The party encourages a sleep in. Upon waking Dave and I engage in the age old debate on Perculators vs Aeropress with little resolution. We ready ourselves to head over the the park for what Molly calls the best coffee in London.
It’s just a short walk from their house to the park, we find Lizzy’s On The Green - a cute little coffee and pastry shop right in a park that is bustling with people. While waiting for the coffee Dave suggests we head over the to the little cheese shop to grab something for breakfast.
The cheese shop is authentic and run by truly passionate and fun people. We order the one sandwich on their menu and then begin to look around. One of the staff gives us a little bit of everything to try, accompanied by truffle honey and chilli jams that is truly a highlight. The sandwich arrives - two massive slices of bread with many different kinds of melted cheese inside with sprinklings of mustard and chopped vegetables. Truly delicious. Actually I’m going to say the best toasted cheese I’ve ever had.
Tim joins for a coffee and a chat and then it’s time to head off into the city. We’re renting Lime bikes to get there and after walking off in different directions we all congregate with our newly acquired bikes. You simply get an app and then scan the QR code of a bike that you find on the map. They don’t have gears but have an electric motor that makes cycling effortless.
We’re heading to the Borough Market on the Thames in central London. The cycle takes us about forty minutes through the backroads and Molly and Dave entertain us with facts about the city. The cars are very considerate of cyclists and I find it an absolutely amazing experience. We drops the bikes and then walk over the bridge across the Thames to the market.
It’s bustling with people and Mich Burn is waiting to meet us there. We enter the throngs of people, stalls and food and do a lap that probably was only about a quarter of the things on offer. I’m hungry again and get myself a pie that Dave calls the best pie he’s ever tried. Jordan’s eye is caught by strawberries with chocolate from a fondant. Molly helps her asks for extra chocolate.
We take a walk down the Thames. There is free art on offer on a side walk that we browse - with a pretty interesting erotic section of some Avatar-esque scenes. The late night and food is catching up on us and weighing us down. We opt for a bus home and I insist that we sit on the top deck. Leo the tourist is enamoured by the London scenes passing by as we head home.
Upon arriving home the three take their positions in bed and I jump onto Dave’s bike to meet my friend Benji. We cycle to Clissold Park where Benji whips out a blanket and we drink some tea and have a really beautiful catchup on all aspects of life.
Today is a busy day. Dave messages me and we’re heading out for dinner. Benji and I cycle back and I immediately get ready to walk to dinner. Dave and Molly talk about how House of MoMo - our dinner destination - has delicious dumplings but usually an enormous queue. Our expectations are set yet we’re surprised when there is no queue and a table for four waiting. The dumplings live up the the hype.
We’re feeling full and have some time to kill before our movie so we walk some laps through the cold streets of Saturday night London. Scenes of every possible situation play out before us and we walk through them as if detached somehow. We grab a snack for the movie and then it’s time to go to the RIO cinema.
We watch a movie called Amsterdam which is truly excellent. There is an all star cast and quirky storyline. Walking home feels like a dream.