Tuesday 19 March 2024

Edinburgh: Mimi's Bakehouse, City Art Centre


Mimi's Bake house rates highly in our memories of our last trip to Edinburgh.  Even Sylvia remembers the delicious slices and hot chocolates.  We went to the Royal Mile bakehouse one day but it was packing up.  So we made sure to include a trip to the City Art Centre bakehouse in our week.  It was much bigger, closed later and overlooked Waverly Railway Station.

Inside the City Art Centre bakehouse had the cinematic gaiety of black, white and pink umbrellas suspended from the ceiling.  It seems to correspond to the colours of the seating.  There was a lot of seating compared to the cute and cosy Royal Mile bakehouse where we had gone last time.  (In fact it had so few seats when we went the Royal Mile one earlier in our trip that I thought they must have made it smaller since we visited in 2016 but I was assured they hadn't.)

I went to the counter to order and found the service really friendly and helpful.  I really wanted a scone but was told that they had just sold out.  It seemed the woman in front of me had ordered a bag of them.  She was kind enough to let me have one.  I then I had a discussion about if there were any peanuts in the macaron that topped the special hot chocolate.  I don't think it had peanuts but people get very wary about any nuts if they are unsure about which ones are in a product.  Even if with kids like Sylvia who can cope with all other nuts and traces of peanut.

In the end she did not have the macaron on her Raspberry hot chocolate with whipped cream and candy hearts on top.  It was very nice and we could taste pleasant raspberry flavours in the drink.  Sylvia was very pleased to have one of the monthly special hot chocolates.  I had the Cranberry apple riot herbal tea.  I could not taste the flavour well but I did drink it quite hot because it was cold outside.  Our drinks came in eggshell blue crockery that matched the colour on the walls.

I had planned to get a cheese scone but the options were a plain scone or a fruit scone.  I chose the fruit scone and really enjoyed it with butter and raspberry jam.  The scones were warm and soft.  The jam was wonderfully fruity.

Sylvia ordered the Avocado Toast from the All Day Brunch section of the menu.  I had order envy!  The plate came with two decent slices of wholegrain toast, a generous serve of avocado smashed with lime, fried squares of halloumi, tomatoes, mixed greens, crispy onions, a drizzle of vinaigrette and a generous sprinkle of chilli flakes.  It was amazing.  The crispy onions and halloumi were excellent but perhaps a little restraint on the chilli flakes would have been better.

I liked the cute cakes and cake boxes in the window.  We could see people going back and forwards to the railway station just across the road.  And in the background was the grand building which is currently the Balmoral Hotel but is remembered by some older locals by the original name as the Great North British Hotel.

As we found on our previous visit, the slices at Mimi's are wonderful.  I had already been to the Edinburgh Farmers Market that morning so I had already indulged enough and Sylvia was full from the extreme avo toast.  It was not easy to resist.  There weren't lots left as we arrived at the end of the lunch rush but they looked adorable.

We had more plans for the day so once we finished we walked through to the City Art Centre and checked out its gift shop.  E remembers that there was another cafe linked to the City Art Centre before Mimi's.  I don't remember it but Mimi's is artistic enough with is food to be linked.

One last look of admiration at the purple lit thistle street art outside the City Art Centre and then we set off up the steep steps of one of the closes up to the High Street.  It was pretty tiring.  Hard to believe I used to go down Cockburn Street at lunchtimes when I worked at the Edinburgh Council Chambers and then would head back up those steps before returning to work.

Mimi's Bakehouse
City Art Centre
1 Market Street Edinburgh EH1
Open 7 days a week 9am-5pm
https://mimisbakehouse.com/

Monday 18 March 2024

Edinburgh fry ups: Holy Cow, Coffee Mill, Edinburgh Larder

British cafes excel in a vegetarian fry up.  While in Edinburgh I was delighted to have fry ups in a few cafes with interesting additions that I would be less likely to be given at home in Australia: vegan haggis, tempeh bacon, tofu scramble and vegan black pudding.  And even the regular fry ups delighted with the addition of "potato scones", those wonderful flat breads that are scones in Scotland (and farls in Ireland).  So today I am sharing the three fry ups I enjoyed in Edinburgh cafes.

