100 Days of London Summer

Hey guys I’m back!

After a whole 12 months away from London finishing university we are now officially MEng Chemical Engineering graduates!

And we have headed back to the big smoke to seek our fortunes! So I thought I would start documenting our adventures again, I’m super excited! I thought what better way to start with a daily picture of 100 summer filled days in London.

I’ve been back about a week, so here are the first 9 days! I look forward to hearing from you lovely lot again 🙂

Day 1: The new warehouse crib 🙂

Day 2: Checking out the old abandoned lift outside my room!

Day 3: I don’t think I’ve held one of these let alone OWNED one. Best tip ever!!! P.s come in and chat to the housemates, the warehouse already feels like home from home.

Day 4: It’s all too much after a trip to Brighton, nap time…….

Day 5: A jolly to the poppy fields!

Day 7: An ace day Flat-Ironing with popcorn deliveries! A weird lift sign and some bizarre photos I don’t remember taking at the weekend…..

Day 7: Possibly the most bizarre form of flirting from a middle aged chap at the restaurant today…..I think these may have actually been directions to his freezer……

Day 8: I love my new housemates!

Day 9: Dancing dirty with some al fresco cinema courtesy of @popupscreens! Then to Camden!!

London Love

 

xoxoxox

Salt espresso, lunch and tea bar – A pinch of proper lunching

After sadly moving out from my North London abode, my old housemate and I decided to meet up and have a good old chin wag over lunch.

This time my café sniffing nose lead us in the direction of SALT espresso, lunch and tea bar in Covent Garden (@Salt_WC2).

Found it!

I’m constantly on the search for London’s best independent coffee shops and Salt has been on my radar for a while now. Luckily I wasn’t disappointed!

A first glance at the café proposed a menu that covered the humble brownie to Moroccan Tagine.

Ooooh tastebud tantalising

Ooooh yum! Righto in we went. The bistro supported a charming modern/classic mash. The exposed brickwork and chalkboards lead into a warm mirrored seating area, cosy but not claustrophobic. We were served by a couple of happy chappies who were happy to bring anything we requested to our table

Oh deary me decision time….

Haha you can see me in my yellow raincoat (top left), looking a bit like a creepy stalker….

Sam and I opted for 2 paninis to share. One a traditional chicken, bacon and cheddar, the other a sweet tomato relish with creamy Bree like cheese (I can’t remember the name!) both were smashing! The bread was all rustic and crusty, and the plates were replaced with natural wooden boards. The relish was really interesting, I was quite a fan.

Ooops drooled on mine, I’ll have to have both 🙂

We definitely managed to find space after for a green tea brownie, which was a groovy unconventional twist on the sweet cakey classic. Had to be done 🙂

YES! Brownie time! I hope that’s not snot in there….

The only downside? A little on the pricey side, Sam and I paid ~£10 each for our lunch. It’s £2.50 for filter coffee, £6.70 eat in quiche, £5.70 for tagine. Not extortionate, but a taste bud tingling treat 🙂

Irrespective of this, breakfast, lunch, early dinner or yummy snack, Salt is a endearing teahouse and gets my vote.

London Love

xoxoxo

Salt

34 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden

Open daily Monday – Friday 7.30am – 7pm

Saturday 10am – 7pm

http://saltwc2.co.uk/

@Salt_WC2

@GollumCrackCorn

Sorry guys its been a crazy couple of months!

Heya dudes and dudettes! Sorry for the prolonged silence I have to admit I’ve had a rather insane last month or so, but don’t worry I’m back now (don’t you all roll your eyes, I know you were sad really 🙂 )

Plus just for your enjoyment I have some super douper pieces to post! Both London and erm London travel based to keep you glued to the edge of your seats. Failing that it may make your morning tea stop a little more fun 🙂

I haven’t forgotten you London!

Okay so the end of Sept bought on an event that often passes me by, London Fashion Week. So from the 14th – 18th September designers, models, creative artists & anyone who has any sort of fashion love line the streets in the hope of spotting the next big fashion craze.

This year I was hired to model for 2 fantastic young designers Anne-Sophie Cochevelou & Yueer Zhang. They had an awesome idea and collaborated with LEGO to create an A-MAY-ZING dress made of our fave multi-coloured bricks! SO OMG I got to be in London Fashion Week!!! It was the most surreal experience, so I’ve got a piece to come on a totally astounded not actually catwalking models view of LFW. I cannot believe I got chosen for it, I am mega thankful 🙂

Sophie Yueer and myself just chilling outside Somerset House. in LEGO, as you do….

