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