Bank Holiday Weekend (so far)

It's the first of the two May Bank Holiday Weekends. For those of you who don't live in the UK and are not familiar with Bank Holidays, this is the name given to three Mondays of the year, two in May and one in August, where you are off work for no particular reason other than relax and perhaps planning a weekend away! I love Bank Holidays (surprise surprise!) and even if we haven't planned anything special for this long weekend, it is still very nice to spend three full days the three of us together. The weekend actually started even earlier for Emilia and me. I don't work on Fridays so on Friday morning I got both of us ready quite quickly and by 9.00 we were out of the flat and heading to the city. I love walking around the city with Emilia and thankfully the weather was quite nice. We checked a couple of stores and then we bumped into two mums with their strollers and babies who asked us if we were on our way to Little Pickles. I said that I didn't even know what Little Pickles was. One of the two then handed me a leaflet of this new playgroup for toddlers in the area that incidentally was starting that Friday at 10.00am. Emilia and I had had a quite rough night and I was desperate to stay out of the flat for as long as possible. My eyes lit up. So, we followed the mums with their kids and entered the church by the gherkin where the playgroup was held. At the entrance we were welcomed by a bunch of lovely ladies, all smiley and very sweet. We felt at home straight away. I absolutely loved the atmosphere. It was so relaxing that I was even able to enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee with the other mums, while Emilia made herself at home and started playing. The playgroup is run by volunteers at the church, all super lovely people, some with kids and others without. There are lots of activities to choose from and all the toys are brand new. There is the soft area, the library, the lego area, the dressing up corner and different tables with different activities. Emilia chose the table where a nice lady was showing how to make bracelets and together with other kids they coloured biblical images. Emilia picked the representation of the baptism of John and made not one but four bracelets! The playgroup runs from 10.00 to 11.30 every Friday; at 11.05 one othe ladies started singing the tidy up song and all the kids, Emilia included, helped putting all the toys back in their big boxes. And then the central part of the church transformed into a sort of lounge. We all sat on a carpet and listened to another lady who read a passage from the bible for babies showing lots of nice illustrations. We ended the playgroup by singing and dancing over well known rhymes. I can't say enough how much Emilia and I loved it and considering how bad the night before was and how stressed I was at the beginning of the day, I think it was something sent directly from God. 

 

 

 

Saturday was all about strolling. The weather was very nice so in the morning we crossed the Tower Bridge and wandered around St. Katharine's Docks. Always a wonderful place to get lost in. I enjoy looking inside the boats, some people live there! I find it so charming. They have recently built a very modern boat house there and I absolutely love it. Every time I go I try to spy inside :)

 

 

 

In the afternoon we strolled to another favourite spot in the area, Bermondsey street. The villagey atmosphere in that street is so nice and I absolutely love all the independent shops and cafes that make this street so cool. And oh the flower shops...they are so adorable! We bought bright pink peonies that now sit lovely in our living room.

 

 

And finally today we headed East to Canary Wharf where we enjoyed a lovely brunch at Le Pain Quotidien and did some shopping for Emilia at the local mall. We had been to Le Pain Quotidien before and it is the perfect place for toddlers. When we arrived, we were taken to a quite corner in the back of the cafe' and got seated next to three other families, all with little girls. They all looked and smiled at each other, they were so cute. Also, after we ordered our meals, the waiter came back to us with an activity book for Emilia and a plastic cup full of colourful crayons. Yay, Emilia's favourite activity: coloring in! We had such a lovely time and of course it took some time to convince Emilia to leave. Thankfully, she loved running in the mall just as much as sitting, eating her eggs and colouring in her book. 

 

 

My wonderful little girl, you are growing too fast. Please, let's stop the time right now and don't get bigger and older!

First visit to the park of 2014!

The weather in London is glorious today so we had to go out. After debating a little bit where to go, we opted for the little park in Bermondsey street and its playground. When the weather is this good I appreciate even more not to have to work on Friday! It's only February and we made our first visit to the park, yay! 

Bermondsey street is one of my favourite streets in the whole of London and we are very fortunate to live just round the corner. It's full of sweet, little shops and independent cafes' and it has preserved a sort of village-y feeling. No big chains, no Starbucks, no Pret, in sight here! I love it. So, I bought a coffee from a local cafe' and sat with Emilia on a bench. The tennis courts were full of kids having their tennis lessons; they were all approximately two/three years old and of course I could not avoid to think how cute Emilia would look playing tennis. Next year, definitely! Something to add to her list of things to do. At the playground we met Eden, an adorable little girl with blond hair and a huge red bow on it! When the sun is shining everyone is in a good mood, little and big ones. Emilia was a delight. She loved the stroll and the playground and of course didn't want to leave. I had to promise lots of yummy food for lunch at home to get her on the stroller! Today was just a taste of Spring and I simply cannot wait for it! 

 

 

Bermondsey Street Festival

Last Saturday it was Bermondsey Street Festival and the area surrounding the street was all dressed up for the occasion. I have been trying to find a flat in Bermondsey Street since the first moment I discovered it and after seven years of living in London, I still love the atmosphere in this little area of the city. The street feels like a village, it's full of little cafes and interesting restaurants and pubs, deli shops, local boutiques, a sweet park with tennis courts and the cool, bright orange building of the fashion and textile museum. Not to mention the new addition to the block, Bermondsey Square with its independent cinema and Saturday morning local farmers' market. So far, I haven't been able to live right there but I have always been very close and just a few minutes away. 

So when we heard that the fifth Bermondsey Street Festival would be happening last Saturday, we knew we had to go. The weather was glorious, sunny and warm all day. The street was full of stalls and performance stages, and the park had become an open air food market. Overall, it was just lovely. We strolled, had a delicious roast and enjoyed a fashion catwalk in the tennis court. 

Too bad we had to leave in the early hours of the afternoon as I wasn't feeling very well. And I have been home sick since then...