So thats piece 1.

 

Piece 2 is a little different to what I usually do, its a bit on entrepreneurship. One of my best mates back home has a bro that didnt go to uni, which in our town is almost a little unheard of. I think that’s a bit sad as its not for everyone, but Giel (he’s only like 20!) has set up his own cheese making business down in Cornwall and its going crazy!! He’s had offers from the like of Asda etc. but is still really devoted to his local buyers. He’s a proper inspiration (Although Lon still says he can be a derp buuuuttt that’s siblings right?) SO that’s piece 2.

Cornish Gouda!

The final piece is again a little different. While most uni student were packing their new books and choosing a spangley toaster for the kitchen at the end of September, I may have been trying to find my passport in my pit of a room. I sort of made a spontaneous decision to head with some old college chums to Thailand for a month! Don’t worry I was sensible Simon and came back a week early to get on my final year studies. So piece 3 is about Thai travels, buut trying to be a bit off the beaten track. Plus some hazards that include rogue flip flops, damn Malaria tablets and more talk about poop than you can ever imagine. It is sort of to do with my blog as it was on a budget, everything out there is crazy cheap so maybe a holiday idea??

Road trip time 🙂 one of the most amazingly awesome experience

So thanks for being patient with me guys, and i’ll get those bit up in the next couple of week 🙂 happy reading!

 

Back to London Love

xoxoxo

http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/

http://www.cornishgouda.co.uk/

Dead Mans Hand

Heey!

I know it’s a tad out of date order but I thought I better blog this groovy event last month! Hosted by ‘A Door in a Wall” events The Nudge website once again came up trumps……………

So right you know I’m into all this signing up for bizzaro stuff and then roping along my unsuspecting friends? Well on the 6th May I did this to poor Pac Sam. Hence we headed down to the Grand Union (@grandunionbars) by Smithfield Market, Farrigndon, for an evening or murder, mystery and apparently dodgy poker.

So Pac Sam and I entered the downstairs ‘poker den’ only to bed pounced upon by a female bouncer! She was pretty on it, prying to see if we had bombs or drugs in our bags….asking us if she could have any of our drugs……after gaining her seal of approval we headed in and were greeted by Chip’s poker den……..

Chips poker den, where it all began……

So as there were only 2 of us, we teamed up with 2 cool girls. The team ‘two of a kind’ became ‘2 x 2 of a kind’, thank god we did because we’d have been absolute shite otherwise 🙂

So after collecting our detective pack we were hushed by chip the (cockney?) bar owner.

Our mission?

Find Jack Spades killer.

The suspects?

Only 3. Paul, Brian & Misty. All linked to the victim. All with a motive to kill him. Follow the clues.

You have 2 hours. Go.

We did get very explicitly told NOT to take photos of the table. Tha’s NOT Abi. ‘Oh okay cool I wont’. Yea don’t do it, its not important at all. Then I click…..

So with the help of our extremely attentive teammates (luckily as saying ‘help’ makes us sound like we were any sort of use at all… 🙂 …..) we spent the next 2 hours roving round Farrington.

I have to say the clues were really pretty damn cool.

Best sign ever made I was slightly disappointed….

Our first clue….

The clues lead us everywhere! From interrogating den employees about the murder weapon by myself wearing a TV satellite as a chastity belt, Sam pretending he was from Hogwarts with a microphone as a broom and one of our teammates wearing a moustache……

To playing golf with a crazy guy and attempting to discover the 3 suspects card hands (they were playing with Jack the evening he was murdered and someone won the car with the golf club murder weapon in)…………..

The most fast paced, hyperactive game of golf ever!

Misty’s hand, I definitely nearly missed this

And even performing surgery!!!

A crazy polish lady and her assistant Igor…..he was VERY friendly to one of our teammates 🙂

More clues! Sam was well into it by then, so excited 🙂

The caliber of the clues were awesome, each one led on to another part and created like a daisy chain of clues! You had to be ON IT to get them, but that was good it made it challenging but not impossible.

Card clues in the top of a lift….

to cryptic letters!

I think some of the best bits were a creepy care bear that had a voice message inside and having to text a fishy fellow who then phoned us in a red telephone box! I proper felt like Sherlock Holmes, well Watson I was definitely the kooky sidekick 🙂

Sherlock Sam is on the case

They even had a clue where you had to log on to Instagram and pick the right sayings from the Holborn Mural, epic!

