London in April

London, a city full of history, art, ethic food, flea markets, and a city that can surely make you feel alive with all its hustle and bustle. A city where Giovanni Versace used to go to get inspired by the way its inhabitants dressed when he had to create a new collection. In London there's always something to do, whether it be an art exhibition, a concert, a premier of a movie or show, any time of the year is a good time to go there, since, as I said, one can always find something to do other than visiting its countless museums and admire its modern and historic architecture.

Any excuse is a good excuse to fly to the English capital, and I never hesitate to book a flight to London when I know that one of our favorite bands is going to have a gig there, because concerts in London are never just normal concerts!!!

This time it was Devin Townsend's turn with the premier of his latest album “Ziltoid 2” that take place at the Royal Albert Hall, a theater built to fulfill the wish of Prince Albert of having a “Central Hall” that would have been used to promote Arts and Sciences and that stands at the heart of South Kensington. An incredible building with a wonderful architecture and incredible acoustics, even if I have to admit that this place is probably not that suitable for rock concerts. Maybe it was just from the place I was that both the voice and drums sounded a bit too loud compared to the rest of the band. I remember when Devin Townsend played at the O2 Academy 2 years ago, and how the sound was simply perfect!

Anyway, the show was incredible, and the band played 3 hours taking just a 25 minute break with two Poozers (two guys dressed like giant farting ball bags) that every now and then ran randomly on stage making everyone laugh. Awesome! I think no one could have wanted more than what they did! Everything was just perfect and very exciting, and I can't believe that we also had no problems in going back home after the concert. I don't know why, but every time we are in London and we want to go home after a concert for one reason or another we always bump into problems. Either the subway we have to take is blocked somewhere, or we miss the last bus because a drunk friend runs in the opposite direction of the bus forcing us to follow him in order to bring him back, or...or...or.....But this time everything went fine and after a good night’s rest, the following day we were ready to hit the city during the few hours we had before our flight would have taken off.

So, fully rested and still excited about the concert of the previous evening, we headed to London Bridge hoping to find a nice place where to have breakfast. Walking along Canvey Street in Southwark we noticed a place whose sign advertised organic food. Considering all the food allergies we have, we decided to give it a try, and we absolutely did the right thing. 

My porridge with fresh blueberries was exquisite and the freshly brewed coffee smelt like toasted nuts. What a pleasant surprise! My husband had a cup of tomatoes, beans, eggs. and sausages and he said it was delicious. We also bought some sandwiches to go and they were also amazing! I really suggest everyone who will ever happen to bump into a LEON bistro to stop there and grab a bite. You won't regret it!

With a full belly and a shining sun, we just kept on walking to take the friend who was with us (he was in London for the first time) to see a bit of the main attractions of the city. We started from The Tower Bridge, then we headed to The Big Ben, The Westminster Abbey, and we ended our walk at Buckingham Palace. We took a rest at St. James Park before walking back to our apartment, and it was a pleasure to see the park so full of people. Everyone lay nicely on the grass eager not to miss a single ray of sun. London is beautiful during this time of the year and the gorgeous flowers of the park were releasing such a marvelous fragrance that I could smell it from quite a distance when the wind blew in our direction.

Moreover, all the little statues of Shaun the Sheep scattered all over London gave the city a new touch of color.

All in all, it was a very nice trip even if extremely short – we landed in Heathrow on Monday morning and left in the afternoon of the following day. The only “black” point of our stay was given by the fact that unfortunately from the 19^th floor of Burwash House it is not possible to see the St. Paul Cathedral anymore, since the wonderful view has been blocked by a new and quite awful building. But this is London, too, considering the new buildings pop up like weeds. :/

It was also a pity that our friends weren't home and we couldn't hang out with them, but it was incredibly nice of them to let us use their apartment anyway. Not many can say to have such great friends! :)

Greek Lentil Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. Absolutely suitable for every season, easy to make, and incredibly tasty! I'm also emotionally particularly attached to it since my very special Finnish friend give it to me – Yes, a nice and lovely Finnish woman keen on Greek cuisine.

I still have the email she sent me with this recipe, the first email of a very, very long list of many others that followed. I still remember when she wrote on FB that she had prepared her children's favorite soup. I was actually pretty perplexed on how a lentil soup could be so loved by her children. I had tried many lentil soups in the past, but none of them really intrigued me, and I was really curious to know what could have made her soup so good; therefore, even if we weren't yet so close at that time, I decided to ask her the recipe of her special lentil soup. Well... her children were right! I'm almost sure that the ingredient that makes the difference in this recipe is the stick of cinnamon. It gives such a peculiar taste to the soup that you will love it, too... I'm sure about it. Try it and let me know if I'm wrong.

Need to thank Lady A. once more for sharing it with me.

Btw, in the recipe she gave me the amount of onions and garlic is different. Use 3 chopped onions and 2 cloves of garlic if you want to follow the original recipe and if you'd like to serve a soup richer in onion. :)

The ingredients listed are enough for 2 maybe 3 people. It depends if you want to serve it as a main dish or just as a starter. I normally double all the ingredients except the stick of cinnamon, just to make sure that there will be enough soup for everyone, and for everyone I mean my husband and me. Yes, we really like it! :)

INGREDIENTS:

150 g green lentils
1 medium onion
1 garlic glove
about 400 g tomatoes (minced or from the can)
1 cinnamon stick
salt
about 1 tbs white or red vinegar

COOKING DIRECTIONS:

Boil the lentils in salty water about 20 minutes. Remove the remaining water and set the lentils aside.

Chop the onion, garlic, and tomatoes (if needed).

Sauté the chopped onion in some olive oil paying attention that it doesn't turn brown. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and cinnamon stick. Add the lentils and about 1 liter of water – add less water if you want it less liquidy. It all depends on the consistency you'd like your soup to have and also on how long you are going to cook it. Then, add the wine or vinegar, and some salt.

Cook the soup for about 1 hour or 2 (you might need to add some water if you let it simmer for a long time) if you want it to become very tasty. But if you are in a hurry 15 minutes are already enough to obtain a good soup. The soup is even more tasty if you serve it with some feta cheese and one or two slices of fresh bread.