Edinburgh Larder / The Little Larder

The first place we went was Edinburgh Larder which Sylvia had found online before we left Melbourne.  She was surprised to find that she had been there on a visit to Edinburgh in 2012 when she was a toddler.  It is on a steep street off the Royal Mile near South Bridge.

When we arrived at the Edinburgh Larder on a weekend, we found that it was fully booked.  However they have a sister cafe next door called Little Larder which serves the same food and only takes walk-ins.  So we went there for our brunch.  

I liked this map of some of their suppliers on the wall near our table.  On the website Edinburgh Larder claims they are "built a solid reputation as being the place to eat seasonal, locally sourced and tasty food".

To drink Sylvia had an iced matcha oat latte and I had the lovely smooth Bon Accord rhubarb soda.  Sylvia was not impressed with her latte.  She usually has soy in her lattes but in the UK this was less common than in Melbourne, and oat milk was more usual.

We sat at a window seat overlooking a hostel.  I think this is the hostel where I stayed when I first stayed in Edinburgh.  It must have changed a lot since this time.

Our food was cooked at the Edinburgh Larder and brought to the Little Larder in metal bento boxes.  I had ordered the Vegan breakfast: Roasted balsamic mushroom, blistered cherry tomatoes, vegan black pudding, veggie haggis, wilted herbed spinach, potato scone, homemade beans, granary toast drizzled with olive oil (£14.50 on the menu but a note that there is a 12.5% service charge on all tables.)  Sylvia had the Vegetarian breakfast which costs 45p more to include a poached egg and butter on your toast.

The breakfast was excellent.  I would have liked more of the home made baked beans or some extra chutney for the haggis and black pudding.  This might be due to Sylvia deciding to give me her haggis and black pudding because it is not something she is used to eating.


The Coffee Mill Cafe

We had a more traditional brunch at The Coffee Mill.  It is a few doors down from where we were staying on the West Port.  We passed it each day and liked the look of it.  On the day we went, we had planned to go to Morningside but I got back later than expected from visiting E's family friends and then the cafe we planned seemed to have a different menu online than Sylvia had originally seen. 

The south of the West Port has a lot of old stone buildings.  The Old Coffee Mill had a modern decor with hints of heritage.  As well as some of the stone walls being exposed, I loved the nook in the back corner that was covered in old vinyl records.

 
  
 
We sat at a table by the bookshelf.  It was an interesting area with books, plants and graffitied bricks around the shelves.  If you look closely, it seems that years ago these bricks were used for a menu but now so many people have left their names and notes with marker pens.
 

Sylvia had  a cafe latte.  She was not impressed by her latte art.  This would not pass muster in Melbourne where baristas consider themselves artists.  I had an Appeltiser: a sparkling apple juice that I have not had for some time.

There were lots of fried breakfast options: Full British, Full Scottish, Amercian, Mediterranean.  We each had a Vegetarian Breakfast: Two fried egg, vegetarian sausage, two potato scones, baked beans, mushroom, tomato, toast, and butter (£10.95).  I gave Sylvia my eggs (eurgh) once I had taken a photo.  I really liked my breakfast.  Even Sylvia liked the sausage (she is fussy about them, even though we first thought it looked very like a meat sausage.  The potato scones were crispy and generous, the baked beans were the traditional tinned ones and the extra vegies were lovely.  

There were a few other dishes on offer with falafel and hummus but I particularly liked that they had Cheese and Beans on Toast.

Holy Cow Cafe

My favourite fry up on my holidays was at Holy Cow.  Their website describes it as "one of the first fully vegan cafés based in Edinburgh" when it was established in 2016.  (This is over 100 years since the first vegetarian cafe in Edinburgh in 1892-3 though I think some of the early 'vegetarians' would be called 'vegan' in those times.)

The cafe was downstairs off Elder Street near St Andrews Square at the East End of St George Street in the New Town.  It had natural light streaming in through the large window and plants and artwork around the room.  I had a kombucha and Sylvia had the blue matcha latte.  Mine tasted very refreshing and Sylvia's was so pretty.  She liked it.