Due to our fanny arsing around we didn’t get to one clue, so we dashed back tail between legs to make the 8.30pm curfew. However our team and I filed our report and actually got the right killer! In a nutshell Jack had been blackmailing one of them for money so he knocked him off. The only problem was our reasoning had been slightly patchy and skewed. So despite not winning the whole evening was a booming success! Sadly the winners didn’t buy the next round however we met some ace new people and had a whole load of murder mystery fun. The evening was topped off with some fab food and a couple of drinks after which we wandered home at a respectable hour.

I’ll definitely be looking out for A Door in the Wall’s future productions! Hats off guys to some kooky acting and head scratching clues.

http://www.adoorinawall.com/

London Love

xoxoxo

Rating:

Price: £25 for an evenings entertainment, not too bad by London standards soo….  3.5/5

Atmosphere/Acting: Really great atmosphere, the actors involved you and made you feel welcome. Also helped you along with clues! The clues were also really awesome. Some of the acting was quite eccentric and the accents a little dubios but I think it was suppose to be, it made pretty lighthearted! 4/5 and 3/5

Booking: Booking was easy, had to do it a reasonable way in advance but then it was busy but not rammed when we were there which was fab! 4.5/5

Venue: I liked the Grand union, actually looked like a poker den downstairs. Severed food and drink till late even on a bank holiday, good size busy but no stuffy. Farringdon was perfect for clues and interesting places. 4.5/5

London Love

xoxoxo

The periodic food shop – A new take on the supermarket sweep

It’s time for the weekly food shop and we all know the story. Down to the local supermarket, oooh mangoes 2-4-£1, beef half price and milk £1 for 4 litres!

Okay food environmental and ethical issues have been brought to light in the media recently, with numerous angles to consider. Clocking up air miles from overseas produce transportation has to be weighed against importation creating diverse economy and supporting livelihoods, deforestation, the horsemeat scandal (I’ll never look at IKEA meatballs the same….) to name but a few.

However I am not here to preach/judge or anything of the sort. I am sure you guys can make your own mind on each topic. I’m just here to inform you about off the beaten track adventures, and I’m afraid to say supermarkets are definitely ON the beaten track 🙂

So if supermarkets are off the menu, where else I hear you ask?

Recently on a jolly down to Cornishland I took a trip to both Rick Steins (a large consumer of local food produce and creator of taste bud tingling cuisine) and Cornish Gouda (suppliers of milk, gouda cheese and guardians of happy cows).

Rick Stein (@Rick_Stein) has a few chomping shacks down our way, actually he basically owns Padstow!

Rick Steins Cookery School!

He sources from local suppliers, we nipped along to his cookery school where the mackerel handled were so fresh they were still stiff! Rick endeavours to use fishmongers that receive day boat, hand line and hand dived fish to maximise sustainability. It didn’t just stop at the fish, they source the best in local produce from Warrens meat to Roddas cream, the local economy is always supported.

The freshest of fresh mackerel, I actually cooked this one!

Down at Cornish Gouda (@CornishGoudaCo) the Speirings family own and run their dairy farm, where the cows have access to everything from water beds to a robot milker (which the cows choose to go into, they love it!). Son Giel has set up ‘Cornish Gouda’, a self sufficient cheese making business which utilises 1/5th of the milk the farm produces.

After receiving a tour of the farm it was apparent how passionate Giel is about his cheese.

The cheese maturing shelves

From the ingredients…..

Cheese in the brine for 3 days

The way the cheese is manufactured (using an eco friendly wood burner, where the only electricity consumed is a 15 minute a day cooler and the lights!).

Cheese making doodad

To the clients he produces for.

A couple of varieties, honey and clover on toast = yum ‘posh dinnerparty’ cheese on toast

It also made me feel terrible that in many cases supermarkets pay less for milk than its costs the farmers to produce it. So we need to embrace all farmers markets and local shops we can, let’s support these guys whose livelihood depends on our custom 🙂

Back to London! Next time you think ‘supermarket shop’ take a little time considering the guys that supply the big cheeses, and instead support them 🙂

Here is an overview of farmers markets and local shops.

London Farmers Markets WITH MAP!

