We hopped on the train with far too much clothing and toiletries around 2pm and headed to the hotel to dump our bags.
Once we had, we went to Covent Garden and seven dials, window shopping and (I was, anyway) admiring cute coffee shops and restaurants. After (literally) hours of deliberating, we concluded that the best option for dinner would be Carluccios. And let me tell you, I had probably the best 3 course meal ever! I adore Antonio Carluccio as a person, his two greedy Italian series with Gennaro Contaldo remains to this day one of my most favourite series ever!
I ate for a starter/primi, bruschetta with tomato and rocket, for my main/secondi I had ravioli with spinach and ricotta with butter. And for dessert I had vanilla cream with caramel apples, caramel sauce and hazelnut meringue biscuits! This is quite possibly the best thing I've ever tasted! Try it if you ever find yourself in Carluccios!
After this we strolled back to the hotel completely satisfied, and joked about clubbing or going to the casinos in Leicester Square etc (I hate that sort of thing).
In the morning we had the most tremendous breakfast to wake up to. A buffet was laid out by the hotel which included: full English, pancakes, pastries, fruit, smoothies etc and everything on that list I ate, no joke! Buffets are not a good thing for me, I need to try everything no matter what!
One amusing thing I found that morning was an American guest asking about black pudding, with the chef explaining it was sheeps bladder, to which she replied 'are you joking?'.
After this, we went our separate ways, me, for a walk in the park, and my mum to work. With exams fast approaching I really should be dedicating most of my time to working. But with such a sunny day, I wandered for a while in the area (in a couple of shops) and then jumped on the tube to Covent Garden where I found the loveliest cafe called 'The department of coffee and social affairs' where I actually did some work!
After this I stumbled, ever so gracefully upon Kate Spade (oh dear) and ever so gracefully left with a pair of boots (very much oh dear) which I adore. In fact everything about Kate Spade I adore, I'm not a massive lover of bright colours, but I feel converted after seeing the flamingo print bag and hot pink purses!
After this I had a costa (thankfully free due to my Costa card) and headed home, very content with a lovely night in London!
Fran x
