Our train arrived at Liverpool Street station before 9 on Sunday 20 July.
Coffee at The English Restaurant, opposite Spitalfields Market, perk us up.
We wandered around Brick Lane spotting street art as we walked.
Stall holders were still setting up at the Sunday (Up)Market in and around the Old Truman Building when we chanced upon some spicy momos, delicious.
Back at Spitalfields we had to sample the raw food treats of Rainforest Creations, call it breakfast 'pudding'. We sampled the carob and ginger and the beetroot squares made with almonds and dates which were amazing.
Fortified we walked through the quiet streets, passing Finsbury Circus which is temporarily a construction site for the new CrossRail before arriving at Postman's Park. Next door at St Botolph's the congregation sang hymns and this added to the poignancy of reading so many dedications to heroes who died saving others, just as my grandfather had done during WWII.
We continued around St Paul's, past Blackfriars Pub (closed) but here's what you didn't see, mum,
up Fleet Street and the Strand down to Somerset House where we chanced upon two excellent exhibitions: Return of the Rudeboy and Tattoo. In the bowels of Somerset House clerks would stamp every newspaper printed in the country before sale to show proof of tax paid. Of course the build has had many uses in its 400 years but this one struck me as a perfect representation of Dickensian grimness.
Over to the South Bank where the Festival of Love was in full psychedelic adornment.
We passed by B.O.B.'s Lobster Van and the SNOG Frozen Yoghurt double-decker bus and settled on burritos at Wahaca for lunch.
Should we catch the tube or walk to St Pancras? Walk, of course. This was becoming a journey around the Monopoly board.
Past the British Museum and Russell Square to the British Library, just in time for 3pm tour. There were the two of us and three Swedes on the tour. Our guide has worked at the Library since its move from the British Museum in 1997. We were there until the 5pm closing time and during our visit we learnt everything from why the King's collection is displayed in a glass house in the centre of the building to how long it takes to catalogue a title, from the price of each marble paving slab (£7000) to why there is no disabled toilet in the foyer (no money left). Even the chairs cost £1000 each. Prince Charles hates the place but the Queen is quite fond, due in part to the fact it is shaped like an ocean liner (apparently). We had just enough time at the end of our visit to snatch a glimpse at the Magna Carta, Da Vinci's sketches and an ancient globe.
Next door is St Pancras Station where I showed mum the fabulous bronze sculpture, one of my favourite works of public art.
Our heads were spinning and our imagination stimulated, no wonder we got slightly lost walking back to the South Bank but eventually we made it reaching the Gourmet Pizza Restaurant just before the rain.
10 minutes to bed at the Premiere Inn behind the Tate Modern and a further 20 minutes to sleep.
6.30 wake-up, no call required. Walking the streets by 7 but no one was open in Borough Market for breakfast so we walked on passing the Shard, down to Shad Thames, over Tower Bridge and along the river in front of the Tower of London with its current display of ceramic poppies commemorating the centenary of WWI. For breakfast we ended up at a Pret a Manger, or as mum calls them 'Pretty Manger' which is much cuter.
Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Bond Street, Hyde Park (where a film was being shot) and arriving at the Royal Albert Hall in time for our tour.
We sat in the Royal Retiring Room, stood in the Queen's box and learnt that they didn't fix the acoustics until the late 60s, one hundred years after it was built! We also learnt that there is an eccentric man who is first in the queue every day during the Summer Proms for the £5 tickets.
Mayfair for lunch, across the road from Harrods, and then back down to Regent Street for an attempted splurge at the Desigual emporium. I say 'attempted' because depute the sale and the range on offer we tried in vain to find anything we actually liked, it was fun trying though.
Next stop, the Royal Academy of Art for the Summer Exhibition where we chose our favourites (quite a few this year) and scoffed at some of the prices.
We had a date at Dennis Severs' House, Folgate Street at 6pm so we gave in and caught a bus. Possibly we could have walked in the time it took the bus to get through the traffic but after 20 miles in 2 days in the Summer heat, our feet were happy for the respite.
Dinner at Leon where the healthy salads were delicious but the lack of ice was inexcusable. "We don't serve ice" so I'll never return, on principle!
Train at 9pm from Liverpool Street, tried hard to stay awake for the change over at Ipswich and Beccles before we both turn into pumpkins.
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