Tea and Coffee

Tea is real institution in England. I recently wandered through Soho and came upon Yauatcha at 15-17 Broadwick street which serves 150 varieties of tea, iced tea, tea smoothies and tea cocktails as well as some delicious macaroons and cakes. It also does dim sum. It is not cheap but very enjoyable.

London has rather a bad reputation for coffee but guided by Pim from the food blog www.chezpim.typepad.com, I found a great place just up from Covent Garden station called Monmouth coffee co, they sell coffee beans at the front of the shop and at the back have tiny booths where they serve really good coffee.

Wales

I went to Cardiff for the weekend. Cardiff Back packers didn't quite live up to Lonely Planet's glowing review but was conveniently located near the river Taff. Plastic covered matresses are not the most comfortable though I guess they keep the bed bugs away and door closers that slam didn't make for the best night's sleep.

Cardiff has a castle in the city. I took the tour through the ornate interior with an entertaining guide pointing out the various features of each room. Cardiff Bay is where the restaurants are mainly gathered. I had a nice meal at the Art cafe which has an art and craft shop attached with a nice range of stuff. I walked along the waterfront past some interesting architecture and sculptures. The information centre is a tube like structure that is covered in stretched canvas.

This photo is of Big Pit in Blaenafon, north of Cardiff. It is an old mine that has been turned into a museum where you go on an underground tour with an ex miner.You are kitted out with hard hat,light and emergency breathing filter and then descend 90 metres in a wire lift to the mine. I really enjoyed the tour. Unfortunately public transport to Blaenafon on a Sunday is somewhat irregular however the hills were in lovely shades of orange from the Autumn leaves.
A few miles from Cardiff is Caerphilly Castle. This has a proper moat and looks most impressive.

Light Up Hackney

There are fireworks in London Fields nearly every night at the moment. Some are for Diwali festival of light, some for a Light up Hackney celebration and some seem to be totally random. I am looking forward to Guy Fawkes which I have missed not celebrating in Australia.

I worked on Saturday as we have moved offices and am now working in Hanover square near Oxford Circus. Consequently sightseeing was a bit limited this week. On Sunday I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and saw the fashion section, I then went to Harrods for scones and tea. The Food hall at Harrods is great, alsorts of game meat, fish and cheeses.

One Month In London

Today I have been in London one month, it seems to have gone very quickly. I have seen quite a bit but there is an endless amount of things to see in London.

I haven't yet braved the culinary delights of pie with jellied eels or whelks, maybe this month. I did have Chinese takeaway recently but don't think I will be repeating that experience; it was like Chinese food that was served twenty years ago in Australia and NZ (overly sweet, sticky and lacking decent quality meat or veges). Indian takeaway though is fantastic. Sainsburys is still quite exciting with the different brands and the food markets have great fruit, bread and cheese.

I am enjoying the little red squirrels in the park and I saw my first fox on the way home recently. Grey hounds seem to be rather popular round Hackney.

The weather is still good, the papers are full of the fact that it is the hottest Autumn on record. I am looking forward to buying some proper winter clothes and boots this year.

Frieze Art Fair

I have just joined the London Art Club

London Walk

This week I did one of the London Walks guided tours round the City after work. This is the Royal Exchange where we started off. We also saw where the London fire had been, lots of historic buildings and where Harry Potter bought his wand for Hogwarts. The guide was very entertaining, quoting Shakespeare and giving his views on the architecture.

London Wetland Centre

A short bus trip from Hammer - smith tube station (central London) takes you to the London Wetlands centre. A bird watcher's paradise. There are 110 acres of wetlands with paths, ponds, different types of vegetation and some areas of birds from different parts of the world and some wild areas. I think that these birds are Mandarin Ducks.

Cambridge

I survived my first week at work. After some horrible weather through the week Saturday dawned fine and sunny. I stocked up on raspberries and cheese from the local market and then I headed off to Cambridge. It was about an hour on the train from Liverpool street. This is a picture of Kings College. I did the touristy thing in the afternoon and went for a punt tour along the river Cam.

To Market

On Saturdays there is a food market just round the corner from London Fields, (Broadway Market). There are great pastries and cheeses. On Sundays there is the Columbia Road Flower market at Bethnal Green where you can get flowers, plants, pots and quirky garden ornaments. The Spitalfields market near Liverpool station is a much bigger affair with food, clothes and knick-knacks. I spent most of last Sunday wandering round the markets.

Brighton

Last weekend I headed to Brighton for the day. Brighton is about an hour on the train from London. There are great art and craft shops. Unfortunately the weather was not the best and the umbrella came out in the afternoon.