 

I ordered the Full vegan breakfast: Italian style sausage, smoked tempeh bacon, organic baked beans in tomato sauce, scrambled tofu, potato scone, mushrooms, tomato and greens served with toast (£16.20).  I had been looking forward to it especially because it had tofu scramble and tempeh bacon.  They were really good.  Sylvia just had some hot chips with vegan cheese.  She enjoyed these but also sampled mine and particularly loved the mushroom and tofu scramble.  The potato scones were nicely fried and the mix of elements was great.  I would have liked some scramble (because it was so good) and baked beans (because who doesn't want a generous serve of beans to eat with everything else).

While we have fried breakfasts in Melbourne, they are more likely to focus on the meat and eggs.  As a vegetarian who does not like eggs, I really love how easy it is to find vegetarian options, potato scones and baked beans in Edinburgh when it comes to breakfasts.

Edinburgh Larder
15 Blackfriars St, Edinburgh EH1
Open Mon-Fri: 7.30am-3pm, Sat-Sun: 8am-3pm
Take reservations.
Little Larder is 11 Blackfriars St
Open Mon-Fri: 9am-2pm, Sat-Sun: 8.30am-2pm
Walk-ins only.
https://www.edinburghlarder.co.uk/

The Coffee Mill Cafe
54 West Port, Edinburgh EH1
Open 7 days a week, 7.30am - 5pm
https://www.facebook.com/yavuzgino/

Holy Cow Cafe
34 Elder Street, Edinburgh EH1
Open Mon-Thurs: 12-10pm, Fri-Sun: 10am-10pm
https://holycow.cafe/

Sunday 17 March 2024

Edinburgh: David Bann Vegetarian Restaurant

It is fifteen years since my last visit to David Bann Vegetarian Restaurant.  At the time I was impressed with the food but my photos in the dimly lit evening were sub-par.  I went again with Sylvia on our visit to Edinburgh.  Again the food was inspiring and looked beautiful.  I think you will find the photos more flattering this time as we sat in a window seat for lunch.

We were brought a chilled bottle of water with mint and orange wedges and I ordered a mocktail.  The Blackberry, elderflower and ginger spritz: comprised ginger beer with lemon, organic blackcurrant and elderflower cordial with a top-up of soda water.  It was a lovely fruity refreshing drink.

Sylvia was not feeling great and just ordered "Chunky chips with fresh rosemary and thyme, served with homemade apple and tomato ketchup and sour cream."  It is a shame she did not get to try any other meal, even though she was not impressed by the menu. 

 

Meanwhile I had an amazing meal: Jerusalem artichoke and smoked cheese pudding served with polenta chips, roasted carrot and beetroot velouté and a garnish of micro greens on top.  The baked pudding was quite soft and light, like a souffle.  By itself I would not have so been keen but the generous helping of the beetroot veloute was both a great sauce and a great contrasting flavour.  I enjoyed the roast carrots.  Possibly my favourite part of the meal was the polenta chips which were satisfyingly crisp on the outside and comfortingly soft on the inside.  The meal also looked stunning .

It was gluten free or Non Gluten Containing Ingredients (NGCI) which I assume is shorthand for saying that they do their best to be gluten free but they cannot guarantee that there is no gluten in the meal as it made in a kitchen which cooks with gluten ingredients.  I had not seen the use of NGCI in Australia but saw it in a few places in the UK.

For dessert I had the Chocolate cake: warm chocolate coulant with plum and port compote and beetroot, coconut and whisky ice cream.    It was really beautifully presented and I was pleased it wasn't a huge slab of cake.  Although I had pudding for mains and dessert they were very different puddings with contrasting textures and sides.

And it was vegan.  David Bann, like a lot of vegetarian restaurants these days had a good selection of vegan food.  In fact all starters were vegan, only two of the mains weren't vegan - including my savoury pudding - and four of nine desserts were vegan. 

I have not come across the term coulant before.  It is French for flowing and like a lava cake.  It was so unexpected and amazing and gooey and satisfying.  And did I mention how good the fruit and ice cream served with it.  Sylvia tasted the ice cream before me and was not impressed.  I had forgotten it had port it in which was quite intense.  It was a really lovely winter dessert.  I was delighted at the plums because it was hard to leave stone fruit season behind in Australia.  It was also nice that plum, blackberry and port seem very British flavours.

Then we headed out into the chill wind in St Mary's Street.  While the street had some modern buildings, I enjoyed admiring the old stone buildings.  This beautifully painted shop front was the studio workshop of artist Gerald Gapinski.


