Eating Out & Kews Garden

My last weekend in London is finally here, although I hope it will not be the end of my visits but rather the beginning of a new-found confidence as a traveler. For now, I will give way too many details about our meals because that it what we have spent most of our time enjoying.

On Friday, Betsy, Liz, Marilyn, Christine and I went to Tartine in Chelsea for dinner. Tartine is a type of bread for which they are famous, and so we all ordered variations of this. Liz, Betsy and I had the shredded duck with plum sauce, rocket and crisp ginger. Marilyn had the tomato and mozzarella, Christine had the BLT. We all had salads as well, and it was the best lettuce and dressing salad I've had. For desert, Liz and I both had the Banoffi pie which is slices of banana with toffee in a crumble crust. Betsy had the chocolate fondant which took 20 minutes to make and was amazing. We spent 3 hours there and it was such a great atmosphere and so much fun to spend time together.

Yesterday, Betsy, Liz, Marilyn and I tried to eat at Cecconi's at Green Park for brunch but they were already full. We made reservations for today, and decided to eat at a local cafe. Afterward, Betsy and I came back to South Ken to pick up her flowers from Mike before heading out to Kew Gardens.

The Gardens were beautiful and covered 300 acres. We began by squeezing onto the Kew Explorer tram tour around 8 major sites. It was a good tour and helped us to get an idea of what we wanted to walk to afterward. At the end of the tour, we stopped at the Victoria Plaza for cake and water. Then, we walked in the opposite direction past the Palm House, Palace, Climbers and Creepers, Azalea Garden, Minka House, Rhododendron Dell, Bamboo Garden, Thames River, Queen Charlotte's Cottage, down the Cedar Vista to view the Pagoda and then walk to the Waterlilly Pond, Temperate House, and back to Victoria Gate.

Afterward, Betsy, Marilyn and I went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen to get salads for take away. We ate at home and then hung around here the rest of the night.

This morning, we all went back to Cecconi's for our brunch. Marilyn and I both got the french toast, which was amazing; and Betsy and Liz got the salmon and scrambled eggs. We were confused because they do not take walk-ins very much, and they limit reservations, but the restaurant was half-empty at all times. Do they think a bus load of celebrities and models are suddenly going to walk in for brunch? And as Betsy pointed out, it's not like they would eat anyway.

I felt sick at the end of my meal, so I came back to rest. Hopefully, I will feel better throughout the day.