London with the Girls!

I have delightful British friend named Hannah who is engaged to be married.  After Prince William and Kate’s wedding in a few weeks, hers will be my first non-royal wedding…though they got engaged at the Queen’s tea at Buckingham Palace, so that is practically royalty right?  Well, unfortunately Hannah’s fiance is currently out of the country for the next few weeks.  This is unfortunate for her…and wonderful for me, as it meant a girls night in London this past weekend!  Being the good friend that I am, I felt that I should help ensure that she didn’t miss Ash (her fiance) too much for at least one day.  I think we managed quite well.  Between French cafes, cakes of all kinds, YouTube comedians, fresh tea leaves, shopping, and talking we were able to distract her from missing her beloved too much.

We decided to visit one of Hannah’s close friends, also named Hannah, who lives in Clapham which is a suburb of London.  We boarded a train for London and then wound our way through the city on the underground.  There was a rugby match that day and several of the subway lines were shut down, so needless to say, it took a bit longer to get to Clapham than we had originally intended.  When we finally got there, Hannah was there to greet us.  It was a beautiful day so after dropping off our bags at Hannah’s place, we decided to stroll through Clapham Common which is an enormous park that was filled with couples lounging on benches and children running every which way. 

The day was absolutely perfect.  We ate lunch at this adorable French cafe that had the best quiche I have ever had.  It just melted in your mouth.  Ummm. In the afternoon, we strolled through the little shops that are near Hannah’s house and rummaged through a couple antique stores.  Amazingly, the antique stores didn’t smell musty like the ones in the states.  Not sure why that’s the case…but it made it a more pleasant experience!  The streets were bustling with street vendors and children on scooters.  It just felt alive. 

When asked what I wanted to do while we were there, I made only one request.  I wanted scones and clotted cream.  The Hannah’s were wonderful as they scoured Clapham trying to fulfill my one request.  It was funny how many places we found with no scones (but every other kind of cakes) or scones but no clotted cream.  We finally settled on a cute little shop called Crumpet.  Hannah treated us to afternoon tea (made with tea leaves as Hannah is crazy about tea leaves) and each of us splurged on a dessert.  We had brownies, carrot cake, and scones.  I truly believe afternoon tea is one of the best ways to spend an afternoon.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

There are tons of great restaurants that are literally on either side of Hannah’s flat, but we decided that we would stay in and cook dinner and then go out later for dessert or something if we felt like it.  The Hannah’s decided on risotto since I had never had it, and so we headed to the store to pick up the necessary ingredients.  As the Hannah’s selected all the healthy vegetables that we would be eating…I stocked up on chocolate and popcorn.  You need a balanced meal right?  Half healthy, half junk food…sounds about right. 

Hannah cooked for us while we lounged in the living room and chatted.  Well, I lounged…Hannah helped iron the bedding that had been hang drying.  Yep, Hannah likes to iron her bedding…she is a friend after my mother’s heart!  I have to say, Hannah’s flat is great.  It lets in lots of light and just feels so inviting.  I loved it.  We spent most of the night sitting around laughing, dancing, and just talking.  We had a great time comparing American and British comedians…naturally both sides were pretty biased.  We went out for a bit that night but what stands out in my mind was just sitting on the couch, me, eating a disproportionate amount of the chocolate, going through each other’s Facebook photos, and just enjoying each other’s company.  We spent the night giggling like girls do and somewhere around 3 am the laughter slowly died away as we fell asleep.   

The next morning we quickly got ready and then headed out to an American diner for breakfast…YEAH!!  It was fun to see a British version of an American diner.  They did a decent job though the biggest disappointment was not having thin, crispy bacon.  Sigh.  It looks like I will never get it while I am here.  Aside from that though, they did a pretty good job.  I had pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice.  I do have to mention though, that part of my pancakes and practically all of Hannah’s were uncooked.  Now, that has never happened to me in America.  I don’t drink coffee, but the Hannah’s were excited about the unlimited coffee from those silver pots.  It was pretty funny since they never actually received a refill!  Overall though, I was very happy with my breakfast.  Especially the orange juice…that was good stuff!

I had such a great time getting to know the more local side of London.  You know, where people actually live!  No one was walking around with maps and backpacks.  It was couples, families, and friends out enjoying the rare London sunshine.  I can’t wait for another London weekend with my two favorite Hannahs!

The Hannah’s posing in front of one of the street vendors for me!

 

Crumpet wins our service with the scones!

Me and the Hannah from Clapham

 

Me (being spastic) and the Cambridge Hannah

 

 

Yummy afternoon treats...and LOTS of tea!

Is this a children's cart? Nope, it is just British.

me eating Risotto for the first time...so good!

The Hannah's lounging and chatting

 

The Hannah's laughing as usual!