Saturday 27th July 2013
First stop after breakfast was Tower Bridge (we even saw it going up to let a boat through) then a nice walk along the South Bank. Had lunch by the Thames near HMS Belfast, then onwards to see the sights in that area, including The Golden Hynd (Sir Frances Drake’s boat) and The Globe (Shakespeare’s theatre).
Lunch in London
In the afternoon we visited the Tate Modern, which was great – loads of artists and photographers we didn’t know as well as many we did (H. Moore, M. Rothko, F. Bacon etc). We really enjoyed the experimental Italian and Dutch pieces as well as some cool photographs taken in Japan & America.
Alexis & Rothko
We headed back to Ealing for tea and ate at a superb Pakistani street food café near Walpole Park called ‘The Green Mango Café’. Great service and even better food! The café had been damaged during the riots in 2011 but seems to be back to full strength now.
Sunday 28th July 2013 – Alexis’s Birthday
Got up early-ish; gifts, playtime with the London kitty, face-time with parents then out for the day. We headed straight for Soho and did a spot of shopping around Carnaby Street and had coffees at a small café called ‘apostrophe’. We checked out our lunch options in the area and decided to try out the ‘Wild Food Café’ at Neal’s Yard off Regent Street. This has to be some of the most amazingly tasty (yet healthy) food we’ve had on tour so far.
http://www.wildfoodcafe.com/
After lunch we wandered along to Hyde Park – I really wanted to check out Speakers’ Corner… wasn’t quite what I expected but interesting none the less. Wandered round the park for ages checking out all the sights; 7/7 memorial, Isis statue, The Serpentine and finally the Prince Albert memorial – possibly the most shiny thing in London. It really is a beautiful monument and faces the Royal Albert Hall which is also a pretty amazing!
A&C at Hyde Park London
On the way back to Ealing we stopped for coffees by the Queensway tube at ‘Espana’ – really good spot for people watching as it’s right next door to the Hilton.
Arriving back in Ealing we discovered yet another area of Walpole Park which was hosting the Ealing Jazz Festival and funfair.
Final act of the day was to watch the final episode of The Returned on TV – loved it!
Next gig: Monday 29th July @ The Dublin Castle, Camden, London
sacrenoir 