Since today is our last day in London, we decided to split up since each teen wanted to do a different thing but first breakfast. Again, it was not great but they did add a new item that, while intriguing, we all passed on tasting. Today’s special was “Glazed Lamb Kidneys.” Nothing says “Good Morning Britain” like a good glazed lamb kidney, am I right? Am I? I really don’t know because the look and smell of them were off putting. I don’t want to yuck anyone’s yums but dear God they looked gross. Opting out of my breakfast organ meat, I went for the same selection of oddities as yesterday except instead of coco puffs, I went for corn flakes. Honestly, I cannot wait to see what the special is tomorrow! What could top glazed lamb kidneys? I shutter to imagine.
Anyway, as I said we were splitting the family today. It wasn’t so much what each kid wanted to do as much as it was what a kid DIDN’T want to do. The Mrs. and E were renting e-bikes to risk their lives riding in London traffic. B, a closet actuary, decided the risk was too great and he had a hard pass on this activity so he and I headed to Old Spitalfields Market in East London. We had a nice, slow wander around the market looking at the wares and the different foods. A much slower pace than Camden Market and a much smaller place than Covent Garden. We really liked it.
B started off with a giant custard donut. I think it was eaten in 3 bites. I hope he’s not turning into E, we cannot afford 2 E-Koogs! After that we strolled through more stores and stalls. We landed in a store that was from Copenhagen and it seemed like a cross between IKEA and Temu. It had the strangest collection of things from fidget spinners to notebooks to candy to diaper rash lotion. It was just such a random set of merchandise. The store was very neat but the organization was interesting. The diaper cream was next to the candy and not the baby section but the marshmallows were not in the candy area they were in the housewares. Anyway, it was aesthetically pleasing if not intuitive.
We ended up buying a sour apple foot lollipop for E because he often has his foot in his mouth. For example yesterday, he asked about President G.W. Bush and what he did to cause Watergate. Foot in mouth. Dude! You. Are. Killing. Me. He did remember when I said that was Nixon but the foot was squarely between the lips at that point. I also bought bamboo deodorant pads for my camping expedition. £3 well spent.
After all that we were hungry. We stopped at The Merchant Pub for lunch. Such a cute place that is part stand alone restaurant in one of the buildings of the market and part beer garden in the market itself. Just a really cool vibe. Anyway, B ordered a coke and a steak (of course) and I went with an Aspall Cider (my favorite) and fish and chips with mushy peas (also my favorite). Just as we put in our order, I got a call from Mrs. Koog saying she and E were on their way to Spitalfields to have lunch with us!
They found us and sat down. E immediately ordered a steak just like his brother and Mrs. Koog shared my fish and chips and had her own Aspall Cider. Luckily, she does not like mushy peas so I didn’t need to share those prized possessions. The mushy peas were spectacular. Bright and fresh tasting, mushy but also firm, and just enough sea salt. Chef’s kiss for the peas! After lunch they headed to their bikes and B and I headed back to the hotel. As we were walking out, we passed the Spitalfields Tea Dance. It was pretty cool to see so many people dancing to big band music, the stroll, the jive and the jitterbug. And many of the outfits were eclectic. It was just really fun to watch so many people having so much innocent fun.
To the tube and back to the hotel for our mid-afternoon nap. The Mrs. and E were already in the napping positions in their respective beds when we walked in, so B and I assumed the positions as well. Our nap was lovely but we needed to get up and going because we had reservations for dinner at one of the restaurants at the SkyGarden. Oh, the best laid plans…
Back to the tube to the London Bridge station for a nice walk across the bridge to the SkyGarden. We found the restaurant but it was not *in* the SkyGarden but outside the building. No problem, I still made the reservation through the site so it wasn’t an issue. We checked in for our reservation also, no problem. Then we had a problem. As we were walking to the table, the hostess said the SkyGarden is closed to anyone under 18 at 6:30. When I looked at the reservation, it said that but I missed it as our reservation for 7pm. I felt so bad because B-Koog really, really wanted to do the SkyGarden. She said we could do it tomorrow morning but as she went to print the passes she noticed it was closed for a private event all day. B-Koog took it all in stride and we still enjoyed our food. The service was horrible but the food was pretty good.
Now, 2/3rds of us wanted to go out for dessert. E-Koog was not having it at all. This kid was half awake on our *way* to dinner. He woke up to eat and then went back into eyes half closed mode for the duration. We broke E! So, out of pity for the exhausted boy that biked 13 miles today we walked back over London Bridge, took a family selfie and made our way to the tube then back to Union Jack.
