November 2023 - A joyful weekend in London!

Who doesn't love a good weekend in London? I feel like going to London is a tonic for the soul, especially in the winter time, when it's dark earlier and you can really appreciate how well London is lit up.

We got a cheap deal on the train up via @thetrainline.com & a cashback offer on James's credit card, and we headed up Friday afternoon after work. We then came into Waterloo, onto the Northern line to Kings Cross, then came out, and our hotel was just opposite the station. Can't get a better location than that! We checked in, dropped our bags off, and went out to explore! That's what I love about London, it might be huge, but it's quick getting across it. It's faster than trying to get from one side of Southampton to another! Perhaps we could do with a metro system?

The gorgeous clock tower of St Pancras train station.

It was then a short but brisk walk up to the Coal Drops Yard. We've been before, and I'm sure you remember me writing about it, but it's just a fantastic place to be. It's been lovingly restored and turned into a multi use site, and I just love the fact it's lit up beautifully, both in the Coal Drops Yard itself, and along the canal where the coal barges used to come in on.

You can tell I'm very easily pleased, give me some fancy lighting and I'm sold! 

And then we discovered the lighting on this bridge, what fun is that! I just love the way it stands out against everything else, and how the colours reflect in the still waters of the canal.

More fancy lighting in the Coal Drops Yard, this time lining the staircases to the second floors. We had a browse through some of the little shops and boutiques on the upper floors, before heading down to get ourselves something to eat. I, of course couldn't resist a glass of wine, and I love the way the lights shine through the glass, but in a slightly distorted way.  We spied enviously at the couple next to us who had just had some food given to them, and we decided order some food. It was a very good decision!

 

This was from Vermuteria, a classy restaurant with a nice selection of pan European classics & tradition favourites. The service was very slow, but when the food came, it was glorious. I enjoyed the croquettes, and then the slow cooked lamb shoulder, which was absolutely divine. James was very happy with his steak sandwich too. You can check out their full menu here @vermuteria.cc, just be aware, it took us nearly an hour to get our mains from when we arrived, and the restaurant wasn't very busy at all. Hopefully it will be faster next time we visit!

We also had a little walk further up, and found this nice little square with a water fountain that we got some good pictures of, as well as the tree's lit up in a nice row.

Called Lewis Cubitt Square (for the engineer & architect, who designed Kings Cross station), it also features a small park just across the road, and it was a perfect place to wander about and take some good pictures. James was in his element, using his photography skills & degree to get some fantastic shots. I'm not nearly as good as him, so please enjoy my amateur phone camera shots!

I was happy with this shot, the pitch black sky, the lit buildings showing through the red bars, it made for a very atmospheric shot! 

  

There was plenty more beautiful colours as we walked back towards the hotel, with this frozen lilac coloured tree, and this large treat with a feast of colours in it as we came back through Pancras Square.

The birdcage was my favourite, it was fun to stand in it and see the different colours bouncing around. Again, the colours seemed to just pop out, made even brighter and more contrasting by the pitch black skies!

I then spotted this just as we about to re-enter the hotel, is this the only lighthouse in London? I've never seen another one, put it that way! It was then time for bed, and after a long day (and two large glasses of wine), I was quite happy to sink into the sumptuously soft bed. I just about managed to put a photo on facebook before I was asleep. We stayed at the Megaro (themegaro.co.uk) a beautiful hotel with personality. It was so comfortable and wonderfully quiet despite the local opposite two busy train stations. Breakfast was superb, and it was all round a great place to stay, I would happily return!

   

In the morning, our first stop after breakfast was to head to Borough Market. It was easy to get to, we just jumped onto the Northern Line a few stops, and then we were outside Southwark Cathedral. Its a great place to try both new things, and old favourites. I sampled these incredible Iraqi delicacies, known as Kubba from Juma Kitchen (@jumakitchen.com). They are stuffed full of meat & rice, as we did a selection of them all. They were so good, I've added them to my list of things to try and recreate at home! James also treated himself to a fresh donut from Bread Ahead (@breadahead.com), but had scoffed it before I even got a picture of it! 

Borough market is also full of these charming little birdies, which James told me rather confidently were Starlings. I couldn't name them, I just know they are cute birdies! We then headed over to Liberty London (libertylondon.com) where we pop in every year to look at the christmas ornaments. While there wasn't anything that took our fancy that year, I do love to experience the shop. It's like nothing I've ever been to before, it has the feel of a fancy boutique, but in this mock Tudor design, which makes you feel like you've time travelled back and you're actually in a Tudor department store. I suppose how we would assume a Tudor department store to look, I don't think they actually had them then!

After a good browse, we jumped back onto the tube and up to Camden. I love it there, it's busy, it's fun, and there's plenty to see and try. James always says to me it's not what it used to be and it's become very commercial, but either way, it's a great place to spend some time. I think he used to go in the early noughties, where things hadn't been so gentrified or redeveloped.

And here was dinner, it was from a place that did Afghani food in the Camden Indoor Food Market (camdenmarket.com/hawley-wharf) but unfortunately when we returned a while later it had gone and the unit was empty which was a real shame. It was rather spicy, but beautifully flavourful, and the meat was so tender it just fell apart. Perhaps controversially, we shared a glass of wine from the Argentinian wine bar across. Not an authentic pairing, but a delicious one nonetheless! The whole building is fun, and has an almost Hogwarts feel to it, with stairs coming off in every direction that seem to move. They are lit up beautifully, and are nice places to stop and look over the canal that runs past.

The next morning I opened the curtains to discover a visitor on the window ledge, this funny looking gnome. I'm assuming to keep the pigeons away!

Another delicious breakfast!

This sign made me laugh, what exactly am I supposed to do with this sort of information? We then headed up to Regents Park for a nice morning stroll, and discovered this pair of beautiful Oriental Ducks, who were only too keen to check if we had any food, but alas, we had nothing to share with them! They swam off with a sort of a huff, which tickled us both!

We then had a walk down Marylebone High street, somewhere neither of us had ever been to before, and found two new favourite places. We were going to try and see if we could get something to eat at Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecote, a place I had seen on Tiktok and wanted to try, but it was so busy and we wouldn't get a table for at least an hour, so we wandered down and found Cocoro (cocororestaurant.co.uk) a small and somewhat unassuming Japanese restaurant that may well be my new favourite Japanese restaurant. It's small, a little cramped, but the food is incredible. Here's our tempura sushi which I've never had before.

We also shared Onigiri, with teriyaki salmon hidden inside.

And the star of the show was the char sui pork, it was so soft it melted on my tongue!

While James went for the shio steak with mushrooms and loved it! What enhanced our visit was the friendly & helpful staff, who helped us pick both our favourites & something new to try. Well worth visiting Cocoro if you're in the mood for high quality & tasty Japanese cuisine!

That's what I love about London, there are endless options of things to try across the city, you never need to visit anywhere twice (unless it's a particular favourite). But the other thing we discovered on Marylebone High street was a deli called Bayley & Sage (@bayley-sage.co.uk), an artisan deli with one floor for food, and the basement for flowers & home goods. While it was expensive, there was an impressive array of produce, baked goods & cheeses, all unusual & interesting breeds or makes. We spent ages in there looking at all the different options, and even brought a full bag out with us. 

But as always time was against us, and after a little wander through this fun little shopping area on the way to the tube, it was time to head home. I could spend a lifetime in London very easily, although I'd need a unlimited amount of money to do so!