Tuesday: London Bridge, South Kensington (SW7)

Wednesday: Swiss Cottage (NW3)

Thursday: Bloomsbury, Whitecross (EC1), Hammersmith (W6)

Saturday: Balham, Ealing, Notting Hill (W8), Parliament Hill (NW5), Pimlico Road (SW1), South Kensington (SW7), Twickenham, West Hampstead, Wimbledon (SW19), Hampstead Community Food, Stoke Newington (N16), Broadway Market (E8), Oval (SE11), Stepney, Partirdges Food Market (SW3)

Sunday: Blackheath (SE3), Brixton (SW9), Islington (N1), Marylebone (W1), Parson’s Green, Queens Park (NW6), Walthamstow, Alexander Palace, Brick Lane Sunday up-market (E1), Last of each month Dulwich (SE21), Herne Hill (SE24), 1^st & 3^rd Sunday Swaffam (PE37), Chiswick (W4),

Miscellaneous: Benwick Street (W1) Mon-Sat, Wed-Sun Greenwich, Mon-Sat Borough Market

A salivating sausage from the guys at @bostonsausage in Borough Market

Oh and I know how you all enjoy restauranting. So take two seconds to ponder where the food you’re served comes from. Do you know? Would you like to? Its something I will try and think more about now!

A beef burger from @flatironsteak, I know owner Charlie is super hot on the quality & care of the cows that make up his menu! Tell you what its apparent to the super super food 🙂

To conclude, this year due we’ve had a dry June and now it’s turned a bit……….wet, the hedgerows are fruit galore!!! Get picking those blackberries (anywhere there are brambles), apples, sloes, damsons and elderberries!

My apple and blackberry cake, with some errr icing ‘surgery’ on the side

Blackberry & Apple Jam!!!

Rick Steins

http://www.rickstein.com/

http://www.rickstein.com/Food-Heroes.html – Producers Rick has visited, categorised by food type and region.

Cornish Gouda

Talvan Farm, Lanreath, Cornwall

http://www.cornishgouda.co.uk/

01503 220 194

giel@cornishgouda.co.uk

Boston Sausage

Flat Iron

Sunday linner in Angel – Fig & Olive x Ottolenghi, a cracking combo

So after a hard Sunday morning packing all the crap I’ve accumulated throughout the year (trust me there was A LOT) we started hearing a-grumble in our tumbles. Flagging plus the naff job of moving all your stuff out 😦 is not a great mix, so we decided to mooch down to Angel.

Doesn’t look the most exciting , but don’t be deceived…..

Having lived so close for over a year I really haven’t utilized this place, and have often oggled at the cakey window displays. There are several establishments I’ve had my eye on, so it was time to test a couple.

I’ve heard great things about Ottolenghi (@ottolenghi), so here was out first port of call. Buuut the sit down Q was mahusive, so we decided this would be our cake/pud noshery.

So we wandered back to Fig & Olive (@TheFigAndOlive). I’m obsessed with figs, and Mummy G with olives. Perfecto!

So many cafes, it was well hard to choose!

Bloody fab choice.
We went for a series of starters:

Where the heck do you start? Took self control not to just use my face instead of cutlery….

• Olives (surprise surprise)
• Garlic bread
• Hummus with pan fried lamb & pine nuts

Yumtacular! I heart hummus 🙂

• Pan fried Chorizo with mushrooms, manchego cheese and tomato sauce

YUUUUMMM!

• Seared scallops with flambeed apple and orange dressing

It was so artfully presented! I was totally impressed

• Breaded fried Camembert with redcurrant & raspberry coulis

Saving the best for last, my fave

Oh by the beard of Zeus it was like a party in my mouth! The sharp and sweet coulis teamed with the creamy Camembert (My fave!). The tender lamb, warm pittas & hummus. Chorizo!! (mums fave) Like drank the soupy bit left in the bottom 🙂 The apples & scallops so juicy, literally the only bad point of all the dishes was the orange sauce was a little sweet. Oh and they had cheeky little figs in the olives! 🙂

We had a cushy little table by the window

The restaurant was pleasantly busy, cushy seats, a nice view. Magic.

Bustling but not crazy

So the desserts looked good…….

F&O: Hmmm tempted but we had our eyes on another prize!

but not quite as drooltastically spectacular as Ottolenghi.

THESE! Ottolenghi style…

So we crossed over the road and nipped in 🙂

Caketacular

However we thought we’d let our din dins go down and wandered into central for some culture/retail therapy.

So when we got home, pretty dog tired there was still more packing/cleaning to do! Doh!

So for the needed sugar zap we cracked into the cake. We had invested in quite a melee….

