One Crazy Lazy Day

Today was different than other days that I have spent in London because I had nothing planned. It was nice not having to set an alarm and being able to wake up on my own. This morning I relaxed in the flat and caught up on some email. For lunch, I headed to My Old Dutch, which is known for serving a large variety of pancakes. My friend and I had found this place online several months ago and had been wanting to test it out ever since. As we made the journey to the restaurant, I was unsure what to expect. I love pancakes and I was interested to see if pancakes in London would be like pancakes at home. After I was seated at My Old Dutch and began reading the menu, I became overwhelmed with the selection. The restaurant serves everything from fruit and nut pancakes to savory chicken and cheese. Even though it was 12:30 pm I chose a pancake from the sweet selection. I ordered a pancake with fresh fruit, chopped nuts and maple syrup. The pancake actually turned out to be quite different that what I am used to at home. When the plate arrived at my table, the first thing I noticed was how massive the pancake was. I then proceeded to realize that the pancake was paper thin and like a crepe. I have provided an image of my delicious lunch so you can see just what I mean. Even though this pancake was not quite what I was expecting, it was rather delicious nonetheless. In addition to the scrumptious pancake, I indulged in a light and foamy cappuccino. The pancake was quite sweet as you might imagine, and the cappuccino complemented it nicely with its mild coffee flavor and foamy milk topping. After lunch, I did some grocery shopping so that I could cook dinner tonight. After grocery shopping, my friend Katie and I took the Tube away from the city in search of IKEA. As the train sped further out of the city, the scenery began to change. I began to notice an overabundance of graffiti, run-down buildings and beat up cars. I had not seen any such things in London yet and I began to worry about this. When we got off the Tube we asked the station tenant where the IKEA was and he told us that it was a ten minute walk. As we left the Tube station and headed toward IKEA, I knew this was an area that we shouldn't be in. Before getting even two minutes from the Tube station, Katie and I realized it was time to turn around. Neither of us felt safe about our surroundings and decided a trip to IKEA was not worth the conditions. We re-boarded the Tube and headed back to the city. Our next adventure was to go to Picadilly Circus. This "circus" is not the kind of circus that we have in the U.S. In London, a circus simply means a round area, similar to a town square. Picadilly Circus is known for lots of shopping and things to do. I was successful in finding myself a London souvenir while at Picadilly. I saw phone booth salt and pepper shakers and could not pass them up. I have provided a picture of them and I am sure you will all love them as well. As we walked around the circus we were overwhelmed with the amount of people. We went into several shops before deciding to head back to the flat. Neither of us were too impressed by Picadilly Circus, but that had a lot to do with how crowded it was. I would like to go back to that area sometime during the week when it is less crowded. This evening has been quite relaxing since returning to the flat. I made myself dinner of roasted veggies, pesto chicken and brown rice and just hung out. Tonight it was time to finally catch up on some school work since I am technically going to school. I successfully took my online quiz and am now preparing to have an ice cream sundae and watch a movie. I think New Moon will be the selection tonight. :) Thanks for stopping by! Happy Father's Day Pops!

AM