London in the summertime

Fifteen in Shoreditch

I read a tweet recently (unfortunately I can't for the life of me remember by who) which said that adulthood is the ability to deal with complexity. That might be one of the truest things I've read in a long time. Or perhaps it should have read "the inability to deal with complexity."

As three weeks of winter school holidays have come to an end, it's back to work and admin for me, all the while simultaneously preparing 20 cupcakes for class baking, cleaning cupboards and finally getting to the to-do list which has been abandoned during the past month of pyjama mornings and play dates and trips to the bush.

Oh and to London!

Ha I almost completely forgot. If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen we took a very brief trip to London town. It was so lovely to be back, and to visit all our old haunts. I really struggled to leave the kids and head off to the airport this time - it just gets more and more difficult as they get older. And I drive my husband crazy by constantly pointing out things that the kids would love to see or do while we are away. But hopefully they will be able to join us in the not so distant future.

Monmouth Coffee, yum!!

Borough Market was our first stop from the airport (!) for Monmouth coffee, and there really is nothing like London in the summertime. 

Highlights included lunch at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen in Shoreditch, and sitting in Green Park enjoying raspberries under blue skies at 8pm in the evening! I still, however, do not like the Tube. Never have, never will. And we did unfortunately spend too much time running up and down escalators trying to catch the next train.

Kings College Chapel, Cambridge 

We even managed a quick trip up to Cambridge to visit friends. Such a beautiful town, and we wandered around the grounds of the various college imagining what it must be like to be an actual student, surrounded by those beautiful buildings. 

But possibly the highlight of the whole trip for me was the day we spent in Marylebone, walking around Regent's Park, visiting the restaurants where we used to have long lazy brunches in our pre-children weekends. And the best of all - hours spent browsing in Daunt Books. 

The beautiful Daunt Books, Marlebone High Street 

For those of you lucky enough to be in the midst of the Northern Hemisphere summer holidays, have a look on this article from Cup of Jo on How to plan your best vacation. There are some great tips, like packing a uniform (one day I'll get this right), to staying in local neighbourhoods.