Our Last Weekend

We had our last weekend here in London. Initially we thought we might go away for the weekend to some place like Marseilles, but we decided to stay in town. We went to Greenwich, which has a beautiful park that includes the Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum. We also went to Islington, a great neighborhood and home of the Camden Passage market, and walked along Regent's Canal. And we headed back to Shoreditch to buy some last minute things and to walk around Brick Lane. We had a great weekend. Here's are some random bits.

We ate a lot of yummy food. One of my favorites was coffee and croissants from Patisserie Deux Amis, pictured above. A really cute, cozy French cafe. I think Andrew's favorite would be St. John Bread and Wine. We didn't bring the camera to St. John, but it's a nose to tail sort of place that has great food (they have things other than nose to tail type stuff). I'm not sure why I have such reservations about eating those "other parts" since I eat meat, but I do. Eating pig's cheek just sounds a little weird and gross to me, which makes no sense when eating a pork chop sounds perfectly normal, but I tried a tiny bite of it, and it was really good. It tasted sort of like fatty bacon with less bacony flavor. My favorite thing there was dessert--armagnac and prune ice cream with madelines, yum. The servers were so nice to Lois. They even have high chairs for the tiny tots.

In Greenwich we went to Greenwich Park. The parks in London are outstanding. I can't believe how many parks there are or how beautiful they all are. Of all the parks we went to Regent's Park was the most impressive I think, but Greenwich Park was beautiful too. And the parks here have so many nice playgrounds for kids. Greenwich Park even has a children's paddle boat pond.

In the park we got to see fall showing all its beautiful color. And did I mention the weather? It was outstanding! The last few days have been some of the most amazing days ever.

In Islington we walked along Regent's Canal, which was a fun surprise for us. We decided to just wander around, off the main roads, and saw a path leading to what looked like a park. We followed it down and saw this! It pays sometimes to leave the map in your pocket and just see where the road takes you.


The canal was filled with these long, skinny boats. It looked like many people lived in them.

We saw a number of gardens on the boats. Garden anywhere? Sure!

See that one itty bitty tomato there on the right? Last of the season, I imagine.

And we ran into a fun little craft market. Cupcakes get your attention every time don't they? The cupcakes are from Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery and those crafty wares from Isabel Vince, who's pictured on the Left. I love her key and patchwork cushions.

A weekend around London wouldn't be complete without some fun junk hunting!

We saw so many great junk, antique, and vintage shops over the weekend. Ah, London is a old stuff heaven!





And more junk and vintage heaven on Brick Lane.



And we were lucky enough to see another red balloon! I could hardly believe it. A very nice last weekend, don't you think?

See you again in a few days when we're back in San Francisco!