Friday round up

We have spent four days in London this week and as I have no crafty goodness to share with you, I thought I'd share some photos that might inspire. The London Underground was a little quieter than usual and there was a lot less traffic but more bicycles. There seemed to be a lot of people who didn't wear a mask properly or had it as a chin guard. However we had our Covid test on our return yesterday and as we are double vaccinated, we have a negative result and can go out and about from this morning.

On Monday we decided to shop. we headed to Bond Street as we'd watched a programme on the street last week. No luxury cars in evidence, but lots of inspiring and colourful window displays. Then on to Regent Street and the lower half of Oxford Street. we ate in Pizza Pilgrims in Cranaby Street but I didn't push my luck and didn't ask to visit the mother ship - Liberty of London!! I did stop in Uniqlo and bought two items from their Marimekko collaboration and some sugar free syrup and Sel de Guerande from TK Maxx. we returned to our hotel and headed to Yen Burger for dinner.

Tuesday was about meeting up with quilty friends and I even went for a swim (well bobbed around) in the east London Dock with Jen. Love her swimsuit. We ate a late dinner in an Indian restaruant opposite the hotel. The Premier Inn Southwark is well situated and generally cheaper than the Premier Inn Borough Market.

Wednesday I booked tickets to go to the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour. The detail of the rooms and costumes is phenomenal and the methods used to make Hagrid appear larger are genius.

My husband went with me, very reluctantly but thoroughly enjoyed it. I think we need to rewatch all of the films again. All through the trip we were very lucky wit trains arriving just when we wanted them, the only wait was the Hogwarts bus in the blistering heat.

There was a to hour wait for a table at Padellas so we tried out Honest Burger and their rosemary chips were so tasty. But a huge quantity which even defeated Nick. I opted for onion rings instead which were mouthwateringly crispy. we did find not having the NHS app was a nuisance but I do have a new UK SIM for any future UK trips but that is looking increasingly unlikely this year.

On Thursday I had booked us on a Shakespeare themed walking tour which started in Shoreditch with some great painted walls. It seems wrong to describe it as graffiti.

We took a bus direct from Borough to opposite the meeting point and as we were very early we were able to take in the decorated buildings.

We were the only two booked on the tour so we deviated a little from the plan and ventured to Spitalfields from the starting point of Shakespeare's first theatre.

We traversed the City of London and crossed back into Southwark where we finished with a walk along the South Bank past the Golden Hind to The New Globe Theatre where our guide, Canice had worked for ten years.

Time to shop in borough Market for some spices for Lizzie, smoked chicken in a brioche bun for our lunch and some fresh produce, just in case we needed to self isolate for longer than anticipated. I wonder if the security staff thought - who buys bananas to take home???