It’s been a while since I updated More Than London but it’s not because I haven’t been anywhere. Far from it, in fact. The past few months have been super busy with travels near and far. I’m not sure what to blog about first so I’ll start with a roundup of my favourite summer hangouts in London…
I can’t remember a summer as good as this one for a while. The weather’s been pretty amazing, if you ask me. We’ve had highs in the late 20’s and I’ve been able to sit out in our garden on many a summer’s day. In comparison, I don’t think I sat in our garden once in 2015.
It hasn’t been all summer days lounging at home though. Oh no. London has way too much to tempt me out and about and these are just a few of my fave finds. I reckon we have a bit of an Indian summer to go plus the August bank holiday so there’s still time for you to check out these places too if you haven’t already:
1. Camden Beach at the Roundhouse
This has been on my wish list since I first started working in London in summer 2012. Four years later, I finally got round to going on the opening Friday. Wow. A sandy beach in London really gave me a taste of back home on the coast. I went straight from work and it was fabulous. The sun was shining, happy hour was in full flow for scrummy rum cocktails (rum is my new drink of choice, btw) and old school garage brought the summer vibes.
I love a bit of crazy golf! Maybe it’s my inner child still coming out but who doesn’t love a bit of friendly competition as you navigate obstacles to try and get a near impossible hole in one. Located just off Brick Lane, Junkyard Golf is one of the latest additions to the crazy golf trend in London and my god, it’s good. From trying to pot the ball standing atop an old snooker table to putting your ball down a slide and sliding down after it, each hole is full of imagination. With a cocktail in one hand and club in the other, I have to say the scoring went out the window but we giggled away the whole time. There are 3 courses to choose from and we went for Frank.
The latest street food offering from Street Feast London is Hawker House at Canada Water. A colleague recommended it so off we went one Saturday afternoon as friends from back home came to visit. I loved it! I’m a sucker for an expensive cocktail served in a paper cup and a food truck so I was in street food heaven. On a Saturday afternoon, the vibe was pretty chilled and we got served straight away, quite pleasant for London standards. I reckon this place would be buzzing in the evening though and I’ll definitely be returning. The steamed bun was my pick of the food offering.
Finally, I got a booking at this hot London restaurant and it was well worth the wait. Located in a cute back street between Oxford Street and Marylebone, you’d easily walk past this place if you didn’t know it was there. I guess that’s part of the charm. We sat in the garden to eat (told you this summer weather has been good!), and chomped our way through a selection of sharing plates, an unusual chicken main and a strawberry delight for dessert while sipping bellinis. I’d also heard there was a secret room here so after dinner I went on a hunt and found it! Its harder than you think and I don’t want to give anything away but it’s definitely worth seeking out.
I’ve never been to a festival. I know, I know. This was as close as I was gonna get this year and to be honest, it’s probably my kind of festival as I’m not one for roughing it. We managed to get tickets for the date Mumford and Sons were headlining and what a show it was! In between pints of craft beer for the boyf (it wasn’t so fun queueing at the only craft beer tent) and cider for me, we managed to catch a warm up performance from Mystery Jets before the main show. Mumford and Sons were awesome. Little Lion Man was my favourite. As they played for around two hours, it was the perfect London evening as the sun set behind us before a dazzling firework display rounded the night off. Encore!
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