We passed by Ragamuffin on the way there and went in on the way back.  The display of Jelly Cat soft toys was gorgeous.  Inside they have the most beautiful knitting.  I loved the jumpers but just purchased a paid of fingerless mittens with a thistle pattern.



Across St Mary's Street from Ragamuffin is the Waverley Bar (right next to the World End pub on the Royal Mile).  Notable is the blue figure climbing the wall above the bar.


I really enjoyed my meal at David Banns.  The staff were attentive and the decor was pleasant.  My mealwas without a doubt the best British cuisine I had in my time in London and Edinburgh.  Most of the menu had a lot of international dishes but I really appreciated that it included some more traditional British options.  The innovative use of local ingredients with clever incorporation of elements of other cultures.  I have always loved how the vegetarian food traditions have developed in the UK and I loved how there were items on the menu to reflect old-school vegetarian dishes in a most elegant and delicious style.  Sylvia tasted so much interesting food during the trip that I feel if she had felt better she might have enjoyed some exciting food at David Bann.  I would definitely liked to return if and when I am back in Edinburgh.

David Bann Vegetarian Restaurant
56-58 St. Mary’s Street, Edinburgh
Off Royal Mile near the Cowgate
Opens 7 days a week 12-9pm
www.davidbann.co.uk

Saturday 16 March 2024

London: London Eye, transport, shops and miscellaneous

This is the last of my posts on my recent London trip.  (Then onto Edinburgh posts.)  I am going to squeeze in our London Eye trip on our last morning with some random photos and reflections.  London Eye is just across Westminster Bridge so we took the tube to Westminster station and also spent some time around the historic British Government buildings.

Big Ben was on Sylvia's list of things she must see in London.  So she was excited when we walked out of Westminster station and was confronted with the huge clock tower of Westminster Palace.  (For pedants, Big Ben is actually a nickname for the largest bell and the tower is called The Elizabeth Tower.)  It is one of those icons that we see in culture and London souvenir shops so much that to see it in real life is a reminder of that is so awe-inspiringly large and beautiful.  

As an aside, when I look at Big Ben I can't help think of the family in National Lampoon's European Vacation being lost in London and the constant refrain of "Look there's Big Ben."  It is funny but also true that it is a landmark that can be seen from many parts of central London and even from our plane home.

I have never been inside Westminster Palace to see The Houses of Parliament and now that I am older and more interested in politics (and have a sentimental memories of Yes Minister), I think maybe I would find it interesting.  Sadly we did not have the time and Sylvia did not have the inclination.  Maybe there will be another trip in which I can see it.  Even so, just seeing the details of the building was amazing.  Like Big Ben, it is such a well known site that it is easy to take from granted.  Seeing the details makes it less of a hackneyed symbol of British Parliament and more of an architectural wonder.

It was no surprise that tourists flock to this section of London.  So many tourist shops and incredible architecture can be seen here.  This is a view from the west side of Westminster Bridge.

Westminster Bridge which spans the Thames River is actually quite beautiful.  Originally opened in 1750, it was replaced in 1862 as a seven arch, cast iron bridge with Gothic detailing.  It is the oldest of the bridges crossing the Thames in central London.  It is mostly painted green because that is the colour of seats in the House of Commons which is the nearest to the bridge.

From the Bridge there is a great view of Big Ben and Westminster Palace.  It is a very popular place to take selfies but it is so big that it is hard to fit into a photo.  Which I assume was one of the motivations for building the London Eye. 

Before arriving in London I had read about the National Covid Memorial Wall that was created in 2021 by bereaved families and activists to remember those who died of Covid.  It is strategically situated directly across the Thames from Westminster Palace (the Houses of Parliament).  As you can see, there is a tally of deaths on this gate near Westminster Bridge.

The Memorial Wall stretches from Westminster Bridge for 500 metres and is a striking visual display of the sad effects of the Covid pandemic on the UK.  Hand-painted red hearts represent each death and it is a place for the bereaved to visit and write their messages and memories.  It was originally planned to be temporary but now there is talk of making it permanent.  I would have loved the time to walk along and read the hearts but we had a time booked for the London Eye.

This was my second time riding the London Eye.  It was new and exciting the first time in 2002 and expensive the second.more recently  Online advice was to book ahead for a discount.  I wasn't sure of our plans and only booked two nights before and had to pay full price of £42.50 each.  Once we had paid I enjoyed the ride although it felt slow.  (The sort of ride where you couldn't wait to finish and then wondered why you hadn't paid attention to more details once it was over.)  

