British weather problems

A British Bank Holiday usually means a weekend filled with rain. Lots of rain. This bank holiday offered just that. In spite of the weather, however I managed to have a very lovely weekend!

Waking up to the sound of excessive rain on Saturday wasn’t quite the start I had hoped for. Nevertheless, I am proud to say that in spite of the rain, I managed to get myself up and out of bed and managed to go for a run. Having not been out for a run for over 3 weeks, I suffered more than a little and seriously questioned my sanity, being one of only two people running (amongst 3 dog and their furry friends) in the whole park. In the end, I was glad I went. I find it so relaxing to run in the rain and it is the only time I ever enjoy the endless raindrops on my skin. 

A bit of cheese for the evening...

After a relaxing morning spent breakfasting, searching the worldwide web and having a quick tidy, I started preparing a very early 3 course dinner for me and mum. The initial plan had been for me to take my mum for a trip to Richmond Park and come back to the flat for food but with the miserable weather outside, we skipped on the first part. Experiencing serious Rome withdrawal systems, I had been planning this three course meal all week and was very well prepared for it, having bought all the ingredients, on Friday after work.  The “menu” was as follows: -

• Starter: Melon & Prosciutto
• Main: Seafood spaghetti
• Dessert: Fruit salad with coconut yoghurt

The plan was to have wine too but since mum drove up, that wasn’t an option. She did, however have a minuscule sip of the Limoncello which I bought from Rome which was sooooo good. It turned out to be a lovely afternoon/early evening. All the food was fresh and turned out quite delicious. I think my mum was also surprised by all the effort I went to, so a definite success in my eyes.

Melon & Prosciutto

After mum left, I managed to clear the kitchen before Chloe showed up for a girls’ night out. Sticking to our usual, we ended up at our go-to The Slug @ Fulham. We pre-drank at the flat more than was necessary and as usual had a gossip and a giggle before heading out for a long night of dancing. It goes without saying, that as always I ended up having a great night with a fabulous friend. This was evidenced by the world’s worst hangover, come Sunday morning.

Sunday turned out to be a bit of a wasted day, spent on the sofa with Domino’s pizza and the Big Bang Theory. In spite of feeling rotten, me and Chloe ended up laughing more than I thought humanly possible; the perfect result from knowing each other for 12 years.

In the evening, Richard came up for a visit. Due to my fragile state, we didn’t end up doing much aside from walking up to Sainsbury’s and taking in the last rays of sunshine with a walk around Wimbledon Park.

Feeling recovered on Monday morning, I woke up ready to play some tennis and do something productive. That determination quickly vanished when I heard and saw the endless rain. After mooching around the flat, myself and Richard did intend to head to a museum and maybe grab some burgers in Central, being a fan of (as previously mentioned) Brgr & Co and having heard great things about Patty & Bun. After some deliberation (in which the weather played quite a factor) we decided to forego Central London and make our own burgers. This did involve a trip to Wholefoods (my favourite food store) which was completely worth it, since we ended up making what may be the best burgers ever (yes, it is quite a statement but they were so good!!!) Beyond the productivity of cooking, we didn’t end up doing all that much. Most of the day was spent on the sofa, watching the French Open (which made us want to play even more) or flicking between channels. Given the weather, it was the ideal day.

Check list: beef patty, cheese, lettuce, roasted
cherry tomatoes on the wine, olives, onions,
cucumber and peppadew peppers

I hope everyone managed to have a wonderful weekend, however long or short.

Happy Tuesday, lovies!

Muah,

Roo xx

Bella Roma

Anyone who knows me and/or reads my blog knows about my love for London. However, after spending the weekend in Rome with Richard, my dedication to London more than wavered, as it took every single ounce of self control to get myself on the plane for the journey back home.

I don't think there are enough words or good enough pictures to describe what an amazing weekend I've had or what a stunning city Rome is (very new for me; I am usually full of words!) so I will keep it short and sweet and let some of the pictures do the talking.

The weekend involved everything that I could have wished for; delicious Italian food (including ice cream), incredible coffee (I had my first Italian espresso), hearing a chef genuinely use the phrase "Mama Mia", some "charming" over-the-top Italians, getting lost in the city, far too much walking and seeing some of the most beautiful sights in the world. By far my favourite was Vatican City: I was genuinely awe-struck!

Ciao, lovies!

Muah

Roo xx

April Showers in May

I hope everyone managed to stay warm and dry this weekend. Chances are, if you were in London for the weekend, neither was likely.

For whatever reason, in spite of having only a four day week, I started the weekend absolutely exhausted and therefore wasn’t in a fully functioning mode. That meant that Friday presented only one option: curry and an embarrassingly early night.

With Richard down in London for the weekend and the weather forecast looking unpromising, we tried to find touristy places with a roof. This inevitably led to us going to my favourite rainy-day tourist spot: the National Gallery. The place wasn’t as overly packed as I feared and we ended up mooching around the Gallery which never fails to have the most therapeutic effect on me. After our cultural intake, we went out for lunch to Itsu. Whilst Richard stuck to a chicken and rice potsu, I had some lovely sushi. After eyeing my lunch for ages, Richard eventually tried an entire half of a roll of my sushi (well done!) and seemed to like it except for the fact that it made him feel like he was eating the ocean. Yep! Enough said.  

