Escaping to the city

Living in a small town, surrounded by moorland and sea, and isolated from major urban areas is an absolute pleasure at times. But increasingly I am itching to get back to big city life. So off I went for a weekend in the biggest of the UK's big cities, el capital itself.
I visited Sarah, one of my closest course friends from university. Having seen her for an all too brief breakfast date on my way home from Amsterdam I knew I had to go and spend some more time with her. In final year we spent a lot of time in the vicinity of each other, alternating hard work with great conversation. I think it would be fair to say we were a good team.
My first evening was spent chatting, catching up on recent occurrences in both of our lives, and like the organised ladies that we are, planning the weekend. As Dr Lahiri very wisely points out in The Mindy Project, 'You have to have an itinerary. It's how you maximise fun per hour.'

Portobello Road Market and a wander around Kensington and Chelsea.

One thing I always love to see is coloured buildings, especially in gorgeous pastel shades, clashing and complementary at once. I think in a way it reminds me of being in Italy (streets such as the penultimate photo in this post) or Europe in general. And I especially loved the colour of this door - to walk home to this would make me smile every day. 

A luxurious lunch at Dock Kitchen, at Portobello docks. 

The owner and head chef at the restaurant co-presented Spice Trip, a short series focussing on spices in six countries around the world. I had seen it when it aired on tv at the end of last year, and was completely inspired to travel, to cook and to eat, and so to go for lunch at his place was somewhat a gastronomical dream come true.

To start with, I ate pea and ricotta ravioli, and Sarah had an ajo blanco with melon, then we shared an incredible lamb biryani with tandoori bread, pomegranate seeds, cashew nuts and coriander. And yes, that is gold leaf on my tandoori bread. It was truly one of the best meals I have ever had, in a wonderful setting, all washed down with a bottle of delicious French Vermentino wine and a cheeky espresso.

From the moment I mentioned heading down to London, Sarah insisted we go to the V&A museum. Having browsed the gallery titles on the website, I was hooked. I'm open to going into any gallery, especially when it comes with such good recommendations, whether it be classical art or modern, but I was especially excited to see the ceramics collection here. The two of us spent a good while in just one room of ceramics, mostly fawning over the intricate and beautiful patterns and vivid colours of the Islamic and Middle Eastern bowls, pots, plates and tiles. Unfortunately photography was not permitted in one of the rooms and I was too busy looking to really take any pictures. 

As luck would have it, another university friend was having a birthday party on the Saturday night, so an impromptu reunion occurred. Unexpected but delightful. 

Sunday morning was gloriously sunny as we made our way eastwards to the Columbia Road Flower Market, by way of Highbury Fields. It was lovely being in such a vibrant atmosphere of viewing, buying, selling, bustling activity. Sarah and I both loved the little antique, arts and homeware shops along the side of the street, allowing us plenty of dreaming about our future abodes. 

All in all, a wonderful couple of days. And testament to a true friendship that I returned home feeling revived and relaxed - I never thought a city break in London would have that effect...I think I'll be returning in the not too distant future.