Tea Time in London

Last Stop, London!

The last stop on our vacation was London. It took ten legs of transportation (and a 14 hour day) to get from Greece to the UK: car, ferry, bus, boat, bus, shuttle, plane, train, metro, walk. Needless to say, we were glad to have two days in London before our plane flight back to the US.

After a good night sleep, our first stop was the flower-covered Churchill Arms Pub (which I’m not ashamed to say I learned about from Pinterest). And holy-blooming-flowers Batman, it’s even more spectacular in person. WOW!

Of course we had to go inside and have a pint. The interior of the pub was decorated in a hoarder’s-glory of British memorabilia (and there’s even a delicious Thai food restaurant in the back).

You might think our next stops were Big Ben or the Tower of London, but we decided to skip the tourist attractions (except for the Churchill Arms) and wander around some cute neighborhoods instead.

Off to Notting Hill we went.

If a city has a neighborhood full of colorful houses, I’m going to go see it. (I did it in New Orleans. I did it in Venice. And yes, I did it in London, too.)

Plus, I’m a huge sucker for English charm. I could go skipping down those English Mews for hours. Mews are back allies that once housed stables and are just so dang cute: cobblestones, jasmine vines, perfectly placed bicycles. Yes, I’m brainstorming a book as I write this …

And can we talk about the EPIC wisteria in London (specifically the Notting Hill and Kensington neighborhoods)? These vines cover whole buildings and must be a hundred years old. What bougainvilleas are to Greece, wisteria is to London.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit obsessed with flower-covered buildings (be they fake like the flower cafes in France or real like the ones in London and Greece).

Our last day in London (and our last day on the trip) was my husband and I’s 20th anniversary. Holy smokes, we’ve been together for 20 years! True love does exist.

And because my hubby loves me so much, he let me splurge on high-tea at Peggy Porschen Cakes in Belgravia.

I may have died and gone to heaven!

Everything at Peggy Porschen was pink (which I adore). The walls were covered in floral wall paper. The ceiling glittered with chandeliers. Pink flowers donned every table. And of course, the cakes and tarts were pink (themed “under the sea” for the season).

I once dabbled with the idea of opening a cake shop, and if I did, I wanted it to be just like Peggy Porschen. Instead of opening a restaurant (because let’s face it, I’m a writer), I decided to write about opening one instead (voila – The Flambé Series). Writing does allow you to live many lives.

Below are a few more fun images from our stroll. I loved finding the Eccleston Courtyard where Londoners were watching Wimbledon in lounge chairs and sipping cocktails (a much better idea than a sports bar in my opinion)!

The final delight of our trip was the secret onion garden. Hidden among the towering sky scrapers of Westminster is a tiny container garden created by a Danish man named Jans (pictured below in the vest).

Jans maintains this garden as a side-project hoping to spread kindness, joy, and magic to those who happen to find it amongst the bustle and cement. He couldn’t believe his tiny garden was on our to-see list for our vacation.

Then it was back to Herne Hill (where we were staying) and time to pack.

London isn’t known for it’s food (the way France is), but we still had some great meals: Sunday roast, Thai food, waffles, and of course full tea service.

Food porn!

And that, my darling Book Babes, was my trip! It was marvelous.

It was also exhausting, and I am glad to be home in the 115 degree heat (indoors of course) resting as my brain percolates with European book ideas. I think a European rom-com series is in the future for me (if only to do more research next year 😜).

Thanks for going on this journey with me.

Cheers, Elle!