Scotch eggs and Strawberries

I woke up hungry.

Given the marathon journey it takes to get to Europe, the flights went well and there was even a spare seat between me and another traveller on the Singapore - London leg. Singapore Airlines came up trumps on good food and great in-flight entertainment and everything ran on time. I landed in London just after 7pm to a balmy 22 degree evening that was as light and bright as 2 or 3pm at home. 

I cruised through customs and after a train ride and short taxi journey I was at my hotel and diving into bed for some much needed shut eye.

But now it was Saturday morning and I was hungry for breakfast and a chance to stretch my legs so I caught the tube to London Bidge to visit the Borough markets. 

The Borough markets are a haven for foodies everywhere and specialise in quality cuisine. It was after 9am by the time I arrived so first stop was coffee and breakfast. I bought my first ever Scotch Egg and I have to say, it was magnificent. A Scotch egg is a hard boiled egg (with a slightly soft centre) wrapped in flavoured sausage meat and crumbed. I don't know if this was indicative of all SEs, but served on a rocket salad with some sweet potato fries, it was heavenly.  I finished up with some fresh blueberries from a fruit stall.

Jetlag started to hit as soon as I ate, so after a wander around the cheese, bread, fruit and cake stalls, I set off to the waterfront and walked along the south bank.  When I got to the Tower Bridge, I bought a ticket for the top and walked along one span of the bridge and admired the view.  The bridge was opening for a boat as I cane out so I watched it go through before crossing to the other side and setting off to walk west along the entire city of London towards Westmister. 

It was a hot and sunny day, but the walking was easy and interesting and I had a punnet of strawberries to keep me going.  At one point I found a way down to the beach and was able to walk along the banks of the Thames, looking at all the interesting things washed up by the tide - a bucket list item! I found some shards of pottery that I'm telling myself are from a Victorian house, an old nail that obviously came from a house burnt down in the great fires of 1666 and a piece of flint that was shaped by cave men (and not the tides).  What great fun!

My ugly but practical hiking sandles had their first big workout and execpt for a blister on my heel, they are wearing well.  Pretty good for a four hour walk!

Crawled back to my room for a well earned nap and let the jet lag take over.