Lunch at Bill's

Athol discovered a nice restaurant called Bill's tucked away in Covent Garden, so we decided to go there for lunch on Friday.

The front of the restaurant is a coffee/shop area and then the restaurant is towards the back. Interesting decor. Somewhat country feeling with the rustic lights and exposed pipes but trendy with its large mirrors and chesterfield benches. Food is served on bread boards with a bucket of "skinny" fries. I had a spiced chai tea and the 'mojo' chicken and chourizo sausage burger which was very tasty.

We decided to walk off lunch with a walk through St James Park. Apparently the large pelican looking birds which we saw the other day are in fact pelicans :) saw signs saying not to touch or feed the pelicans. Didn't realise that pelicans get so big. There is such a variety of different birds.

There is also a bridge over the lake, there are lovely views of Buckingham Palace from here.

The flowers in the parks in London are so bright and beautiful!

We noticed the British flags up all along The Mall, this is for the London Marathon this Sunday.

A walk in the... St James... Park

One of our usual night time walks is to Buckingham Palace along The Mall. So we always walk past St. James Park but it is always too dark to see anything since we usually walk late at night. Today we decided to see what it looks like during the day. There is a nice lake and lots of benches and birds. We had bought vegetable burritos from Tortillas along Strand (thanks to Northumberland House due to the re-flooring on our floor) and sat along a bench watching all the different birds in the lake. We saw some rather large pelican looking birds, geese and swans. This park is about a 5 min walk from where we stay, it will be so nice when Spring finally arrives :)

Along Pall Mall....

Then to top off the afternoon, I decided to go to Leicester Square as it was free cone day at Ben & Jerry's! Luckily the queues moved fast. Decided to treat myself to a Caramel Chew Chew and a Strawberry Chessecake ice-cream. Yes I queued twice :) think that I have only had Ben & Jerry's once before. There is such a thing as free ice-cream - love first world countries - thank you Ben & Jerry's!

Food for Thought

Last night, we had supper at a nice vegetarian restaurant called Food for Thought. It's the second time that we've been here.

It's a small, cosy spot in Neal Street in Covent Garden.

Good portions and delicious vegetarian food. Some foods are also vegan or gluten/nut free.

For 8.50 pounds, you get a hearty main meal with a salad. I had the Hungarian Goulash and Athol had the Tuscan Bake and Spinach soup. All very tasty and healthy. It's not often that you go to a place and all the meals are vegetarian. Normally Athol has to order the sides as his main :)

It's a cafe style restaurant where you go order and get your food then go find a table to sit at. It can be busy. We sat upstairs since all the seats downstairs were taken. Highly recommended.

A visit to LSE (me second trip)

Athol needed to return two library books, so I decided to go with.

We decided to walk a different route along the Thames River, so you miss our on all the people along Strand Street. Pity we didn't find this route sooner as it is nice as you see the river and there is the Embankment gardens.

We had lunch at the Garrick, where Athol often has lunch. Downstairs is a cafeteria style restaurant while upstairs is more of a cafe. I had the roast chicken dish with potatoes and carrots for 5.50 pounds - it seems subsidised. Athol had the vegetarian option, aubergines and tomatoes with potatoes and carrots.

The new student centre is now open, pity it only opened now so Athol couldn't enjoy the centre more. It is a modern, unusually shaped building called the Saw See Hock student centre.

It seemed to be an open day at LSE as there were many school children walking around. 

I also noticed statues of an elephant and penguin, which apparently were gifts sent from Toronto.

Athol at the LSE Library. Although it is holidays, it was still very busy and students were studying.

On the rooftop of the new student centre is a nice little cafe with a terrace.

We bought some smoothies at the little cafe shop by the library where Athol sometimes gets a coffee or bite to eat.

On our walk back home, we passed the famour Savoy Hotel which you often see on movies.