Post-holiday calm

Following my days of relaxation and then one whole day of work, I decided against staying in for the weekend and ventured out into central London. I have to say, that in the run-up to Christmas, I was seriously questioning my love of London - with all the crowds and the rush, along with the endless queues, my relationship with the city was under serious strain. But, I am very glad to say that once again, I am in love with it, now that the holidays have come to an end. As soon as I entered Trafalgar Square, I remembered why I loved this city so much. It had the perfect amount of tourists, there was not a single drop of rain and the weather was just warm enough, to make it the ideal temperature to walk around. Of course, this calm does not apply to the shopping areas: sales and London have never been a very good combination, but I was happy all the same. I even bought a pair of shoes! And no: I do not have a shoe addiction, but rather a shoe appreciation.

After walking around a few of the shops, I met up with Edita for a little catch-up. We headed to a little cafe in the Quadrant Arcade, just off Regent Street which has really cute cups and decent coffee but not the best food. They had a menu of sandwiches and a soup of the day - I wanted a baguette but was told they only had paninis (why advertise baguettes and sandwiches then?!) so had to settle on that which was ok, as far as sandwiches go. Edita had soup which was rather nice but not quite hot enough. After our little lunch, we just walked around. A lot. We toured St James' Park, headed down to Big Ben, up to Trafalgar Square, and as if I were a piece of metal being drawn to a magnet, we ended up in Covent Garden. I have to say though - without realising it, I haven't as yet seen Covent Garden in its Christmas glory in the night, so it was lovely to see it all lit up, just before it was all dissembled again.

We finished off the evening with some Starbucks and then headed up to Green Park, before heading home.

Nothing beats Starbucks. And we had definitely
earned the caramel calories after all that walking

As for today; it has been a miserable fail. I had intended to head out to Somerset House and have a look at the Valentino Couture collection that they have displayed there and maybe head out to Greenwich Park for a walk - basically have a 'me day'.Well, that didn't happen. I got dressed and got myself to the train station only to find out that due to "engineering works" there were no trains leaving my station today!  Of course, I could have relied on replacement bus services, but that would have dragged my journey time out and turned an intended day of relaxation to a day full of stress. So, I guess I will stick to tv watching, reading and will try and steer clear of internet shopping.

Muah,


Roo xx