Last week I was off to London to see some friends. We try to meet up in the holidays, and recently have been going for afternoon tea as it means we are left to it and can spend hours catching up.
Andy dropped me off at the station on his way to work, so I had a bit of time in London to myself.
It was a lovely sunny day, so I headed to Trafalgar Square.
We live pretty close to London but don’t go in that often. According to my friend this giant chicken has been there for ages, but I had not seen it before.
I also popped to the Wholefoods in Piccadilly, for a cold drink but also a little browse.
Ocado now stock the kids ranges of these, so I had tried the chocolate and chocolate orange versions (they are coconut milk based drinks, and are delicious)- of course seeing the word “chai” I was sold straight away. I did buy a few bits in there too. Although I wish I had bought a few more of these chai drinks as they are so tasty.
Restrained purchases: Carrot, apple and cinnamon granola, cacao powder and some raw chocolates.
Then I walked to meet my friends. We went to the BB Bakery in Covent Garden (well really it is off The Strand and really near Trafalgar Square)-and it was amazing.
There was a tea menu, which I love, and the teapots were so pretty (and each one different) with little infuser balls hanging in them. We were also given some orange juice- this seems to be at a lot of afternoon tea menus now. All the crockery was pretty but mis-matched-I loved that to.
This was for 3 of us to share, and they had put all the vegetarian sandwiches together. It was a mountain of food! A little blini thing, cream cheese + cucumber sandwiches, ciabatta bread with tomato and mozzarella, a little quiche (I don’t really like them so didn’t have mine, but it is nice to have some variety). Also there were 3 of each cake- sometimes you have to bargain or cut them in half, but we all had the same. A lemon meringue tart, a ginger cake topped with custard and fresh berries, a strawberry cupcake with strawberry icing (this was really good- we all thought it would be a plain cupcake with pink icing, but it had fruit in the cake, and the icing tasted really fruity too), a macaroon, and the most amazing squidgy pecan brownie. The bakery also sell cupcakes and brownies, and I would say if you are nearby have a look and treat yourself because they were so good. (Also, we booked in advance so it was a little cheaper I think, although their website seems to have 2 different prices so I am not sure).
All the while they kept offering to top up our teapots with fresh water, and hours later when we had finished most of the tier, they brought out warm scones with home-made jam and cream. No photos of those though!
We ended up being there for about 4 hours I think! A good catch up! Then it was time to brave the rush hour tube and get the train home. I was planning on walking back from the station, but it was much later than I thought we would be, so Andy picked me up which meant I could get to body pump on time. It turns out that afternoon tea is pretty good fuel for pump!
I would not like to live in London, but I do like being close by and it is great to be able to pop in for the day. Do you enjoy being a tourist to places close to you?
Wow! Now thats what I call a stack of cake goodness! I have never had an afternoon tea, being gluten intolerant its kind of hard to find them especially where I live but I must hunt one out…I get crazy jealous when I see posts about them!
They actually do gluten free options there ….
I definitely prefer being a tourist closer to home, since travelling just makes me anxious and leaves me in a lot of pain due to the amount of sitting involved. I’ve grown to really like my region, and it’s fun to be a race/running tourist in particular, because I get to explore some of the gorgeous surroundings ‘up North’ and combine that experience with doing something else that I love.
It must be amazing to be within an easy journey of London though: I would probably visit every weekend if I could, because it’s basically vegan heaven. It’s way too crowded and busy a place to live IMO, but being able to dip in and out would be wonderful. I do love my region as I said, but I often feel pretty isolated up here in terms of my ethics and beliefs.
xxx
When we visited the Lake District it was really beautiful- I am not surprised you love living up there. And you seem to have so many races in beautiful places too- most of the races here are in London.
I love lovechock and Primrose Kitchen granola so am envious of your Wholefoods haul!
The afternoon tea looks fantastic 🙂
It was amazing ! And they do gluten free ones too. The granola is so tasty I am glad I bought some to try.
I love being a tourist when in London – there will always be something to see.
Or there will always be afternoon tea to have. It looks amazing.
Yes there is always somewhere else in London to visit!
I love the kids rebel kitchen drinks, they are so good. That Pana chocolate is insanely good as well. Looks like you had a lovely day.
Yes me too! They are a good size too, not too big.
How good does that afternoon tea look! Even the crockery is beautiful. I do like being a tourist around places that are local to me. There are so many places to discover nearby that sometimes you don’t need to travel very far at all.
Yes the crockery was so pretty!
Ahh that looks amaaaaaaaazing. I love a good afternoon tea (as I’m sure you know…). I do prefer a big slice of cake though to little pastries or mini cakes. But let’s be honest, cake is cake and they look amazing! And variety is always nice. I think the scones are my favourite part though. I never used to be a scone fan and I’m actually not a big cream fan. However when it’s with jam in a scone I can’t get enough. I like that they offered to top your tea pot up as well. We often do that when we go for afternoon tea as I tend to drink it like water when I’m having cake. One place charged us extra for it though – I mean seriously!?
I think there are so many places in the UK I want to visit – places near me and places far. Not London though. I’m not a fan of London at all. So busy, loud and dirty. I’ve been there so many times as well I feel I’m done you know?
I would love a big slab of cake too ! I don’t like the little cream cakes so it was good to have real cakes there. It is so cheeky charging for a top up of water as it does not cost anything!
I live in Brighton (and have done for a year so far) and LOVE being a tourist in my own home. I used to live up North and they barely even knew what soy milk was but here its vegan heaven quite literally!
Yes Brighton is always a great place to visit- so much food choice!
I love the crockery – so pretty!
I know what you mean about London. When I was younger, I thought it would be cool to live there, but being a little bit older now, while I love visiting London, it also makes me appreciate Devon (and being able to escape back to it) more.
Yes a day there is quite enough for me!