After an impromptu umbrella purchase, we hid in Somerset House, stumbling on the Burnt Generation exhibition which displayed modern Iranian photography. Admittedly, aside from what’s reported in the news, I don’t know much about the Iranian conflict but looking at the different photographs was really interesting and some of it was quite moving. After the viewing, the sun came out so we used the opportunity to walk up to Covent Garden where I had the best cupcake ever at the Cupcake Bakehouse (raspberry cupcake with creamy, lemon icing may be the best combination ever!!!!)

Somerset House during a moment of sunshine

Realised that Richard had never been to Selfridges (??!?!!!), it turned out to be our next stop. We spent most of the time looking at either watches or food (I am so proud of the fact that I managed to to stay away from the bags). Eventually Richard headed back to the flat (for a fish finger dinner and movies with Natz) and I headed back up to Charing Cross to meet Chloe. We ended up grabbing dinner at Chiquito (yes, two weeks in a row but I did have a different meal and a different cocktail – speaking of which, the rum punch was delicious!) After far too much food, we headed up to Yates for a couple more drinks and a little bit of dancing. We spent most of the night people watching – there was a pair dancing in the middle to Grease’s “Hand drive”, with full blown flips, twists and rolling on the floor (pre and post falling over) which was immensely entertaining!

Sunday had an early start which I wasn’t quite prepared for. I journeyed up to Bethnal Green to meet my mum to go a church service in remembrance of my Grandad who passed away 3 years ago. After the service, me and mum headed up to Oxford Circus for some window shopping (along with some actual shopping). We ended up at the Strand for some lunch at Kimchee. I’ve mentioned Kimchee before, which is basically a Korean version of Itsu with a really nice welcoming interior (but very random, not completely comfortable chairs) and the nicest food! After lunch, we mooched around some more shops, grabbed some macaroons at Laduree for dessert and eventually made our separate ways home. Although I returned home beyond shattered, it was lovely to spend what is usually a tough day with my mum.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and will have a good week to follow (and manages to stay dry-ish!)

Muah

Roo xx

Long weekend and sunshine combo

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends. May in the UK means lots of bank holidays and last weekend offered just that. It turned out to be a lovely weekend with sunshine and the perfect balance between doing lots and relaxing at the same time. Sigh... 

Having had an embarrassingly early night on Friday, Saturday didn't see much of a lie in. Rather than being productive (I did plan to leave the house and go to some shops, or for a run, or something...) I had a very lazy morning at the flat. I think I felt a bit groggy from too much sleep; something that doesn't happen often in my life!

Richard came up for the weekend later in the afternoon and after mulling over what to do for far too long (most things closing up by this time) we headed out to Baker Street so I could go over to my favourite bookshop in all of London: Daunt Books. Being initially opened as a traveller’s bookshop, it was the perfect place to buy a guide book for Rome (which we’re heading off to in exactly a week’s time: so excited!!!). After walking around Marylebone, we ended up (as I always tend to) in Covent Garden. For dinner, we decided on some burgers at Shake Shack. The burgers were really good (albeit a little greasy from the melted cheese). I also did wish I had ordered a double decker rather than the single one I chose;  they weren’t quite as big as I thought they would be. The milkshakes (which admittedly did cost as much as a burger) were amazing (and I’m not much of a milkshake person) and could have been a meal in themselves! 

Having found out that Daunt Books was only no.45 in the top London bookshops list (treacherous!) we decided to visit the number one bookstore which was Foyles on Charring Cross Road (yes, we are that cool) which although bigger, with a greater choice of books, wasn’t nearly as good as Daunt Books, in my very expert opinion.

After a lie in on Sunday, me and Richard headed up to Wholefoods in Fulham to grab some food before venturing up to Primrose Hill. The plan was to visit Hampstead Heath but with the northern line completely messed during the weekend, that didn’t quite work out. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we spent the afternoon in the park eating, people watching and trying not to fall asleep. After a bit of a walkabout, we ended up in Regent’s Park (which is far larger than I ever realised!) which we didn’t stay in for too long as the sun went in and the wind picked up. 

Not wanting to go home just yet, we ended up at the “vintage” cinema, Coronet in Notting Hill. Admittedly the films aren’t all that vintage (we watched American Hustle) but with only 2 screens and old (but surprisingly comfy) seating, the cinema definitely had a vintage feel. After the film, we headed up to Leicester Square for dinner at Chiquito. Being quite late in the evening, the atmosphere was calmer than usual – with an interesting mix of Mexican and US/UK pop music – and the food was great. I had a steak chilli (which was amazing, but did lack chilli) and Richard had chicken fajitas which was quite brilliant since it was the first time he tried it and seemed quite overwhelmed by it all.

Monday had a more productive start to the day. After a quick trip to the shops, we had a lovely breakfast and headed out to play some tennis. I seemed to have gotten even worse since the last time I played, but as always, had fun. After a quick trip back to the flat, a shower and a change of clothes, we headed out to London Bridge. The plan was to visit Borough Market which was closed, so we headed up to Southbank for the Spanish food market. The walk was slow, due to the mass of people but that made the atmosphere better. The market boasted of being a version of the Boqueria Market in Barcelona. Having been to the market myself, it was anything but that. Rather than having lots of colourful fruit, veg, juices and other fresh food, it instead offered cooked street food (which admittedly did smell delicious) and lots of sangria.  After a little mooch around, without finding anything tempting enough to eat, we decided to have dinner at the very un-Spanish Wagamama.

The weekend proved to be great! As always it went by way too fast but the good news is, is that the next weekend is only one sleep away!

Goodnight lovelies!

Muah

Roo xx