Wherein we discover Bill's...........

Day 2 in London brought grey damp weather, but, nothing ventured, and all that, so we checked out of the hotel and headed to the place Diana's had found while lying in bed at an early hour. She googled "Pancakes Covent Garden". And hit the jackpot.

But first, let me tell you how we got there. On the bus again. We hopped on to the bus, and sat down in the same place we had been sitting the night before, only we were sort of jammed. Wedged in place and breathing was a trifle complicated. We could NOT work out why we didn't fit on the seat. We fitted 12 hours before. And then, the light bulb moment, we realised that neither of us had been carrying rucksacks the night before. At this point, I was lying across the gangway trying to unhook my rucksack and it was proving to be huge entertainment for the rest of the bus. Thank the Good Lord that the person sitting in front of us decided to get off at the first stop, so I lurched into the new seat, and my rucksack could breathe. So could we. 

I mean really. How could we be so dim witted? Probably needed sugar. Or caffeine. 

The place Diana had found was right next door to the Lyceum theatre. Genius. Bill's. Well. Take a look at our breakfast. 

Blueberry and buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup, bananas and strawberries. And bacon. 

Bliss. 

This was a first for me. Well, french toast dusted with icing sugar and served with maple syrup is nice and the closest to this, but I have never tried the pancake (sweet), fruit and bacon (savoury) combination before. I know Americans do this. It is just not that often tried here. But I LOVED it. 

I make pancakes - I always have done for the children, only I call them dropped scones, and pancakes are the flat things you roll up for Shrove Tuesday. With lemon and cinnamon. My Gran called pancakes/dropped scones flapjacks. But flapjacks here are oaty undercooked bars. We overcooked them in SA and called them crunchies, and they were thin, not fat. 

Things are the same and yet oh, so different, aren't they? I am now in a cultural bird's nest in my head. 

The booths at Bill's were lovely too. So was the coffee. Just be sure to ask for TAP water. WE made sure we drank every drop from that shiny new bottle. 

So, we waddled out the doors, and decided to walk to Covent Garden, which was a building or so away. The cobbles didn't help the walking at all, and Diana went and perched against a pillar while I had a quick look around. There are NO seats anywhere, unless you go to another restaurant, and we were exploding from all the food already. 

In the end, we made it to M&S, I had another long drawn out black coffee and the rain started, so we decided to grab a taxi, and go to the station, even though we were very early for our train. Thankfully, when we arrived, we discovered a Mobility Lounge. Somewhere for those of us challenged physically to sit, and, more to the point, a place where little pope-mobile cars were based. We were driven in splendour to our train, when it finally arrived. 

Perfect. 

Our little trip worked for us. We had a lovely time, and even though we didn't quite have the foreign adventure we planned, we had a great home one anyway. More memories to cobble together. 

So, back to home life. Yesterday, I had another ultrasound appointment to check out my wrist at a very early hour, so I took David in to work early, and sat with my puzzle book and waited for 9 am. The coffee shop behind those green shutters only opened at 8. I was 4th in the queue. 

This morning, Mum and I took Diana to the airport to fly to Switzerland. She is having a week or so away to see Marge before her epic trip. She got to try out the assisted boarding, which has made travelling so much easier for me. And, unlike her mother, she managed to get 3 seats to herself to stretch out across. This is the girl who also set off on an adventure around the world alone at 18, and the very first flight from the UK, she was upgraded to business class. Humph. 

She has just sent a text to say she has landed in Der Schweiz. All is good. 

See? Adventures all over the place here. It is all about perspective. I did a trip to Lidl. Adventure??