London

City of London & Spitalfields

We arrived at Heathrow Airport early in the morning and headed into London to drop our luggage off at our hotel on Russell Square. We arrived with a decent amount of time before we could check into our room, but luckily, our hotel was right around the corner from The British Museum. We spent a few hours revisiting the museum and attended the special "Legion: life in the Roman army" exhibition. After the museum, we checked into our room and rested before walking over for an excellent dinner at Norma London, which serves delicious Sicilian food.

We enjoyed a fantastic breakfast at the hotel the following day before going to the Tower of London for our early afternoon tour. We could not fit this in the first time, so we checked it out this time. Afterward, we took the tube to the Spitalfields neighborhood and had lunch at the Spitalfields Market. I had an excellent, authentic Neapolitan at Sud Italia while Nevada had a Jamaican patty from Cafe Caribbean. After lunch, we walked over to Rough Trade East to stock up on records from some of our favorite British artists and hoped to get our hands on a limited tour edition release of Pixies Bossanova but found out that it was scheduled to be released the following morning. We finished with a beer at the nearby Brick Lane Tap Room before returning to the hotel to rest.

Our dinner reservation was at the esteemed St. JOHN Smithfield. We enjoyed dining at St. JOHN Bread and Wine during our first trip, and the meal was exceptional. We knew we had to try the flagship Smithfield location this time. Once again, the meal did not disappoint. Of course, we had to start with the roasted bone marrow again. Anthony Bourdain famously declared it the restaurant of his dreams and the roasted bone marrow his "death row meal."

Camden & Kentish Town

Saturday morning, we went back to Spitalfields to stop by Rough Trade East and get our hands on the copy of Bossanova, which we were successful. Afterward, we stopped by the Spitalfields Market for a hot chai and a little shopping. Later that afternoon, we meet up with some friends in Camden Town for lunch and drinks before riding to Kentish Town. We stopped by the Bull & Gate pub before walking to the O2 Forum Kentish Town for the Pixies show.

Richmond

The following morning, after breakfast at our hotel, we picked up some pastries from Fortitude Bakehouse to sample. Back at the hotel, we gathered our belongings and packed up for our departure the next day. In the afternoon, we took the train out to Richmond. Home of the ACF Richmond Grayhounds. After watching three seasons of Ted Lasso, Richmond's charming appeal seemed like an excellent way to spend a Sunday. We explored the lovely town and walked along the Thames before heading to The Prince's Head on Richmond Green, where we enjoyed a Sunday Roast. We returned to our hotel in London and departed for the USA the following day.

This second time around, we were able to take things at a more casual pace and get out and discover new neighborhoods, steering clear, for the most part, of high-traffic tourist areas. We had a great time and hope to return in the future. There is always so much to see, eat, and drink when you're over there.