4.21.2024
Today was a late start, we both didn’t wake up until around 9 am and then laid around and watched the coverage of the London Marathon. We thought that we did a great job prior to our trip investigating things going on in and around London however we were surprised yesterday when we arrived to find out that today was the London Marathon. Half a million people submit an entry, but only 50,000 are chosen. Yes, 50,000 people ran 26.2 miles through London today!
Excited to witness such an event, we got ready and boarded the Tube towards Tower Bridge. Pretty confident that I’ve never walked across Tower Bridge, I felt like today would be a great day to accomplish that, while watching the marathoners run across it. It was a pretty cool sight to see, although chaotic.
At this point we were close the The Shard, where Nick was able to get some close up shots of the base and then we headed towards Burrough Market but not before grabbing a donut at a cute little truck on the sidewalk.
The Burrough Market was very busy today and we suspect being a Sunday and the marathon didn’t help matters. I don’t remember it being quite as big as it is, but maybe we never fully explored it before. It was full of goodness but knowing we would later be taking a food tour, we restrained ourselves and shared the yummiest Mac n cheese and potatoe dish from The Bath Dairy.
Walking while enjoying the cheesy deliciousness, we headed towards The Tate Modern. Nick wandered around inside while I’d find a nice place to enjoy a piece or two of art while resting my tired feet.
Anxious to not miss our 4:00 pm Food Tour, we grabbed the Tube, with yet another view of more marathoners still running, but also a lot on the Tube at this point headed home. I loved that one lady commented if she sat down during our ride she might not get back up, I feel ya girl, but also did not just run a marathon!
Arriving at Piccadilly Circus we navigated through the hustle and bustle arriving at Golden Square. A little early, we enjoyed a snack we grabbed at the grocery on the way and waited on our guide. Amelia soon arrived, we collected our other fives guests and off we went making our way through the busy streets of SoHo.
On the tour Amelia shared some historial, as well as fun facts of the area as we dipped into several different restaurants enjoying different cuisines, or Amelia grabbed our dishes and we enjoyed on the street.
Here’s where we dined and what we enjoyed.
https://kroketa.co.uk – Spanish tapas (croquetas)
https://poppiesfishandchips.co.uk – traditional fish and chips
http://www.rasasayangfood.com – roti, beef randeng and a Singapore Sling
https://bun.house/ – pork bao bun and Kaya French toast with jasmine clotted cream
We finished our trip off with a half pint at the Coach and Horses where we bid ado to our guide as well as a couple from Virginia, he used to be the CEO at NorthEast Medical Center, they now live in Winchester.
Nick decided he was not done at a half pint, so we had two more! We drank our pints and devoured the cannolis that Amelia left us that she picked up at Bar Italia, a 24 hour Italian bar (hence the name). If we are ever back this way, we are going back. It’s run by third generation Italian family who opened it after WWII.
Exhausted and looking forward to a day tomorrow exploring the English countryside we made our way back to our hotel.