London quicky
Mar. 30th, 2019 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beelikejLast weekend I did a quick trip to London, mainly because I don't know what's gonna happen after Brexit and I so love to go there. I worked on Friday morning, then went home and packed my bags for the night boat across the Channel.
I didn't do any sightseeing, this was basically just a weekend to visit all my favorite foodspots and do some foodshopping. Also: Pottershops. Also also: bubblebaths.
Friday, March 22
Getting giddy over roadsign: not 'harbour', but ENGLAND, haha!
My cabin is mirrored from my previous trips, it's a bit confusing:)
Ahw, they have no pie on board *pouts* so I have a cheeseburger instead (delicious, but nothing gets me in the mood for the UK like a good old fashioned pie)
I took a walk on deck; I love the logo of the StenaLine Ferries <3
Saturday, March 23
A quick breakfast: had bought the yoghurt on board last night, brought orange juice with me, I rather sleep an extra fifteen minutes than spend time getting food in the restaurant;)
Bye ship, you are so cool.
Took a replacement bus service instead of the train from Harwich to London, which was about 30 minutes of extra travel time. Got a nice view of this funky mosaic above the entrance of this building. Not quite sure what these ladies are about, but I like them!
Now usually I would have breakfast at Leon at Londen Liverpoolstreet Station, but the Leon cafe changed their menu into all sorts of hip & healthy food, which is NOT what I want at ALL. So instead after my quick shopping at Boots and M&S, I got on the Tube to my hotel, where I couldn't get in my room yet, but could leave my backpack, and I walked to the nearby park for a proper English breakfast:
Forgot I don't like what the Brits do to bacon, but the sausage was scrumptious.
After breakfast I walked into town, where I did some windowshopping in the Seven Dials area (Northside of Covent Garden) and some actual shopping at Forbidden Planet (at Shaftsbury Avenue). Did not buy this Negan, even though it looked exactly like a miniature Jeffrey Dean Morgan;)
Then I went to Soho to the House of Minalima for some serious fangirling. Miraphora Mina & Eduardo Lima are the grafic designers of the Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts films; they created all the newspapers, book covers, posters, labels and all other things paper. In their shop you can buy replicas and visit three floors with an every expanding exhibition of their artwork. *happy sigh*
I bought a notebook with the cover of Dark Arts Defence - Basics for Beginners, see if you can spot it in between all my other loot of showergoodies and fooooood;) Thanks for the cereal recommendations,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
saltandburnboys - mission accomplished!).
Got back to the hotel around three and with no plans for the evening I figured I could take my first bath with bubbles I got fromdugindeep (thank you!) accompanied with chocolate milk and salted caramel doughnuts (I always notice that Krispy Kreme cart at the station but had never bought them before, I don't think I'll be able to ignore them in the future, oh my goodness, so delicious!)
Yes, I know how to party;)
For dinner I went to Mother Mash of course, my favorite cafe in London. I had the Sweet Potato Mash (with carrots and a sprinkling of chilli) with Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie (my faaaavorite) and traditional gravy. Omnomnom.
I was surprised how crowded it was outside, after the quiet in Mother Mash (Ganton Street, SoHo)
Saw a brilliant poster on the Underground, I recognized the artist, because I had recently discovered him on Instagram; he makes portraits out of crowds of people, you can look at them for ages!
Tom Walker poster design by Craig Alan (Craig Alan Studio)
More fun at the Underground: obligatory pic of Cockfosters *grins* Always good for a giggle when traveling from downtown to my hotel:)
Oh, right, after dinner I made a quick trip to Waterstones and somehow bought three books.
I also managed to find the Cross Bunsamberdreams had told me about: Salted Caramel with chocolate (thanks for the mention, I know they are not 'real' crossbuns, but I had to try them, sorry, not sorry;)
I have another bath before I go to bed. What a fun filled day:)
Sunday, March 24
Breakfast at the hotel; they don't have fancy pastry anymore, so I got some cheese and toast. This cheese was a mistake, glad I could peel it of and put egg on instead. All the hot food was delicious as usual, pfew.
Before I have to check out, I have time for a final bath with the left-over bubbles from DuginDeep, yay!
I had arrived with just my backpack and shoulderbag, I leave with two extra bags full of goodies, whoopwhoop! I hand in my luggage at the hotel to pick up at the end of the afternoon.
