My New Commute

Now that we are settled (well, kinda!) at the new place, I am experimenting with my new commute options. Until now I have been walking to the office, which is great, and it normally took me about 45 minutes. It's a bit long but doable and also that was my daily dose of excercise since I don't do anything else!

From Shad Thames to my office I now have the following options:

1. Walk: it takes me 50 minutes. I did it yesterday and this morning and loved it.

{me this morning, walking and wearing my funky Lanvin sneakers}

2. Tube: Tower Hill - Temple. I tried it last Friday and it took me 30 minutes door to door. Not bad.

3. Boat, Thames Clippers. I haven't tried this yet but I reckon it would take me about 30 minutes. Wouldn't it be super cool to commute by boat!?!

4. Bike. There is a Boris Johnson's bike docking station right outside our new building and one right outside the office. Perfect! I have never cycled in London before but, what do you think, 30 minutes should be enough, right?

In any case, it's nice to have options and whatever I decide to do, these are just some of the lovely things I will be admiring on my way to, and from work:

{All pictures are mine. I took them this morning while walking to the office.}

I {heart} you, Shad Thames

After weeks (months!) of moaning and whining about our failure in finding a nice flat in London, finally, Rob and I have spotted a lovely place that we are both happy to call home. In the last couple of months we have been searching for a new place to live in every bit and corner of the city; we explored new areas which we really like (see Parsons Green) and were open to move anywhere as long as it was a nice spot. Little we knew that our home was just around the corner from where we live now, waiting for us to notice it...

Shad Thames is an area in London we both absolutely adore. The cobble stone, the narrow streets, the Tower Bridge, the Tower Bridge Piazza, the cafes, the little restaurants and boutique shops and all those warehouse conversions are only some of the things we love about it. We looked in the area for a bit but then we gave up when we realised it was really a *wealthy city types* nest. Until, we saw this cute flat in the Vanilla & Sesame warehouse conversion (isn't the name lovely?), in the very heart of Shad Thames., that we could afford. Our new home is less than a minute walk to the Tower Bridge (where Rob proposed, remember?) and just behind the restaurant where we ate the night of the proposal. We like to think that this is our area. Panta Rei, said the Greeks...

All the pictures below are taken from this site. But soon, I'll be taking my own pictures and will document the move and all the new discoveries we make in the area. I can't wait!

Zero Japan teapot

I have been dreaming to buy a Zero Japan Teapot for quite a while now, in fact since I visited the lovely High Tea of Highgate tea shop several months ago. Just recently I noticed that a modern tea store in Shad Thames, very close to where I live, sells them and since then I have been wandering around the store admiring the lovely teapots pretty much every weekend...until a few days ago when I finally decided it was the right time to buy one! I spent days and nights thinking which colouor and size to buy, I asked friends and family what they thought, and after some serious consultation I went for the large, round, pink teapot. I absolutely adore it!
I have been brewing rose and lavender&rosemary teas so far and can't wait to try new flavours...yes, I am ready for Autumn!