SewSewNerdy: A Lovely Day in London

London Day 2:

I started my day walking on Kings Road towards Victoria station. I found the office—not the prettiest building in London, but lots of nice shops in the area, and not far from Buckingham Palace. (dang it, I forgot to check if the Queen was in)

I never was photogenic, but here is proof that I was in front of Buckingham Palace or have pretty decent PhotoShop skills.

Cool buildings are everywhere. For someone who grew up in earthquake country, brick buildings are especially interesting to me. That section in the foreground really is about 6 feet wide.

I walked through the park across from the palace and up to Hyde Park. I had a full English breakfast at a café right on Serpentine Lake. The eggs didn’t have a lot of flavor, the sausage was a little greasy, but the bacon was really good and the beans were tasty. I don’t think I want to know what black pudding is made out of, but I tasted it. Not sure what I think about it…

Chocolately goodness at Paul

My next target was Liberty (of London), so I hopped on the tube towards Oxford Circus. Before I found Liberty I stopped at Paul and got a hot chocolate and chocolate éclair. The Liberty building itself is gorgeous, and I wanted to get a length of their gorgeous fabric as a souvenir. I settled on a very pretty blue colorway of an art nouveau Tana Lawn (photos later). I also got myself a needle case and a pattern book by V&A.

After Liberty, I wandered down Regent Street. I stumbled on the Manet exhibition, so paid the 15 GBP to see it. He is not my favorite impressionist, but I did want to see art while I was here. Walking back toward Regent Street I made to mistake of walking in to Fortnum and Mason. It is a food snob’s nirvana: Chocolates and candies of every kind, cheese, sausages, wine, champagne, tea. I had my first macaron—I took the cashier’s suggestion and got a passion fruit one. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it was really, really good. I am saving the dark chocolate poire and framboise truffles for dessert.

I must say I am really glad I made the coat and changed the back bodice lining since I am wearing it every time I go out. The knitted cap I made is also proving very useful, though I must remember that if you put a hat on with wet hair it is best to leave it on. I see lots of similar hats, so I fit right in.

An Amazing Meal

I wanted to eat somewhere close to the apartment last night, and found Pellicano just a couple of blocks away.

I was the only customer for about an hour, and enjoyed listening to the staff speak Italian. After I told the waiter that I was taking photos to share with my husband, he made suggestions on how to best show it off. When I told them my name is Guilietta, the waiter said he was from Verona!

I’ll let the photos of the food tell the story—everything was fresh and delicious.