Guns and Gruyere

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The Imperial War Museum was on Deaky's wishlist and we visited there today. It is in South London and while not exactly Peckham, it's a close as we got this time around. South of the Thames has a different feel - the people south of the river sound different and they dress a little different to the folk of Paddington. It appears that South London is in a renewal process. A client of mine who's a lawyer in the city often goes to 'trendy' restaurants south of the river in Peckham Rye, but Phillo said he was looking for potential places to live and went to Peckham Rye to be shocked by the blatant drug peddling and anti-gentrification process. It's no wonder that these once derided suburbs close to London are on the radar of young professional - a 2 bedroom appartment in Paddington that looks similar to the AirBNB we are in is selling for $2,000,000 - gentrification is inevitable.

The Imperial War Museum is once again an impressive museum and another example of an awesome free attraction. London is expensive but you can see everything you want without paying a penny if you're savvy. It's more of an anti war museum and the power of some of the exhibitions cannot be done justice by my words. The WW1 floor just shocks you with the scale of lost lives and the futility of war.

We were organised after our run today and packed a picnic lunch for after the IWM. Had a delightful ham and cheese sandwich in the park at Lambeth North - right across the road from where William Bligh once lived (apparently).

We didn't take the kids to the Holocaust floor of the IWM and had time to hit Borough Markets for a gastronomical freeload. It's been a market since 13th century and has had an apparent resurgent of late. It too is south of the river and the vibe on a friday afternoon was really cool. Once again the weather was perfect and the Londoners made the most of it. Plenty of samples of gruyere and other cheeses, goats milk ice-cream, wild boar sausages and so much more. A great place to wander and an a foodies dream.

Quick trip to the sgops on the way home. The kids are tiring but still resilient. We saw an amazing busking band at Oxford Circus when we left the girls to shop some more.

The tube on a Friday afternoon was jam packed and so hot. We made it the short trip to Lancaster Gate and walked home in our t-shirts. The kids and I had a cruisy afternoon and should sleep well for Maggie. She has kindly agreed to babysit while Jules and I catch up with Phillo for a belated birthday celebration (piss-up).

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