to Borough Market for lunch and exploring. This is also when I decided I will now start my own savory pie shop in Toronto. Pieminister… oh man SO good and they had more than one veggie pie option! We then took a long walk home along the Thames. Oh and of course we went to visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

You can’t see it in this picture. But this was a fire breathing tuba man. Amazing!

After a quiet night in, I woke up ready to go on Sunday. We checked out the Tate Britain, which had a really cool mix of modern and classical art. We then went home to get ready for a nice walk through Battersea Park with the pup and on to a dog friendly Sunday Brunch at a local pub. It then seemed VERY fitting to head out to the O2 for you know a good ol’ American style country and western show. Yup that is right. My first ever country concert was in England – go figure! Anyway, Jason Alden and Lady Antebellum were fantastic!

On Monday morning my brother and I hit the town, starting out a fantastic day at the Imperial War Museum, heading out for a fish and chip lunch and ending the day at the Camden Market. Where we found the most interesting ‘rave’ store ever – Cyberdog. Neon and black light clothes for everyone, even babies!

Next on the docket, the Tower of London. I can’t help that I have a weird obsession with old timey prisons and dungeons and this was a high priority tourist destination for me! That night went for high tea at the Wolseley, and made it our dinner before rounding off the day by seeing The Ruling Class play starring James McAvoy (even better looking in person by the way!!!) We ended the evening by taking a double-decker bus home. How very British!

I love that in the background there is a very modern building (nicknamed the shard as it resembles a shard of glass). The mix of centuries is why I love Europe so much!

By Wednesday, my legs were aching and I was pretty pooched from the 4 days of intense sightseeing! So T and I only planned one activity for the day. So off to Harrods we went. I browsed through the obscenely expensive clothes and then settled on some fancy….$40 dollar tea (yeah, when shopping in pounds…try not to convert in your head…. it makes you very very sad!) We ended the night by going to a Pub Quiz put on by one of T & F’s local friends. What a FUN idea. Everyone enjoys a couple of drinks and answers topical pop culture and England specific questions in small teams! Too much fun! Team 4 girls 1 quiz were just shy of taking home the bacon aka 50 pound bar tab!

Thursday was my last full day in London as my flight left midday on Friday. T and I grabbed the pup and headed to Hyde Park for a walk, not to mention it was a gorgeous day! To walk the park it took at least an hour, we were then sufficiently ready for lunch. We walked around Portobello Market for a bit before finding a pub… for me to get fish and chips…again. I ended my trip by seeing a lovely surprise guest, a friend I lived with for 3 months in Australia when I was 15, for drinks and then heading on to dinner at Dean Street Townhouse. All I have to say is ask for the vegetarian menu…and get the mac and cheese… oh man SO GOOD!

Friday I said my goodbyes had a quick breakfast, then I was on my way! What a fantastic way to spend a week! I am already planning my next trip, next time D will have to join me!!

Until next time day dreamers.