The Big City – Part Two

We woke up on Sunday morning to sunshine streaming through the windows. Lovely yes, but somewhat painful to still delicate heads and eyes. After finding everyone else asleep or still tucked up in their cosy beds, the boyfriend and I tip-toed out of A’s flat and down the road to Le Pain Quotidien for breakfast.

I had a boiled egg and a much needed cup of fruit, whilst the boy decided on eggs on toast with a side of cheese and ham croissant and his much needed pot of coffee.

After breakfast I dropped the boy off at the station so he could make his way back home, whilst I jumped on the tube over the South Ken to meet up with Charli  of fashionlifelondon.co.uk for lunch.

Charli & I actually went to school together but being a year apart never really socialised, so it was lovely to rediscover her and her blog on twitter a couple of months ago.

After luckilly recognising each other outside the tube station, we decided on Muriel’s Kitchen as our gossiping ground. I ordered scrambled eggs on toast & a peach iced tea, whilst Charli chose Eggs Royale & side of Red Velvet pancakes. After spending a good hour & a half reminicing school days, and catching up with what each other was up to these days, we went for a stroll around South Ken, accompanied by more chatter, lots of laughter and a little bit of getting lost.

On Monday A and I had decided that we would go exploring London, and find a few places that we wouldn’t have thought of going to before. We began by heading to St Paul’s to seek out Postman’s Park. This is a little memorial park, dedicated to residents of London who sacrificed their lives saving others. However it may be more recognisable as the park Natalie Portman chooses the name Alice Ayers from in the film Closer.

After reading all the plaques in Postman’s Park, we wondered back to Fleet Street, via some interesting landmarks.

We decided to get some lunch at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, an incredibly old pub that was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 but rebuilt and still thrives today.

It is well known for having hosted visitors such as Mark Twain, Tennyson & Sir Arthur Conan Doyle amongst others.

We ordered a Ploughmans with half a pint of cider each, sticking with the old fashioned theme.

At lunch A had told me about this bar in Golden Square called Graphic, she’d heard a lot about it and so we decided to have a look and see what all the fuss was about.

Graphic is a quirky place. It’s covered in urban art work (which changes depending on which artist is being showcased) and has an extensive Gin menu. A had heard that they serve cocktails in paint pots, so of course we had to give those a go! I chose the Green One (Hendricks, mint, cucumber, lemon juice, lemon bitters & apple juice) and A went for the Pink One (Bombay Sapphire, apricot liqueur, peach bitters, lime juice, pomegranate syrup & lemonade).

Realising we were late to meet my brother, we hurried to the Wolseley for a cup of tea and a rather strange slice of Battenberg (marmalade jam was invovled and I’m a Battenberg purist I’m afraid!)

Full of tea, we said goodbye to A and James & I went to meet our parents and our Aunt (who was over from Boston) back at his house, before wandering down the King’s Road to gorge ourselves on Chinese food and have a good old catch up.