Before I go downtown, I do some reading in the park. Why don't I do this when I'm home? It's so relaxing!
I didn't want to wait for the Harrods Tearooms, but I had looked forward to a bit of a posh lunch, so I go to one of their other food cafes instead. I order pastry and pink lemonade. The drink is fine, but the waiter brings me a dry croissant and a knife, what am I supposed to do with that? And I know technically a croissant can be called pastry, but it's a separate order on the menu and I thought I'd get a danish or something. I ask the waiter about this, but I guess it's a case of miscommunication, because he leaves and comes back with a slab of butter and jam (which he mentions is not usually served with "pastry" (I KNOW, BECAUSE A CROISSAINT WITH BUTTER AND JAM IS A SEPARATE THING ON THE MENU, DUDE) and after I ask again, a fork *SIGH*) which is still not what I ordered, but I'm done with this guy.
I try not to get upset and it helps that a little later I notice him in conversation with a waitress and he turns out to be a dumbass, so I know it's not me, but I still feel stupid. I decide to take a deep breath and give myself a do-over and pretend this whole croissant thing never happened. So I order a hot chocolate and a piece of cake I had already noticed in the Harrods bakery: Russian Honey Cake. There. That's a fancy lady lunch and a much better end to my visit to London. *proud*
I take the Underground back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and then go the station for the Eurostar train straight to Rotterdam. Let's not think about how it was delayed by an hour, so I missed the last bus in my hometown, because I managed to reach out to mom and she was nice enough to pick me up when I finally arrived after midnight. So happy I could treat her to a present from Harrods:)
Instead let's reminisce some more about food:
Had bought these tiny pies which you apparently can eat cold, which I did on the train by way of dinner. But I saved one and put that in the oven at home the next day, which was much better. Mmmm, pork pie.
Besides the Cross Buns, which were amazing for breakfast, I had also found another scrumptious treat: Lemon Curd Whitby Buns, filled with sultanas and covered with icing. Wish I had bought more of these, as I suspect they're only available during Easter.
I had a great time. Glad I had taken Monday off, so I could take my time unpacking and enjoying my loot. I do hope they sort out this Brexit thing soon, because I want to go back to London this Summer and bring my mom:)
J.
I didn't do any sightseeing, this was basically just a weekend to visit all my favorite foodspots and do some foodshopping. Also: Pottershops. Also also: bubblebaths.
Friday, March 22
Getting giddy over roadsign: not 'harbour', but ENGLAND, haha!
My cabin is mirrored from my previous trips, it's a bit confusing:)
Ahw, they have no pie on board *pouts* so I have a cheeseburger instead (delicious, but nothing gets me in the mood for the UK like a good old fashioned pie)
I took a walk on deck; I love the logo of the StenaLine Ferries <3
Saturday, March 23
A quick breakfast: had bought the yoghurt on board last night, brought orange juice with me, I rather sleep an extra fifteen minutes than spend time getting food in the restaurant;)
Bye ship, you are so cool.
Took a replacement bus service instead of the train from Harwich to London, which was about 30 minutes of extra travel time. Got a nice view of this funky mosaic above the entrance of this building. Not quite sure what these ladies are about, but I like them!
Now usually I would have breakfast at Leon at Londen Liverpoolstreet Station, but the Leon cafe changed their menu into all sorts of hip & healthy food, which is NOT what I want at ALL. So instead after my quick shopping at Boots and M&S, I got on the Tube to my hotel, where I couldn't get in my room yet, but could leave my backpack, and I walked to the nearby park for a proper English breakfast:
Forgot I don't like what the Brits do to bacon, but the sausage was scrumptious.
After breakfast I walked into town, where I did some windowshopping in the Seven Dials area (Northside of Covent Garden) and some actual shopping at Forbidden Planet (at Shaftsbury Avenue). Did not buy this Negan, even though it looked exactly like a miniature Jeffrey Dean Morgan;)
Then I went to Soho to the House of Minalima for some serious fangirling. Miraphora Mina & Eduardo Lima are the grafic designers of the Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts films; they created all the newspapers, book covers, posters, labels and all other things paper. In their shop you can buy replicas and visit three floors with an every expanding exhibition of their artwork. *happy sigh*
I bought a notebook with the cover of Dark Arts Defence - Basics for Beginners, see if you can spot it in between all my other loot of showergoodies and fooooood;) Thanks for the cereal recommendations,
saltandburnboys - mission accomplished!).
