Sunday was total chaos in the centre of Athens, with shoppers picking up last minute gifts for their friends, family and of course, themselves. Once a year Athens retails on a Sunday like the UK (every Sunday though) near X mas time. As we came out Monistiraki metro, there were DJ's lined up pumping out some phat sounds and tourists drifting along with the crowds towards food (it all smelt so good) and Ermou street. I'd never seen Athens so packed! Probably wasn't the best idea, but we headed up Ermou for a spot of shopping and got caught in the heaving crowds with their super shopping bags. Every shop we went into was hot, crammed pack full of people and the tills had endless queues. It was actually quite organised of me (for the first time ever) to get all my X mas shopping done via the net (asos.com, Dorothy Perkins, Topshop, Kurt Geiger, Abercrombie & Fitch, Play.com, Amazon to name a few) and to have a helpful sibling currently State side to help with the odd bit, so that was a relief!
There's a lot going on in Athens this Christmas, the big ole tree is already up in Syntagma Square, looking every inch the perfect, brightly lit x-mas tree and with the odd individual dressed as Santa, Reindeers and Elves... The Zappeion and the National Gardens are to be transformed into a Christmas Fairytale with a Carousel and a spectacle dome, we didn't have time to check it out yet, but i'm sure it'll be a festive wonderland... Yup, Christmas brings out the inner child for sure... It's going to be magic!
Cor blimey, that week went fast. I managed to see what the fuss was about in 2 of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga... good read indeed, just haven't seen the movies yet, I just don't particularly want to be let down either by a movie if the book is good.
Anyhoos, what did I see, do and eat in such a short space of time? Jom Makan 5-7 Pall Mall East 020 7925 2402 for a bite of Malaysian Breakfast At Tiffany's - Anna Friel did a pretty good job of Holly Golightly at the Haymarket theatre, but there wasn't enough of Audrey's quirkiness. I'm still wondering why there was any need to get naked - that applies to both Joseph Cross role as William 'Fred' Parsons and also Anna - what was the reason for getting buck naked eh? Pho at Westfield - Shepherd's Bush/White city. Nothing was going to come between me and my beer Lao - haven't tried it? Well it's the best darn beer i ever tasted, for real! Oh this is a speciality Vietnamese restaurant with authentic tasting dishes/noodles/pho etc Dim T - Dim sum in a nutshell. Great little chain (went to the Charlotte st branch by Goodge st tube), I'd rate this over Ping Pong and the cocktails were good, but my love still lies with Yauatcha. Bloww - 4 Regent Place - the only place to get your hair cut, coloured, styled, whatever! My Nick has been doing my hair for yonks and it always looks fabulous! Bincho Yakitori - 16 Old Compton st. Amazing Japanese restaurant with a million varieties of Sake - i stuck to the hot stuff and enjoyed some seriously delicious Yakitori skewers of grilled seafood, meats and traditional dishes. The staff were really friendly helping us pick out some food and yup you can get overstuffed from Japanese snacking. Annies - 162 Thames Rd, W4 - near Kew bridge. I was there for one of my oldest pals birthday celebration and we had a bloody good time. My friends couldn't have said it better, the circle of friends was complete. This was a great place for food, great service and lots of people getting together, with an offering of vegetarian/vegan dishes too. What else was brilliant? My other mate had a Black cab as her car giving the drunken ones a ride- love it! China Boulevard on the River - No. 1 The Boulevard, Smuggler's Way, SW18. I needed another hit of Dim Sum and this was where my mate summoned us to. We ordered way too much, but managed to eat almost everything in sight. Oh Dim Sum how much i've missed you. Pizza Express- Can't go wrong with this chain for Pizza's. Actually I seem to remember choosing the Greek St location for convenience for everyone who was dropping by. Also at this point i'd spent a hideous amount of money dining out, so thanks to their 2 for 1 offer, this was most certainly the most ideal & budget friendly place to eat.
I think that rounds of a rather large amount of dining out action. Now back to cooking and preparing the Greek X mas goodies.
