Travel Diary: London Day 2

Day 2 started early and after only 6 hours of sleep, I was wide awake and ready to go.  After sleeping in a plane, to sleep in a bed felt so sweet, but with plenty to see I didn’t want to waste time.

I started the day grabbing a Pasty, which is sort of like the British equivalent of a Jamaican Beef Patty.  Hot potato, onion and beef in a warm flakey pastry shell.  Satisfying, affordable and easy to take on the go.  Pasty stands are at every major train station I’ve seen thus far.

 

After checking out a Sunday morning service, I headed towards the South Kensington area to try a crepe that my friend informs me is better than Paris.  I’ve never been to Paris, but I have to say that I’m not sure that I can imagine a better crepe. I split with my friend and tried both a sweet and savory version.

I passed some delightful street scenes as I headed towards the V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum) to catch the Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes exhibit.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from an exhibit about a dance company, but it was something I was told would definitely be influencing designers in upcoming seasons.

While photography was forbidden, here are a few images from the V&A website of what I saw. It was interesting to note that amongst the contributors to costume and set design over the years were greats in their respective fields like Picasso and Yves Saint Laurent.  I learned that it was a dance company that influenced and was influenced by art, music and fashion in it’s own time.

After the exhibit, I didn’t have time to see much else in the V&A because I wanted to have a look at luxe, traditional British retailer Harrod’s before dinner.I have a bit of a weakness for great window displays but could only snap a few scenes as I was afraid my camera was losing batteries.  The window’s in Harrod’s this year were inspired by Peter Pan.  My favorite scene was the one of models floating in clouds above a peaceful London night.

It was also my first time seeing all the food dedicated areas of Harrod’s.  It seemed like endless rooms dedicated to Chocolate, Seafood, Candy, Jams & cookies alongside areas for eating various prepared foods like sushi.  I must go back later on in this trip to check out French macaron shop La Duree.

I finished the night off in Angel (apparently a hip area with lots of resto & bars) for some ultra affordable cuisine at Le Mercury.  Le Mercury had a very cozy, casual feel that would be perfect for dates. The range of options was fairly broad and the portion sizes were quite generous.  I didn’t realize it was a French restaurant until after dinner, otherwise I might not have ordered my very Brit menu selections but it was Sunday and Sunday Roast called me.  I also had wine poached pear with blue cheese and walnuts in Balsamic and finished with some Banoffee pie. By the time I finished dinner I was done for the day.