Got back to the hotel around three and with no plans for the evening I figured I could take my first bath with bubbles I got from
dugindeep (thank you!) accompanied with chocolate milk and salted caramel doughnuts (I always notice that Krispy Kreme cart at the station but had never bought them before, I don't think I'll be able to ignore them in the future, oh my goodness, so delicious!) Yes, I know how to party;)
For dinner I went to Mother Mash of course, my favorite cafe in London. I had the Sweet Potato Mash (with carrots and a sprinkling of chilli) with Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie (my faaaavorite) and traditional gravy. Omnomnom.
I was surprised how crowded it was outside, after the quiet in Mother Mash (Ganton Street, SoHo)
Saw a brilliant poster on the Underground, I recognized the artist, because I had recently discovered him on Instagram; he makes portraits out of crowds of people, you can look at them for ages!
Tom Walker poster design by Craig Alan (Craig Alan Studio)
More fun at the Underground: obligatory pic of Cockfosters *grins* Always good for a giggle when traveling from downtown to my hotel:)
Oh, right, after dinner I made a quick trip to Waterstones and somehow bought three books.
I also managed to find the Cross Buns
amberdreams had told me about: Salted Caramel with chocolate (thanks for the mention, I know they are not 'real' crossbuns, but I had to try them, sorry, not sorry;)I have another bath before I go to bed. What a fun filled day:)
Sunday, March 24
Breakfast at the hotel; they don't have fancy pastry anymore, so I got some cheese and toast. This cheese was a mistake, glad I could peel it of and put egg on instead. All the hot food was delicious as usual, pfew.
Before I have to check out, I have time for a final bath with the left-over bubbles from DuginDeep, yay!
I had arrived with just my backpack and shoulderbag, I leave with two extra bags full of goodies, whoopwhoop! I hand in my luggage at the hotel to pick up at the end of the afternoon.
Before I go downtown, I do some reading in the park. Why don't I do this when I'm home? It's so relaxing!
I didn't want to wait for the Harrods Tearooms, but I had looked forward to a bit of a posh lunch, so I go to one of their other food cafes instead. I order pastry and pink lemonade. The drink is fine, but the waiter brings me a dry croissant and a knife, what am I supposed to do with that? And I know technically a croissant can be called pastry, but it's a separate order on the menu and I thought I'd get a danish or something. I ask the waiter about this, but I guess it's a case of miscommunication, because he leaves and comes back with a slab of butter and jam (which he mentions is not usually served with "pastry" (I KNOW, BECAUSE A CROISSAINT WITH BUTTER AND JAM IS A SEPARATE THING ON THE MENU, DUDE) and after I ask again, a fork *SIGH*) which is still not what I ordered, but I'm done with this guy.
I try not to get upset and it helps that a little later I notice him in conversation with a waitress and he turns out to be a dumbass, so I know it's not me, but I still feel stupid. I decide to take a deep breath and give myself a do-over and pretend this whole croissant thing never happened. So I order a hot chocolate and a piece of cake I had already noticed in the Harrods bakery: Russian Honey Cake. There. That's a fancy lady lunch and a much better end to my visit to London. *proud*
I take the Underground back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and then go the station for the Eurostar train straight to Rotterdam. Let's not think about how it was delayed by an hour, so I missed the last bus in my hometown, because I managed to reach out to mom and she was nice enough to pick me up when I finally arrived after midnight. So happy I could treat her to a present from Harrods:)
Instead let's reminisce some more about food:
Had bought these tiny pies which you apparently can eat cold, which I did on the train by way of dinner. But I saved one and put that in the oven at home the next day, which was much better. Mmmm, pork pie.
Besides the Cross Buns, which were amazing for breakfast, I had also found another scrumptious treat: Lemon Curd Whitby Buns, filled with sultanas and covered with icing. Wish I had bought more of these, as I suspect they're only available during Easter.
I had a great time. Glad I had taken Monday off, so I could take my time unpacking and enjoying my loot. I do hope they sort out this Brexit thing soon, because I want to go back to London this Summer and bring my mom:)
J.