London, February 19

 On Monday, we went to Covent Garden. I had found a blog called A Lady in London, an American who has lived in London for years, with lots of good information. She gave a walking tour through Covent Garden and we followed that. 

On the way we spent a few minutes at Trafalgar Square.

Covent Garden was filled with shops and little side streets.

A Monty Python filmmaker lived here.

Seven Dials--where seven streets come together...

It started raining so we stopped for coffee.

There seemed to be a lot of optometrists and opticians in the area. This one also offered coffee--an idea for Aaron's office back in Fresno. 

There was fairly easy access to public restrooms. This is the first time I had to pay.

Tequila Mockingbird. :)

The Royal Opera House.

We had some extra time before our midafternoon tea, so we stopped at the National Portrait Gallery, which was actually very interesting.

Then it was off to the Savoy Hotel, where Aaron had made reservations for a special treat, afternoon tea. 

The tea room was gorgeous. 

The food was beautiful and delicious. My favorite of the sandwiches was the coronation chicken salad. 

The scones came with clotted cream, jam and lemon curd.

It was a special treat and memories I will always cherish.

For dinner, we had made a list of places we wanted to try. Obviously fish and chips, classic pub food...Aaron had done some research and found Pick & Cheese, again in Covent Garden. We sat at the bar and, much like sushi restaurants, different cheese went by us on a little conveyor belt, each paired with something either sweet or savory.  

Number 24: Cornish Kern. Firm, toothsome texture with a brown butter & roasted hazelnut finished. Reminiscent of the Alpine classics. Paired with: Brown butter biscuit.

Number 7: Cornish gouda. Hard Gouda-style with salted caramel & hazelnut finished. Paired with: clotted cream fudge. 

Number 17: Beauvale: Gorgonzola Dolce-inspired. Cream, spicey & incredibly moreish. Paired with: marinated figs and dried fruit crackers.

Number 25: Coolea. Rich and fruity with an almost sherried flavour. Classic Gouda-style with a great brittle texture (apparently I tend toward the harder cheeses). Paired with: Cumin roasted pineapple.

Aaron chose four entirely different cheeses, and to end our feast we shared Number 26: the whipped roast goats' cheese doughnut: Wonderfully creamy goats' cheese, whipped with cream, fresh and zesty with gentle acidity: Paired with: apricot and vanilla jam.

It was an amazing day.