The pods don't actually stop so you have to jump on a slow moving vessel.  By luck we were among the first to enter so I got this almost empty photo of the interior of the pod.  In the middle is a wooden slatted seat but people mostly gathered around the windows with their cameras.

It was fun to get a birds eye view of London but I don't know it well enough to spot many sights.  Sometimes it was just fun to see the pods around us, which look quite spectacular this high up.  You can see how tiny Westminister Palace looks from the top.

As the wheel brought us further down towards the West of London, we got closer to Westminster Palace and Big Ben.  With some zoom I got a far better photo of it from this perspective than I could get from the Bridge or the opposite shore.

We got to see some other London icons.  Buckingham Palace is the large building just above all the trees.  It astounds me just how much parkland surrounds the royal residence.  In the middle of such a huge city!  

The buildings in the foreground of the photo are government departmental buildings but I can't remember which ones.  (Foreign Service or Economics?)  A voice from a loud speaker announced some of the significant buildings at regular intervals.  I could not always follow.  A father pointed out buildings to his kids but I didn't really take it in.  The Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street was also nearby.

To the East we could see St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, the Shard and the City.  You can see the dome of St Paul's above among all the City buildings.

I love this photo of one of the pods coming down near the esplanade where the crowds make their way to the  fast moving queue to ride the London Eye.  The pod looks like a flying saucer invading the Earth; just like in a Doctor Who episode or War of the Worlds.

Once we were off the London Eye we went to Westminister Abbey and then took the bus to Mayfair to see the Wallace Collection.  We went past the Parliament Square Garden where there are many statues of famous political figures and we saw a colourful corgi statue (which I looked up online and it seemed to be one of the The London Heritage Quarter Platinum Jubilee Corgi Trail in 2022 that was to be auctioned off so I am not sure how it ended up here.)

Red double decker buses are a common sight in London.  The English Tea Bus decoration in the photo amused us.  I am not sure if it was a special tour bus but there a few afternoon tea bus tours online.  We found the regular red buses a good way to see more of London. 

We had quite a few bus journeys through areas - such as Bloomsbury, Hyde Park and Nottinghill Gate - that I am quite fond of but did not get time to explore on foot.  We took the busy back to the hotel a few times and enjoyed seeing the streets en route to Kensington.  Above is Harrods department store in Knightsbridge that was on our route.

The best view was on the upper level in the front seats.  The above view shows both why it was easier than it used to be but was often still slower than the tube.  When I was first in London, I found that working out where to get off a bus could be confusing in streets I didn't know.  But now they have digital displays advising on the next stop, which combined with smart phone apps (such as Moovit) make it much easier to look out for a stop.

A probably that has not changed is London traffic.  It has always been busy.  I remember there were transit lanes to deal with it when I lived in London in the late 1990s.  Now there is a congestion charge: a whopping £15 per day.  Sometimes the buses could only crawl along their route due to the volume of traffic.  I heard someone behind me on a bus say "... and they pay a congestion charge to be stuck in this traffic."  So true!  At least the London public transport is cheaper: £2.70 per trip on the tube (zones 1-2) with a daily cap of £8.50, and £1.75 per trip on the bus with a daily cap of £5.25.  Surprisingly, it was cheaper on the bus. 

As well as avoiding the traffic, the tube had a few advantages.  One is that many of the tube stations are beautiful historic buildings.  The one above is the elegant Victorian arcade with attractive motifs when you came out of High Street Kensington tube, which was a few minutes from our hotel.  (For railway station enthusiasts, check out 150 great things about the Underground.)

While the buses have now got far better signage with the dawn of the digital age, it was always a wonder how easy it was to navigate the tube thanks to really clear signage.  Lists of stations and connections at every turn as you make your way through the curved tunnels of the station, including on the station and always on the trains as well. 

Some historic signage in stations has been retained such as this  "way out" sign at Covent Garden underground station.  Exits are well signed but not all are so easy to get out.  Once you make your way through the labyrinth of tunnels at the end of a tiring day, it can be dispiriting to see that your only option on the way out is stairs.  Some stations have escalators and there were some information about which online but when the nearest station to our hotel station did not have a lift or escalator, all we could do was drag a heavy suitcase up a flight of stairs.

