A weekend in the country

So the great thing about my life right now is that I get to enjoy London living all week long but then still get to come back here on weekends. 

Last Friday night, after being reunited with Byron after an oh-so-long week apart (and Byron  must have thought so too since he even met me at the train station with a bouquet of flowers!) we headed to Weston Underwood.  It's a little village just beside Olney (the village in Buckinghamshire where Byron and I met).

It is very English! check out this cute little brick bus stop with the red postbox perfectly situated beside it...it was calling out to be photographed!

and it is a beautifully kept village.  In fact it has won many awards year after year for being the best kept village and after seeing that little snapshot above it's not hard to see why!

The real reason we came to Weston Underwood though, was to visit this little spot.  It was a favourite of ours whilst we were dating.  I had always just known it as 'The Alcove' so was surprised to find this sign this time around, although I had known that Cowper was known to write some of his poetry from this very spot so it makes sense.

and with a view like that, it's clear to see where his inspiration came from! I thought my mom would especially like this pic, you can see the spire of the church in Olney in the distance and that was one of the things that made her want to move to Olney!

Here is a shot of the Alcove from the front, it's looking a little shabby these days and could do with a lick of paint but I still love it...mostly for sentimental reasons!

Here we are, it's been 6 years since we first met and since we used to frequent 'Cowper's Alcove' yet it still brings a smile to my face...as does Byron - always!

We drove through Olney just for old times sake after, and I got a close up shot of that little church that my mom loves! and we even drove past my old house too.

This cute little sign has pancake running ladies on it because the village has an annual pancake race that it's quite famous for!

Also I must blog about a lovely little night I spent with some friends recently.  We went to Pizza East, which I was thrilled about, since I'd just been reading a great review of it in the metro paper on my underground on the way to meet them and was thinking I must try that place and little did I know we would be trying it that very night!

         

It is located in Shoreditch and I loved the interior! It is located in an old warehouse and everything is very cool, from the lampshades to the clientele!

 

but rest assured Pizza East is not just a pretty face, they do very delicious food as well! Gourmet pizzas is what they do best, and my spicy sausage and brocoli one was amazing - check that crust! and my old fashioned lemonade was a welcome change to boring soft drinks menus too!

 

We were all suitably impressed, salads and all! and it was lovely to be able to have a girly gossip even if it didn't end in sweet treats.  Apparently Shoreditch don't deliver on the dessert front...maybe next time - Tinseltown anyone?!

I did also go for some fantastic Mexican this week, as usual, but will have to blog about that at the weekend once I am reunited with our Mac and with lightroom so check back on Saturday to see where we went this week!

A sunny Bank Holiday...yes, another one!!

So we managed to fit in two festivals last weekend! On Saturday we headed to the local 'Sausage & Beer Festival' in a little village called Sherington.  It was full of local charm, sitting on hay bales in a big marquee, listening to an acoustic guitar and singers rendition of Mumford and Sons chowing down on some delicious English sausages (how I've missed them!) I can't obviously comment on the beer, but the rest of the day was fun filled! 

The weather was so lovely that we couldn't resist popping over to Willen Lake, taking Byron's dog Obie for a walk and getting a Mr Whippy ice cream from the local van! 

On Bank Holiday Monday I had heard of a Street Food Festival that was happening in Southbank, London.  I was desperate to go and when I heard there was even going to be a little Churros stall, there was no question and even By was up for it too! 

There were so many cool little trucks selling unusual food, this one was especially colourful and was selling 'Bhangra Burgers' - Indian spiced burgers! 

We tried some Caribbean Curry from this stall and it didn't disappoint...

but we couldn't just try one thing! so we also had a delicious pulled pork burger from a little American stall and here is Mara with our cupful of Churros! yum!

This guy was making Indian food out of the back of his truck and then wrapping it up in newspaper, fish 'n' chips style! 

We snapped a pic of the South Africans by the Statue of Nelson Mandela! 

and then took a lovely Sunshine stroll along the Thames, apparently they had the longest set of bunting set up ever! It certainly added to the fun and you can see all the colourful beach huts too that had little things going on in them.

Not a cloud in the sky! 

We walked all the way down to Tate Modern, but couldn't quite face the walk back so we thought we'd try out a little bike ride, thanks to Boris! 

I've got to say I'm so impressed with the scheme! Each bike only costs £1 to hire for a whole 24 hours, if we hadn't needed to get home we would have just cycled around London for fun! 

It was a bit tricky meandering through the crowds but luckily we had bells to alert people we were coming!

Once we broke away from the crowds it was just a lovely ride and good for saving our weary feet! I think in the future, once I've braved the crazy London traffic, this bike scheme might be the way forward! It's tons cheaper than buying a travelcard for the underground and a much nicer way to get around!

...and I might be getting to use these bikes alot more in the future since this week I got offered the most amazing job! I will be working for The English Cheesecake Company for the summer on a top secret project! which I can't let slip right now but it's pretty much going to incorporate 3 of my very favourite things to do so as you can imagine I'm ridiculously excited! I will be living in London during the week with Mara and I foresee lots of cupcake and Mexican eating! and I can't wait!!!