Street Food, Sunny Skies and Sore Feet!

Sunday morning the Sun was shining, the sky was blue and the air-con in the car wasn’t working…… The M1 into London was relatively free flowing, and I didn’t have a care in the World. I was off to wander around our glorious Capital City and enjoy the best weather we have had in sometime.
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Popping on my Pin Up Girl Clothing Ella dress in Baton Rouge print, with little pink ballet flats and a pink orchid in my hair, I was ready to hit the City. Stuffing my oyster card in my Woody Ellen bag, I jumped into the car and we were off.

I had treated myself to Gregory Porter’s new album “Take Me To The Alley” and this was playing on the car stereo and I was as chilled as a Penguin on it’s holiday sipping a Pina Colada!

Arriving in Hangar Lane, we parked up and hopped onto the tube, heading in the direction of Liverpool Street. A regular haunt, Spitalfields and Brick Lane are always worth visiting on a Sunny Day as there is so much to see and do.

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Pottering around Spitalfields, I treated myself to an Iced Lemon Tea from a vendor and slowly sipped it whilst meandering around the various stalls and vendors. Walking out the top end, we headed to Brick Lane as tummies were starting to rumble and there is an amazing hall full of street food sellers right in the heart of the Lane.

In one building there must be over 50 different food stalls (at least) selling everything from Lithuanian meatballs, Japanese Okonomiyaki, to Brazilian Pork and Chinese Noodles. Huge frankfurters, Gooey chocolate brownies and Saffron spiced Spanish Paella can all be sampled and bought for low prices! I love visiting there as you never could grow bored with all the variety on offer!

Choosing Chinese for lunch, we ordered a large container full of noodles, with a portion of crispy chilli chicken AND Rendang chicken for the bargain price of £6! Sitting outside we stuffed ourselves full of the tastiest Chinese food we had in a long time. Absolutely fantastic!

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After our tummies were sated we decided that as the weather was so glorious, we would head down to the riverside and just enjoy a sit down whilst people watching.

Hopping on the tube from Liverpool Street, we stopped off at St Paul’s, walking around Paternoster Square before heading for the Millennium Bridge.

In the centre of Paternoster Square is the Paternoster Chop House – This is the restaurant where First Dates is filmed, and as this programme is a firm favourite in our household, I had to get a picture of it!

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We ambled down to the Millennium Bridge, taking in the views across the river – The Shard, Tower Bridge, The Globe Theatre were all laid out before us. Such a variety of landmarks – The oldest, the replica and the ultra modern, all within shouting distance of each other. Such a stunning panorama!

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Crossing the bridge, we walked past the Tate Modern, heading towards the South Bank. We were unavoidably delayed when we came across a delightful little pub with outside seating. The Founders Arms Pub was simply a wonderful stopover on a hot, tiring sunny day! A large glass of Lime and Soda really quenched the thirst. Then a large Absolut and Coke went down even better!

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In my stupidity, I decided I wanted to “pop” to Marylebone to pick up some food for dinner. Now, in my stupidity I didn’t realise Marylebone station is not actually anywhere near Marylebone High Street. And the shop I wanted was half way down the High street. Queue a walk of around a mile in 26 degree heat, and I was starting to get a little grumpy.

We arrived at the Natural Kitchen to get the Lamb steaks, only to find they were out of stock. Gutted!

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We then made the decision to walk down the length of the High Street, heading towards Bond Street with the intention of going back to Hangar Lane for the car drive home. I had also underestimated quite how long that road was, and how much mileage I had already put in that day.

Unfortunately the soles of my feet had become very sore and it felt like I was walking on razor blades. Thin soled ballet shoes on hot pavements combined with lots of mileage really did my feet no good at all. But the whole day was actually a wonderful time, and the Sun was the icing on the cake.

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We eventually got back to the car, where Gregory Porter lulled me off into a little sleep. Waking back up as the car pulled into the the driveway, I was thrilled to have had such a lovely day out and about, but was in love with the prospect of the cold shower that was waiting for me!