a slice of home in a new city
When Allison and Zach decided to move to London, I couldn't have been more excited. Not only have I never been to London, it meant I would have friends who are like family close by. Needless to say, this will be a one of many London-themed blog posts.
Regent's Park, London
Traveling in Europe is super easy and quick. Paris is two hours by TGV, and London is an hour and a half by plane. When I went through Customs in London, the agent seemed a little confused by my American passport and the fact that I was only staying in London for four days - after I explained that I live in Bordeaux, he seemed less concerned. I arrived rather late on Friday night (albeit it was Saturday morning when I arrived at Allison and Zach's). So on Saturday morning, we made breakfast at their apartment and then set out for the day. We hiked up Primrose Hill, which is the only hill in London according to Allison (and is much smaller than most in San Francisco). After a coffee here and a side of fries there, we had walked about nine miles - of course, our iPhones were all registering different mileage. We made our way to the Winery, the only wine shop in the world to carry Hafner wine, and guess what. They were sold out! We nonetheless found a couple other bottles that we wanted to try.
The Winery, London
After enjoying a glass of Cornas with a side of Harry Potter, we made our way to the Engineer, where we shared a smattering elegant bar food. A perfect way to end my first day in London.
Columbia Road, London
On Sunday morning, we slept in later than planned, made some breakfast, and headed to the Columbia Flower Market. The flower market was hustling and bustling at 11am - full of what I presume were tourists. We browsed the row of flowers, looking to see what might be good for Allison and Zach’s apartment. We then made our way to Ozone for brunch, which was this amazing coffee roastery with an industrial vibe. We did have to queue for a table, but oh was it worth it. Allison and I split the fry-bread and the braised wagyu mince, and we each had a Bloody Mary. Zach had the benedict and a margarita. It was Sunday brunch after all.
Being that we were in London, we had afternoon tea at the Wolseley. Since we had just had brunch, we split an order of scones and biscuits (which meant we had scones and cookies). They were scrumptious. The tea wasn’t half bad either.
On Monday, Zach graciously hosted us at Google for breakfast - it’s always fun to see where people work, to get a sense of their daily life. After eggs, bacon, and coffee, I said goodbye to Allison and Zach, as they had to work and set out to wander through Soho. I made my way back to their apartment, where I packed my bags and then headed to Gatwick to catch my flight to Portugal.