London was so much fun, I hate to leave it tomorrow morning but we have to pick up our rental car from Heathrow and then it’s a long ride to the Cotswolds and a dinner reservation at The Farmer’s Dog.
Until tomorrow…
Anyway, as I said we were splitting the family today. It wasn’t so much what each kid wanted to do as much as it was what a kid DIDN’T want to do. The Mrs. and E were renting e-bikes to risk their lives riding in London traffic. B, a closet actuary, decided the risk was too great and he had a hard pass on this activity so he and I headed to Old Spitalfields Market in East London. We had a nice, slow wander around the market looking at the wares and the different foods. A much slower pace than Camden Market and a much smaller place than Covent Garden. We really liked it.
B started off with a giant custard donut. I think it was eaten in 3 bites. I hope he’s not turning into E, we cannot afford 2 E-Koogs! After that we strolled through more stores and stalls. We landed in a store that was from Copenhagen and it seemed like a cross between IKEA and Temu. It had the strangest collection of things from fidget spinners to notebooks to candy to diaper rash lotion. It was just such a random set of merchandise. The store was very neat but the organization was interesting. The diaper cream was next to the candy and not the baby section but the marshmallows were not in the candy area they were in the housewares. Anyway, it was aesthetically pleasing if not intuitive.
We ended up buying a sour apple foot lollipop for E because he often has his foot in his mouth. For example yesterday, he asked about President G.W. Bush and what he did to cause Watergate. Foot in mouth. Dude! You. Are. Killing. Me. He did remember when I said that was Nixon but the foot was squarely between the lips at that point. I also bought bamboo deodorant pads for my camping expedition. £3 well spent.
After all that we were hungry. We stopped at The Merchant Pub for lunch. Such a cute place that is part stand alone restaurant in one of the buildings of the market and part beer garden in the market itself. Just a really cool vibe. Anyway, B ordered a coke and a steak (of course) and I went with an Aspall Cider (my favorite) and fish and chips with mushy peas (also my favorite). Just as we put in our order, I got a call from Mrs. Koog saying she and E were on their way to Spitalfields to have lunch with us!
They found us and sat down. E immediately ordered a steak just like his brother and Mrs. Koog shared my fish and chips and had her own Aspall Cider. Luckily, she does not like mushy peas so I didn’t need to share those prized possessions. The mushy peas were spectacular. Bright and fresh tasting, mushy but also firm, and just enough sea salt. Chef’s kiss for the peas! After lunch they headed to their bikes and B and I headed back to the hotel. As we were walking out, we passed the Spitalfields Tea Dance. It was pretty cool to see so many people dancing to big band music, the stroll, the jive and the jitterbug. And many of the outfits were eclectic. It was just really fun to watch so many people having so much innocent fun.
To the tube and back to the hotel for our mid-afternoon nap. The Mrs. and E were already in the napping positions in their respective beds when we walked in, so B and I assumed the positions as well. Our nap was lovely but we needed to get up and going because we had reservations for dinner at one of the restaurants at the SkyGarden. Oh, the best laid plans…
Back to the tube to the London Bridge station for a nice walk across the bridge to the SkyGarden. We found the restaurant but it was not *in* the SkyGarden but outside the building. No problem, I still made the reservation through the site so it wasn’t an issue. We checked in for our reservation also, no problem. Then we had a problem. As we were walking to the table, the hostess said the SkyGarden is closed to anyone under 18 at 6:30. When I looked at the reservation, it said that but I missed it as our reservation for 7pm. I felt so bad because B-Koog really, really wanted to do the SkyGarden. She said we could do it tomorrow morning but as she went to print the passes she noticed it was closed for a private event all day. B-Koog took it all in stride and we still enjoyed our food. The service was horrible but the food was pretty good.
Now, 2/3rds of us wanted to go out for dessert. E-Koog was not having it at all. This kid was half awake on our *way* to dinner. He woke up to eat and then went back into eyes half closed mode for the duration. We broke E! So, out of pity for the exhausted boy that biked 13 miles today we walked back over London Bridge, took a family selfie and made our way to the tube then back to Union Jack.
London was so much fun, I hate to leave it tomorrow morning but we have to pick up our rental car from Heathrow and then it’s a long ride to the Cotswolds and a dinner reservation at The Farmer’s Dog.
Until tomorrow…
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