The Daddy of all Visits

We've recently been playing host to Johnny's Dad, who has been flitting around Europe for a month or so. He spent most of his time in Munich, and came back raving about it. We felt we had to show him how good London can be, but without the regulation tourist-traps which he's done many times before. So on his last day in Europe, we gave him a tour of some of our favourite "secret" London spots - this is actually a tour we would recommend to anyone coming to London:

Starting from Trafalgar Square, we ambled through St. James's Park, feeding the waterfowl and laughing at the squirrels.

Pausing to watch a brass band play, we continued up past the Queen's House and passing the other grand houses overlooking Green Park, before Tube-ing our way down to Borough Market, home to tons of fantastic gourmet food. Unfortunately, we'd lingered over the squirrels for too long, and the market was packing up, but we still got some coffee and cake at one of London's best coffee-houses, Monmouth's. Really good coffee is still a bit rare in the UK, but Monmouth import their own beans and know how to make a good strong latte. Dad had been flagging a little with all the walking and far less than his usual 6-cups-a-day, but his caffeine levels were soon fully restored!

From Borough Market we wended our way to a pub in Southwark, sinking a pint and watching some cricket before walking over Tower Bridge, and then it was time to get Dad back to Paddington and the Heathrow Express.

It was great to show Dad a side of London he hadn't seen, and we must have done alright, because now he's threatening to come back in Summer 2009! And of course, we'll be delighted to have him. Now, better start planning next year's Secret London tour...