There’s not actually an emergency.
It’s more of a catch up of May days rather than an international distress signal. But thinking about it, I don’t think a blog post would be the best way to alert the authorities. May’s a lovely month. It’s a glorious tease of warm weather, those first sunlit ice creams and lasting sunlight into the early evening.

It’s also been an incredibly busy month, so much so that in case you haven’t noticed, it’s already June. I know! I can’t believe it either. If you follow me on Instagram @Alessandra_LDN you may have already seen some of my latest adventures. But, let me fill you in on what’s been happening in lovely London. Grab a cuppa’ and something sweet because there’s a lot of eye candy in this one. And by that I mean photos.

Speaking of cuppa’, have you seen my new tea cup!? Now I know it’s not normal to have any sort of strong emotions towards a cup used for tea, but this baby has not one, but two walls! Two of them! To the average, ignorant Joe, unaware of the glass’ secret they may gasp in horror as I reach to sip from my steaming cup of boiled beverage. But fear not, my overcautious friend! There is a secret layer protecting my hands from the scalding brew.

This does however lull me into a false sense of security regarding the actual temperature of my tea and I have repeatedly burnt my tongue. But, we’ll ignore that as it is a double walled glass!
It’s the little things in life.

On a stroll past the local butchers, I had a giggle finding this little guy. It looks as if he’s thinking, It’s…. It’s behind me, isn’t it?

What did the cow ghost say?
MOO!
I just made that up. 

Although we’ve been back and forth between winter winds and dreary drizzles, we did have a fleeting, beautiful tease of summer for a few days in the middle of May. All of London was smiling and its landmarks, such as the Natural History Museum looked positively stunning in the gleaming light. I had a meeting at the Royal Academy Arts. Have you been here? I was greeted by what I’ve decided is an artistically modern interpretation of a frog. Art nerds help me out here. Tell me this isn’t a space frog?
The meeting was in the Academicians Room, a secret room tucked away in the depths of the grandiose building, which a lovely gentleman kindly escorted me to having seen the lost, bewildered look on my face. As beautiful as the building with its winding corridors and art covered walls is, the Academicians Room is simply breathtaking. I didn’t sneak a picture, so I’ll have to do my best to describe it to you. You enter through an unassuming door into a vast, rectangular room with a bar and organised sections of muted furniture. The room itself is a gallery, with beautiful pieces of artwork decorating the walls. But the main attraction here is the stunning roof made entirely of a skylight, letting natural light pour in. It’s a lovely space, the kind I’d love to have a secret soirée in under the stars. In need of a quick lunch one day, but never willing to sacrifice deliciousness, I made a monster of a salad Niçoise. On a bed of rocket I roughly chopped and piled high red onion, sweet corn, tomato, tuna, egg and sunflower seeds. I whipped together my favourite dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, wholegrain mustard & honey and poured it over top. A sprinkling of sea salt and pepper and voilà, a healthy mountain of deliciousness! Speaking of favourites, do you ever just need a classic, simple snack to appease your sweet tooth and hug your insides? I give you: banana with crunchy peanut butter on wholewheat toast. Top with a squiggle of honey and we’re in business.  On an evening run I wandered aimlessly in the direction of the river.
Anyone that knows me is laughing at the way I’ve casually mentioned an evening run as if this something I partake in frequently. We’ll call it my annual run as it happens about once a year when I feel a sudden burst of energy and urge to physically exert myself. It’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that I don’t see the point in running unless it’s from something, in which case I should most likely save up all my energy incase such a circumstance shall arise.
When I reached the river, I watched the sunset over the Thames. There’s nothing like being in the presence of great bodies of water to put life into perspective. Whilst watching the boats gently rock and birds fly by, I noticed a riverside rose garden.
How delightful is that? It seemed like some sort of strange wonderland with hundreds of different sized and coloured flowers hidden from the world alongside the river.  As I made my way home, the sky turned from a moody darkness to a vibrant pink. Doesn’t this tree against the whimsical background seem like something out of a Dr. Suess book? On a gloriously wet day, we skipped along to brunch at a new little spot called Poppy’s. The sweetly decorated interior with big, open windows provided an appreciated respite from the torrential downpour on the other side of the glass. In need of some comfort food, he order the full English. For those of you outside this little island I call home, a full English breakfast is a cultural cornerstone consisting of sausage, bacon and eggs with varying additions of beans, tomato, hash browns, mushrooms and toast.    I decided to try the chicken salad with pomegranate, butternut squash & seeds. I liked the rustic style in which it was served, but really wished it had more flavour from the pomegranate and a lot less salt.  Not ready to brave the storm, we stayed for tea.  And dessert…  I went for the incredibly naughty brownie sundae and requested the peanut butter ice cream from another dessert be added on top. Can you blame me?  He went for the apple tart with caramelised banana and Chantilly cream, which obviously had nothing over my choice. You can’t compete with chocolate and peanut butter. Uh oh, my American is showing. 
This isn’t the greatest shot of Piccadilly Circus, but I love that it portrays so many lives crossing, all following different paths but at one point, intersecting.

We snuck over to Covent Garden one day for a bit of a feast. I’ve told you about Shake Shack before, but it’s been ages since I’ve been back. I stuffed myself with burgers, fries and concretes, oh and he had some, too.

We then waddled down to Fortnum & Mason where we skipped around the food hall like kids in a candy store. 
There were beautiful purple asparagus Bunches of wild asparagus

Tasty looking mushrooms & morels And stunning purple globe artichokes.

I was overly excited about the size of these miniature bananas, which made me feel like a giant, and may have let out a quiet squeal upon discovering the mini pineapples. Don’t worry, it was quiet, this is the royal grocery store after all.

I began fantasising about a bowl of miniature fruits on my countertop before quickly being distracted by these beautiful Gull’s eggs.
Besides my obvious love for food, and apparently including those of miniature proportion, I’m also a bit of a stationary nerd. I’ve recently realised I may have a bit of a problem as I have more journals than I do purposes. But they’re so cool looking!

May ended with strangely lit skies filled with pouring rain. English weather will never cease to perplex and irritate.

I’ll never get tired of venturing around London. Do you have favourite secret spots or places to explore around London? I’d love to hear them! Don’t be shy, pop it in the comment section or send me a tweet @Alessandra_LDN