The Top Floor Flat

Despite our brief foray in Kensington and Knightsbridge, my mother had yet to see much of London. I planned to fix that on Monday with a very ambitious tour of the centre of London, focusing on the famous historical and political centres of the city. With no regard for my mother’s poor feet, I launched us towards the city centre on the number 9 bus which took us to Piccadilly Circus.

We hopped off a stop early to visit Fortnum and Masons, home of, among other things, the Scotch Egg, Fortnum and Mason gift baskets and my personal favourite tea set in London. While my mother appreciated the tea set, much more impressive were the window displays – a giant mixer, a rocket ship of home goods and a giant cup of tea.

After Fortnum and Masons, we wound our way southeast towards Trafalgar Square, passing Piccadilly Circus and some of the small shopping alleys of boutique shops on the way. Trafalgar Square has fantastic views of the city and is home to the National Gallery (which we didn’t have time to visit) but helped my mother orient herself as we gazed out over the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

Before heading there directly, however, we took a stroll down the Royal Mall, the long walk between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace where a crowd was gathered for an event we never could determine. It was so crowded, in fact, that we didn’t get too close to the Palace at all, but the view from a distance was impressive enough and a shorter stay outside the Palace gave us a few moments to enjoy the amazing flowers and gardens of St James Park on our way towards Westminster Abbey, The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

We passed on a tour of the Abbey (I had done it twice already) and crossed the river to the South Bank where we first walked under the impressive London Eye then continued east, enjoying the riverside views before coming up on Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern. We didn’t linger long, however, as we were getting hungry and Borough Market was just a few minutes walk away.

Borough Market on the weekdays is not the impressive bustling open air market it is on the weekends and despite the local sandwich shops and great view of Southwark Cathedral, we were keen for a place to sit down and relax after our long walk of the morning. Instead of opting for a sandwich and curbside seat, I introduced my mother to Nandos, a Portuguese-influenced restaurant chain that proved a huge hit (get the chicken pita with cheddar cheese and pineapple and be sure to load up on Piri-Piri sauce!).

Blood sugar levels restored to normal and our feet briefly rested, we started off again, taking the bus north from London Bridge to visit the Museum of London in Moorgate. This little museum is a hidden gem and has a fantastic local history. In addition to giving great information on the history of London from pre-history onwards, which a heavy focus on the Roman settlers in the area in the first century AD, the museum itself is built above the ruins of the original Roman wall that surrounded the city of Londinium. Parts of the wall still stand in and around the museum and are visible from viewing decks inside. The story of London continues up through the Tudors, the civil war and finally the last major outbreak of plague and the fire of London in 1666. In a few weeks, however, the Museum is going to be opening an whole new floor dedicated to modern London and I’m looking forward to returning to check it out.

Finally, after our Museum of London visit, we were reaching what was, in my mind, the highlight of the day – a visit to the Spoonfed office so my mother could see where I work. It was another short bus ride north and I got to introduce her to my co-workers, show off our office, and grab a coffee at our local coffee shop while we chatted about our busy, busy day.

After such a long day, I had a quiet but fun dinner planned at the Churchill Arms, a tiny Thai restaurant hidden in the back of a Notting Hill pub. The restaurant seems more like the cross between a greenhouse and a garden shed than a place to get a delicious, spicy Thai dinner, but we both enjoyed our meals immensely and I had definitely impressed my mother with my local knowledge of both city attractions, bus routes and places to eat.

With sore feet, full bellies and a plan to ditch the boring history and focus on shopping the next day, we were asleep early and excited for the next day.