• Apple, vanilla & sultana cake

Both cake and tart in one splendid box

• Chocolate, mascarpone & nut tart

Mid devouring

• Chocolate smore

Never had a smore before!

• Double choc cookie (peeking into the pic above!)
• Apricot & pistachio cheesecake

Yum my fave 🙂

Mum went for the apple, vanilla and sultana cake plus a bit of cheesecake. I went for err all the rest. Oh berjabbers, so good. I hadnt quite intended on eating all the rest buuut it was just so light and easy! I did remember to save half a cookie and smore for Nina (cakes always appreciated, especially when you’re hungover 😉 but I wish I’d saved some of the others so she could see how A-MAZ-ING they were! I’ve been spoilt with cake the last few days, first Sweet Couture now Ottolenghi, Cornishland is going to have to step up to compete!!!

Verdict!?
Dollar dollar: Okay so when the folks are up you’d be silly to go to PFC (not even KFC….).
So F&G plates were about £6 a pop, which I though actually was rather reasonable. The starters were pretty big! 8/10
Ottolenghi was rather pricey for cake, the cheesecake was £3.80. The 5 puds cost us about £15, so not extortionate, a nice treat 🙂 7/10

Nosh: Both amazing. F&G’s attention to detail was sor-ted. The plates were immaculate, good sides & blimin delicious. 9/10
Ottolenghi’s apricot cheesecake was like err drooltacular! Apricots inside too. Cake yum, tart yum, cookie & smore yum. All sweet but so easy to eat! (Possibly dangerous…:) Sor-ted. 9/10

Vibe: The Fig & Olive was buzzing on a Sunday afternoon, but the wait wasn’t too long. Lovely interior, comfy seat and food people watching angel spot. Plus seats outside. 9/10
Due to its popularity Ottolenghi was super busy. However food from the counter came out a little exit the same side as the take away desserts were. A bit congested. 6/10

Team cohesion: The F&G staff were really friendly and helpful. One chap who was so lovely let us taste the wine and poured our glasses etc. AND he looked like Gok Wan which made me happy 🙂 8/10

However the lady that served us in Ottolenghi was quite abrasive, we changed our mind on one cake and she like made a bit of a fass about it so we just got both. Also as the food was coming out the side where everyone was looking at dessert it was awkward between customers and staff alike. Good job the food was fab 5/10

After hours?

After linner noshing, a quick gand at the mummies in the British Museum (cultured) and erm Primark (don’t judge). After cakey dinner, bed. Theeeen getting woken up to move all your boxes downstairs as your housemate (whose room all my stuff was in) is unexpectedly coming come 🙂 my bad. Then proper bed.

London love
Xoxoxo

The Fig & Olive

Modern European – Open for lunch and dinner each day.

http://figolive.co.uk/

151 Upper Street London N1 1RA

Ottolenghi Deli

http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/

287 Upper Street
London N1 2TZ

Branches also include NOPI restaurant Soho, Notting Hill & Belgravia.

X marks the spot

Closest Tube: Angel (Northern line, Kings Cross branch)

@GollumCrackCorn

@OnIn_London

The London low down —> Weekend 2nd – 4th August

Thursday & Friday

• Truck Stop – Lots of food, lots of trucks – Wood Wharf, Harbour Quay, E14

Truck stop is speeding to East London! But not the kooky Shoreditch shores or up and coming Dalston. Truck stop aims to bring life into the kinda creepy Isle of Dogs (28 days later anyone?) Prepare for an eclectic mix of old milk floats, fire engines & ambulances to E14 in an avid attempt to fill Londoners tums with all the pop up food the big city has to offer.

Look our for the likes of Rotary bar, Anna Maes, Mother Clucker, Bell & Brisket & Mamas Jerk Station to name but a few! Nosh in hand, bottoms up, get ready for the all american experience!

Truck Stop runs the 1st Thursday & Friday of each month July-Sept.

Tickets are £10 on the door, of £10 pre book with 10 truck stop dollars (for booze).

http://www.truckstoplondon.com

Closest tube: Canary Wharf (Jubilee line, DLR)

Saturday 3rd August

• The Shipping Yard – Dalston E8 2DS

The Shipping Yard!

NTS radio, chow from Lucky Chip (sliders!) & Hanoi Kitchen and cocktails from Ruby’s The Shipping Yard is set to be a bust a move, get on your groovy FREE day out. Get your butts down here and soak up some sun.

