On a whim...

Sometimes you just have to surprise yourself and do something on the spur of the moment (and not plan ahead long before as we usually do)!

So…  when during a phone call our friends from Houston mentioned they would be travelling around the UK for  a holiday and would be spending the last night of their holiday in London (but due to work commitments did not have the time to come to The Netherlands) , we looked at the hub’s work schedule, found that we could take the time to fly over to London, booked tickets, a hotel and a table at a Covent Garden restaurant and off we went.

The weather was gorgeous from beginning to end!

 

Catching an early flight we did have the greater part of the day to spend around town. As you may know we love London and I have visited frequently for the past 35 (!!) years, the last 21 (!) with the hubs, so we have seen a thing or two, but this time we went to a part we had not been to before: Brick Lane in the East End.

It was busy, colourful, fun and I wonder why we never went here before, especially after our visit to the Beigel Bakery. Open 24/7 they are famous for their beigels (they look like the better known bagles) that are constantly being baked in the back of the shop. You eat them on the spot with various toppings, but we opted for their (apparently) famous hot salt beef, and oh boy, it was good!

In the meantime there was food everywhere and cozy coffeeshops (you know, the ones that actually sell coffee) , trendy clothes shops etc.

And something for the hubs, which is the reason we went up here in the first place

We loved Brick Lane, will definitely go back again.

 

After Brick Lane a ride on the tube and a walk across Tower Bridge with a spectacular view of the new London skyline, reminding me how much this city has changed since I started coming here

  

At the other end of Tower Bridge:  Shad Thames, also a first for us

 

Before heading back to the hotel and the dinner we actually flew over for. Needless to say that was memorable, lovely to see our friends in this wonderful city.

The next day we still had a few hours to do the usual things before catching our flight back home again, which for me of course meant a visit to…

 

Yippy!! I love it here, and I don’t know why, maybe because I was there when it opened and the weather was so nice and everybody stayed outdoors, but the place was very quiet, lovely to just wander around and look

 



I have heard about glamping, but this….. a tent made of (one of my favorite) Liberty fabrics!

 



The Liberty Christmas department was already open !

 



and this year at Liberty’s Christmas has gone to the dogs!

 



After all this a walk through sunny Chinatown

 

 



lunch and then the flight back home, with wonderful memories of a very special 36 hour trip!

 

Phyllis