Day 13 - Fancy Lunches, Humbling Shopping and Christmas Lights
After acting the part in Chelsea, we were soon brought back to earth after a short trip to Harrods. However, nothing could dampen the Christmas spirit London offers.
18/11/2023
This morning started off with work, while being served some fresh home-baked banana bread from Grandad. He watches a lot of baking shows during the day, so he has decided to start putting them to use. We can’t complain, getting served some nice breakfast while working.
After work, we got dressed to head into the city. Today we both dressed a bit fancier though, as Chelsea has booked us a lunch at Daphne’s Italian Restaurant. This place has been fully decked out inside with beautiful Christmas decorations, and is located in Chelsea, so is a bit fancier than our usual street food stalls haha.
We took the train from Gunnersbury Station into South Kensington, where we walked the streets, checking out some fancy houses, cars & also some of the most extravagant house Christmas decorations we’ve seen.
We stopped in at Jak’s Cafe for a pre-lunch coffee, before heading back down the street to Daphne’s.
After being seated and checking out all of the incredible Christmas Decorations (see photos below), we ordered our lunch. Chelsea had the “Polpette con Pomodoro e Palate Arrostite con Rosmarin” (Veal & Pork Meatballs with Tomato Sauce & Rosmary Roast Potatoes) with a rocket & parmesan side salads and I had the “Linguine con Polpa di Granchio di Portland e Peperoncino” (Linguine with Portland Crab & Chilli). I’d also like to mention that they provide free table bread (I’m sure Matty would love it…). We also shared a carafe of white wine.
The food was amazing! Pacinos has got some competition on their hands!
After our festive & lavish lunch, we walked further up the street and did some window shopping at Harrods - the world’s leading luxury department store. I checked out some boots that would go great in London (just a measly 500 pounds…), and Chels found some great handbags from Saint Laurent that would go great with her new OP Shop coats (maybe a little bit expensive at around 2,000 pounds…).
We settled for some chocolate from their luxury chocolatier store (only 5 pounds per chocolate... wow). For those of you football (soccer) fans, we saw Joe Gomez, a Liverpool player.
Walking out of the shops and around the corner, it became clear that we may have been in the wrong store, as the street was littered with Lamborghini’s, Rolls Royce (with private drivers waiting by them), Bentley’s & alike - wonder which one was Joe’s.
We’d done about 10,000 steps simply going up, down and around Harrods, so we walked across the road to a nice looking hotel and went into their hotel bar for a drink (mainly looking for a seat and a warm place to get out of the hustle and bustle of the main street). Note to self, always check the menu before walking in, sitting down and being given complimentary chips & nuts… because the beer, wine & a bottle of water (yes they gave us still water instead of tap) costs us roughly $50+ Australian… yikes.
After checking out all the cars we would like on the way back, we jumped on the bus (that one hurt the ego a bit), and headed down to Sloan Square in Chelsea to watch the streets Christmas lights turn on.
While walking the street and being covered in “snow” (solid soapy bits they shoot into the air to pretend it’s snowing - still cute though), we shared a mulled wine and gingerbread gin (served hot), which helped warm us up inside and out.
After the countdown to the lights happened, and the lights & fireworks were finished, we headed to the train station to go home, only to find that the thousands of people there also had the same idea… the station was backed up out onto the street.
So without any chance of catching a train home, we did what any of you would do. We went and bought a dessert from Buns From Home - a Dulce De Leche bun and headed to a local pub for a pint (Duke of Wellington).
After a pint and choc-cinnamon bun, we returned back to the station and caught the train to Turnham Green. We jumped off and walked down the street to The Crown Chiswick for a drink that turned into light dinner, where we ordered Truffle Mac & Cheese & a bowl of chips. We had a great seat in a bay window over the street.
After a nice end to the night, we returned home, where Chelsea exchanged lots of messages with her Mum with even more tears! Probably her first bought of proper homesickness so I’m impressed considering how many tears were shed on the days before our departure. Chels then set an alarm for 2:30am our time to call her family who were having a birthday lunch at The Alley for Jacko (yes - more tears, knew the first event since leaving would be tough). We eventually settled down and got off to sleep - note to self, don’t let Chelsea call home before bed anymore haha. Peace out.
Cheers,
Matt & Chels
Pics We Send To Mum