As well as gorgeous heritage stations, some also have fun artworks and posters.  We went back and forwards past the Gloucester Road station a few times but never got out there.  Of course I wanted to but had to satisfied with a photo on the go of the strange subterranean creatures in the exhibition by Monster Chetwynd: 'Pond Life: Albertopolis and the Lily'.  This lizard brought to mind Mr Lizard in the iconic Australian books by May Gibbs about the gumnut babies.  

Although not everyone can see this station, more accessible is the brilliant project of Poems on the Underground that occasionally intersperses adverts on trains.  They are very welcome because there is not too much to see out the window between stations on the tube.

All over London interesting buildings that catch the eye and make you wonder at their history.  Unfortunately there was so much to see that I often had to pass by such buildings with a fleeting thought and maybe a photo.  This photo is the Camden Eye opposite the Camden Town tube station.

The iconic underground sign (or roundel) is such as brilliant representation of the London transport system and London itself.  It sits atop most tube station buildings as a beacon, it is used in fashion and is popular in souvenir shops.  There is a book written about it called Logo for London.  The above artwork was near the Whiskers and Cream cat cafe near the Upper Holloway station.  Sylvia and I also loved the "Mind the gap" announcements because it would make us thing of a classic scene of Minions boarding an underground train  in the Minions movie.

You could not walk far in London without seeing a souvenir shop, usually with lots of red white and blue.  Paddington, London icons, tea towels, fridge magnets, key rings, rubber ducks, nodding queens, phone boxes and double decker buses were all common.  I have not adjusted to King Charles being the monach and found it both weird to see his face on so much and also that there was still so much  merchandise with Queen Elizabeth II on it.

While I don't drink coffee, I was well aware the British coffee is not up to scratch compared to Melbourne.  I hear it has improved since I was first in the UK and found people excited about the Seattle Coffee Company.  There are plenty of new kids on the block now.  Sylvia loved the orange mocha latte and iced matcha blueberry latte at Blank St Coffee.  This is a New York company which had quite a few stores. Those hats on the coffee cups were so cute that I looked them up.  I think they are part of the Big Knit fundraiser for charity.

I wish I had a better photo of the Oxford St Selfridges Department Store building.  My photo does not capture the awe and beautify of the rows of ionic columns.  This store in Oxford Street was built in 1909 and is the second biggest retail premises (after Harrods).

We visited on en route to Mercato Mayfair when we were low on energy and time.  We headed to the basement to look at the food hall and the kitchenware.  The food was amazing and yet again I found myself tempted by pricey but gorgeous crockery. 


It was worth going inside just to see the wonderful historic interior.  We managed to leave Selfridges without a purchase.  Just tourists passing through!

After we visited the Wallace Collection, we wanted a quick meal before heading back to the hotel to pack and get an early evening before taking the train to Edinburgh.  There was plenty on offer in Mayfair.  We ended up at Pure.  Earlier in the afternoon we had bought excellent chips at a street food booth.  We had wanted the haloumi kebabs with salad, pickles and chips but it felt too messy for food on the run so I just got chips.  They were excellent but I needed some more wholesome food.  Pure was a casual food outlet where we could eat quickly and go.  I really enjoyed my Souper green soup served alongside a Halloumi toastie with hummus, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and tomato relish.  And a can of wild berry kombucha.  It was just what I needed.

When I first visited London, my sister told me that I must take photos of red phone boxes and photos with people in them.  Digital photography had made it easier to take photos without people in them but I still think of Fran when I take a photo of a phone box.  I used phone boxes a lot when first in London.  My parents had given us a reverse charges card so we would keep in touch.  These days many phone boxes are more shabby and the ones cared for seem more for tourist purposes than utility.  But they are iconic and I am glad there are still ones about to see, especially around Westminster Palace.  (You can see more reflections in my post on travel in the 1990s.)

We saw so much in our week in London and yet it felt like we had only scratched the surface.  When it comes to the veritable feast of tourist experiences in London, I often think of Samuel Johnson who said "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." So much to see and so little time.  I cannot say if I will return but I am happy I we were able to see so many favourite places and interesting new ones, and that Sylvia had a great time on her first trip to London.