Midday – 10pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/151567818374558/?fref=ts

• Silencio – London Wonderground, Southbank SE1 8XX

Silencio!

A bizzareo (London Wonderground, what do you expect?) cinematic-live-action-disco evening, with errr no actual sound apparently. Well the disco has no sound, but there are a host of live acts, cabaret & movie footages to indulge in. All on a bit of the ‘curious collection’ side but kooky nontheless 🙂

Silencio. A parallel universe. An unparalleled party.

Shows are £17.50 a head and begin at 21.30.

3rd/10th/17th/24th August

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/silencio-73399

All Weekend

• The ONIN London Competition! – Finishes 11th August – @ONin_London, oninonline.com
• Print Club – Somerset House WC2R 1LA

To coincide with the Film4 summer screenings at Somerset House, this exhibition showcases editioned handprinted film posters at £40 a pop. I’m a proper film art geek so think I’m gunna head down and take a gand!

Open daily 10.00-18.00 from the 1st-21 August

http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/print-club-london-summer-screen-prints

• Urban Inner City Arts – Southbank Centre

This weekend bad boy showcases the best of London urban arts, think parkour, rap battles, popping, locking (& polkadotting??) all on the scenic Southbank,

Runs Friday to Sunday. Includes pop ups, workshops and par-taying 🙂

Check out the full low down at:

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/urban-inner-city-arts

• Floating Cinema

Pretty much what it says on the tin! UP projects have set up a floating cinema which will be moseying round London from 1st August to the 30th September. Check out full listings at:

http://www.floatingcinema.info/

• Ping! – Jubilee Place, Canary Wharf, E14 5NY

loving the ping pong 🙂

Free play, compete or just watch the masters at work, this FREE ping pong event has been set up to coincide with the London Ping Pong Project. So keep your eyes peeled folks, these little beasties will be ping popping up everywhere for a while!

Unfortunaly due to massive demand the championships are full! But still worth a free play, you can book in advance at:

http://www.canarywharf.com/visitus/Arts–Events1/Events/ping/

Monday-Friday 11am-5.30pm

Saturday 10am-6pm

Sunday Midday-6pm

• Prudential Ride London

Mahusive free cycle round London on the Saturday and London/Surrey on Sunday. Road closures but plenty of cycling to have a gand at! If cycling’s not your thing totally go just to see Borris start the proceedings 🙂

http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/

Or feeling acitve? Register for FREE here!

http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/The_Events/Prudential_RideLondon_FreeCycle/Register.htm

The Rave Diaries – Part IV

Okay my expectations of raves are…….well I don’t have any anymore. What I would call a rave and others would call one varied. So for my 4th attempt I wasn’t sure what I’d signed up for…..

Part IV

So one muggy evening on 29th June, Athena, her bf and I believe her bf’s bf rolled up to Plan B in Brixton (@planbbrixton) for Inner Soul. I have to admit I’m not usually an avid listener of Drum & Bass, but a night of it was rather refreshing.

Here we go guys

Okay to the club and the music -Marcus Intalex & SP MC, Total Science & Riya, Utah Jazz, Nookie & Eveson all played sets. I didn’t recognise any of the DJs (but honestly I think unless any were Chris Moyles I would…)

The line up – It could definitely be written in gobbledygook and I wouldn’t know…..

Riya sang live and she was totes awesome. But apart from that I have to admit I couldn’t tell where one song finished and the next began.

I did spend rather a lot of my time being the only non-smoker in the smokers area, however I met some rather interesting drunk folk round those parts. A lady trying to set up her own modelling agency (Jungle Mother?) & a rather forward Californian chap. To be honest a had a blimin good time.

Was a tad dark for my poor pokey camera

I also had a few cheeky blog stickers most of which ended up on a nice chaps moob 🙂

Oh and celeb spotting! Right you know the TV show ‘Friends’ (if you don’t you must be living in a cave or born in the 00’s), the episode where Joey wants to dance with Elle McPherson for the new years show but gets a crazy girl instead? We’ll it was the crazy girl!! Okay so not strictly a celeb. And err not strictly her….but a damn close match! Shaking her thAng 🙂

For me it was a reasonably early evening. Come 2am, I wasn’t nearly trollied enough to appreciate the club drunkenness (dehydrated from my day cycle, doh!)

