Little Missy in London
Tablefuls of tapas, full English breakfasts, bags of cherries, good coffee aplenty, savoury bacon baps and decadent brownies – just a few of the things that Little Missy enjoyed, albeit second hand, while in London at the weekend. After a hissy fit at Cork Airport – yes, we were that couple carrying a screaming baby through the plane as the other passengers turned their heads, hoping that we wouldn’t sit near them – she settled into enjoying her first trip abroad.
As we were over for a brief, all-too-short meeting with her Kiwi grandparents, we didn’t have our usual list of things to do and eat. We just took it easy, spending quality time with Nana and Poppa, taking time out when LM wanted to eat to relax over a coffee ourselves. When not feeding, she spent her time travelling on my hip in a sling or in the pouch on her father’s chest, looking around with big blue eyes and charming the inhabitants of London.
We stayed near Spitalfields so, although I didn’t to get to St John Bread and Wine this time, we did manage a dinner at Meson Los Barriles with the Artist. Tapas and babies turned out to be a good mix and meeting up with the Artist, a former housemate during our Dublin years, was an unalloyed joy. She knows me well, presenting LM with a baby-sized pink spatula for future cooking adventures, with instructions to make sure she gets to lick the bowl out properly!
We were back at the Spitalfields market the following morning to try out Leon for breakfast. Much of the menu was familiar from the my well-used Leon cookbook, the baps were good and we finished up with a yummy Black Forrest Knickerbocker Glory while LM slept on the bench beside us. We also wandered over to the famous – and crowded – Borough Market for a quick look but, with baby, Husband and suitcase in tow, I did no more than check out the busy stalls and grab provisions for a picnic in Hyde Park.
We didn’t get to cover as much ground as we normally do on our London trips but it was more than made up for by the fact that Little Missy seemed to thrive on the experience. Hopefully this is a good omen for New Zealand at Christmas time!
Love reading about your first trip with Missy. Traveling with young ones at an early age set up a for a great enjoyable adventure thur out the growing years. That is from someone that has been there.
Glad to hear it Wendy. She’s going to get lots of practice in as we’re driving to a wedding in the Lake District next month and then to NZ and Vietnam, fingers crossed, from December. By the way, is this Ballymaloe Wendy?!
Yes.