This weekend was spent with my two loves; Richard and London. It was a tough week, which felt incredibly long; I am still settling in my new job and am at that awkward phase of being eager to get on with work and prove myself but either not yet knowing enough to do it or there not being enough work to keep me busy and buzzing. I therefore met Friday with a huge sigh of relief!
I started the weekend by meeting my cousin, Aurelija and her two boys for a catch up over dinner at Leon. My first experience of Leon (several years ago) was very disappointing – I had a chicken wrap which although looked relatively healthy, was completely unappetising. More recently, however it has been my go-to place for lunches and light dinners, serving healthy and tasty food. The two boys were able to have food from the children’s menu and were given some crayons and drawings to (almost) keep them preoccupied. It was nice to catch up with Aurelija as it’s not something we get to do very often, with very different schedules and lives. We walked off our dinner (and let the boys burn off some of their energy) by walking along Southbank. Parting ways outside Waterloo, I had a bit of a rush home for a quick change of clothes before heading out to South Kensington with Richard for some Friday night cocktails.
With no real plan for the evening, after a bit of walking and googling – we decided on Meursault. Although the cocktail list is quite limited (and a bit pricey), what Meursault lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality and taste! I had a watermelon based cocktail which contained crushed chunks of watermelon, sugar, mint and a variety of spirits; making the most wonderful combination. We also managed to grab a free table, with comfy, leather armchairs; appreciating the dark, Asian-inspired, underground bar. As for the music, it was too hip-hop, especially for a cocktail bar but I guess you can’t have it all!
Saturday had the best start; brunch at Birdhouse. Typically, people look for their local pub or takeaway, as proof of establishing themselves in an area. For me; a local café is of paramount importance and Birdhouse is definitely “the one”. We managed to grab the last free table and somewhat uncharacteristically, did not have to wait for one. I had an unbelievably strong espresso (which seriously challenged and very possibly defeated the few espressos I tried in Rome) and a toasted chicken sandwich (with, a somewhat unusual but incredible bacon chutney) which was so tasty! There was sadly no room in my stomach for banana bread, so myself and Richard made our way to Green Park.
We had a lovely walk through the park, appreciating the city in its full autumnal swing. Our plan had been to go to the photography exhibition at the Barbican but having got there, we changed our minds and decided to walk up, through the eerily quiet city to Spitalfields Market. We walked around the endless number of stalls – me, making an ever-increasing mental shopping list of things I “need” in my life which included a wrap-around watch and the coolest cape/poncho, amongst many other things – Richard decided that an apt name for the place would be “Roo Land”. I think that says it all, really.
After all the browsing, we made our way to The Strand for lunch at Leon and some coffee and macaroons at Paul's, before making our way back to the flat. Slightly rushed, I got changed, had some dinner and headed back out into central London for cocktails with Rosie. After mooching around a couple of overcrowded and almost closing places, we decided to go the Print Room in the heart of Covent Garden. We had some wonderful cocktails (the Espresso Martini may just be the best invention ever!), chatted away and eventually found a table in the corner to continue both the conversation and cocktail appreciation.
In spite of the clocks turning back, Sunday called for a major lie in and therefore a very late start to the day. Having eventually sorted ourselves out, me and Richard stopped off at Birdhouse, ordered some coffee to go (I steered clear of the espresso this time and went for a Latte) and got on a train to Vauxhall. The plan was to take a very short walk across the river to Tate Britain. We did get to Tate Britain eventually but did get slightly distracted (and by this, I mean Richard got slightly distracted) by firstly some motorbikes and secondly the MI6 building.
Somewhat shamefully, this proved to be my first visit to Tate Britain. The gallery is far bigger than I realised and after looking at some art from the ‘40’s, we decided to focus on the Turner Collection. I am no art expert (by any means!) and am not especially familiar with Turner's work but I really enjoyed looking at the collection (which was rather sizeable!) and the vast differences between his work throughout his career – some of which I was unwilling to believe was in fact by the same artist. It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday and having looked at the collection, we continued our walk along the river to grab some lunch at Wasabi. Being used to walking along Southbank from Tower Bridge, up towards Westminster, it was lovely to walk across Millbank and see, what felt like, a new, unknown London.
Having enjoyed our curries, we made our way towards Waterloo, coming across the Real Food Market, the sight (and smells) of which made us regret our Wasabi curries. The market offered everything from champagne and hot wine with brandy, to cakes, stews, flatbreads and cheese. Sadly, we were too full to try any of it, but did enjoy taking in all the stalls.
After a full day on our feet, walking about, it was lovely to come back to the flat and relax. Having made a warming and comforting roasted vegetable soup, we spent the evening relaxing and most importantly: booking our tickets to South Africa! It is official: Richard will be going home to visit his family for Christmas and I, will be joining him in the New Year for my first-ever trip to the country!
Happy Monday lovies!
Muah
Roo xx
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