Buzzing Brixton at 2am

And yet again I’d been conned into thinking I was going to a dirty underground rave! But luckily the bright bus from Brixton tut up north London are fab (I’ll add a Map)

Dog tired, at least there was an easy route home

Oh crazy, uncontrolled rave where art thou? One day we will meet……

After hours?

Bed.

London love

Xoxox

P.s it was worth going just to see Athena rat arsed, I love her brummy-ness & strong opinions 🙂

x marks the spot

Closest Tube Station: Brixton (Victoria line) or Stockwell (Victoria & Northern lines)

INNER SOUL is a reasonably regular event, and PlanB Brixton is a cool, venue. Nice air con on a sweaty evening 🙂

Check out the website for details:

http://www.planb-london.com/whats-on/june/30/06/2013-innersoul/

PlanB Brixton

Tickets – £10 earlybird & £12 regular can be found at Resident Advisor

http://www.residentadvisor.net/

Princi Pizza – Bringing the spirit of Milan to the heart of Soho

Cheesy title huh? But its actually rather fitting. ‘Spirito di Milano’ is Princi’s slogan and I tell you what I almost felt like I’d stepped into Milan!

Princi! You can sit in the window and people watch 🙂

Located on the bustling Wardour Street in Soho, Princi is a buzzing Milanese bakery/pizzeria. As soon as you enter the smell of freshly baked pizza oozes from the oven. The counter is overflowing with an array of cakes, Italian breads and pastries.

So upon arrival you have two options.

Steer right into the more bakery, light eatery side. Here you can indulge in mezze teamed with decadent wines. Think olives, bruschetta & cured meats. Follow this with almondy Cannoncini or succulent Frangipanes.

Oh my goodness the pizza look drool-tastic

The desserts solober-tactular

Buzzing on a Monday evening

Steer left and enter the pizzeria restaurant. With pooosh waiting staff and smell wafting pizza oven.

As I was in the company of old friends we opted for the restaurant, and a table seat (little bit more social) over a people watching window one (would be really cool if there was only two of you). So we were led to our seat by a lovely Italian waiter (all the waiters spoke Italian, it was ace like being on your holz!) and presented with a menu hosting an array of what I call PROPER pizzas. None of this American spicy beef or BBQ chicken malarky, I’m talking olives, capers and meats that I’ve never heard of 🙂

The even had their own stonebaked pizza oven!

As my Italian is a little rusty (sorry did I say rusty? I mean my vocab consists of ciao!) the waiter politely explained a few things on the menu. Bresaola (beef) and Coppa (the back leg of pork) are my new words of the week 🙂

So my two mates opted for the veggie selection and I (wishing to use some of my new found words) opted for the Coppa, which teamed cured pork leg with mozzarella, tomato and rocket (@britalianjob got me on the rocket @backyardcinemas !). They had a couple of beers and I pushed the boat out and errr went for tap water…….I was saving myself for a post dinner cocktail, don’t judge! 🙂

So the pizza was freshly baked and didn’t take long at all! Before we knew it these bad boys were handed over to us!

Look at these little beauties!

This was my beasty!

They were proper good, like the ones from when you actually visit Italy. None of this stodgy Dominoes riff raff (yes we all know they taste good, but you feel a little bit dirty after you’ve polished off a large one to yourself…..). The pork added a well nice saltyness to it, the rocket all peppery and it was slathered in mozzerella. Drool-tacualr! Think the chums enjoyed theirs too.

They were pretty beasty too! Mine actually defeated me! Wasn’t impressed, thankfully the waiter offered me a doggy bag before I even asked 🙂

Tea tonight, doggy bag style 🙂

A little note that I thought was rather cool, they had incense burning in the loos! The smell wafted around and was well nice, and all the loos were clean and wooden and ahhh I want my bathroom like them. I did try and take a pic but there was a queue and I started to get some funny looks……..

Incense in the bathrooms, how posh is that!?

Verdict!?

Nosh: Top notch. Proper pizzas, a thin base in the middle with puffy edges, slathered in mozzarella, chili oil and great toppings. A good choice, not overwhelming but suited all tastes. Only downside were the edges were a little bready (which was fine as I was hungry!) 8/10

Dollar Dollar: For pizza in London a little on the high side. HOWEVER this is good pizza, like proper good, so you pay for what you get 🙂 The Coppa was £11.50 and the Mediterranea was £10, so not breaking the bank. 7/10

Vibe: Really buzzing especially for a Monday. I’d like to go back and try the window seats with the mezze and cakes! Also the attention to detail was really cool, the incense in the toilets etc. really made it nice. Apparently though it gets rammed and the tables were quite close so movement could get a bit hairy! 8/10

Team Cohesion: The waiting staff were really friendly and helpful. Attentive but not on your back. It added to the allure that they were all Italian, and greeted you with ‘ciao!’ the only prob was ordering sometimes got a little hard. But we definitely tipped 🙂 8/10 

Notes: I totally want to go back to try the focaccia pizza and desserts!!!

After Hours?

Head round the corner for a cheeky cocktail at Carom Botanical Gin Garden, hosted in Floridita.

London Love

xoxoxo

Princi serves Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner every day of the week. They also provide a take-away service and party platters.

http://www.princi.com/menus

135 Wardour Street

London

W1F 0UT

Or if you’re feeling really keen visit one of their chomping stations in Milan, thats how authentic it is 🙂

X marks the spot

Closest tube: Oxford Circus (Victoria line, Bakerloo line, Central line)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Princi-London/149640798430280

http://pinterest.com/spiritodimilano/

London to Cambridge Cycle – A venture outside the city walls

Sometimes the city can get a bit much. Its proper busy all the time, hot and not gunna lie a bit dirty 🙂 So who said London adventures had to be constraint to purely London?

So at 8am on the 28th July my mate Jess, Tom (her bf) , Alice (sister) and Jonny (sisters bf) set off from Enfield in search of Cambridge.

Luckily we all had road bikes (Jess’s lovely mum had lent me hers as I did it on Frank my fold up last year!), but we set off for the start line at a warm up leisurely pace.

My beast for the day,!

She was the make red or dead! Posh 🙂

We met a few more off Jess’s fam at the start (Jeff joined team ‘Forza Ragazzi’), quick toilet stop then off we went, it way crazy! So many cyclists scooting in and out of each other, had to keep your wits about you!

all the teams were prepping, we almost did a team stretch…..

bikes everywhere!

We had a few pit stops, mainly to refuel. After stop 1 about 15 miles in Jess got a puncture, so the puncture repair team had to be brought in (Jeff, Tom & Jonny).

Oh dear puncture number one!

Fortunately they could be bribed with Percy Pigs!

After that longer stop I proper flagged, got talking to someone then a bit left behind! I was like bugger letting down the team! But at the next pit stop I stuffed myself with peanut mix, figs and flapjack, then I was cruising up the front! Don’t think they could believe the change. All I needed was some damn food, and suddenly I can cycle like a pro 🙂 Jess felt the same so I didn’t feel too pathetic!

Pit stop refuel

The stops were so quaint 🙂

Soooo poor Jess got another puncture 😦 and we ended up leaving her half a mile behind! so we tracked back to repair again. Poor Jess, she got a load of abuse for it and I was suppose to be riding that bike, but she took one for the team as its got funky leaver gears.

The puncture repair team had to be enlisted again!

There was some characters en route. A couple did it on Borris bikes (hats off guys it was hard enough on a road bike!) and one chap did it on a sit down one, which got a bit hairy at traffic lights. There was also quite a cool sign at the last stop…..

This one! One of the hardest decisions to be made at this late stage 🙂 This guy seemed torn……

The only horrid bit was after finding we had to cycle to Jess’s grandparent. At this point we’d stopped for like 30 mins, we were knackered and there was a headwind. 4 miles felt like 40!

However her fam had laid on an amazing spread, I have to admit I was mega mega thankful and wolfed down all I was presented. Much love for the lemon meringue pie 🙂

I have never been so happy to see this much food

Chilling in the sun, getting up was tricky….

Verdict!?

A fantastic way to get out of the city but still totally counts as a London adventure. Hard work, but worth it. Although do prepare to be knacked that eve, I went to bed at 8.30pm and was woken by my alarm at 6am! Running into work was a mish, maybe catch the tube……….

Very much still London Love

xoxoxo

The London to Cambridge cycle ride is in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer. There is music, BBQ’s and well pretty countryside along the way. An adventure of the more country folk variety 🙂

Train from Finsbury Park to Winchmore Hill ~£2.20 (can be done on oyster)

Cambridge to Finsbury park ~£13 or London terminals ~£15

http://www.bike-events.co.uk/Default.aspx

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/86952/London-to-Cambridge-Bike-Ride#summary

Start – Lee Valley Leisure Centre

Pickett’s Lock, Off Meridian Way, London , N9 0AS

The start! Sadly Cambridge is off the map….