London Diaries: Drink Me, Eat Me

I'm sitting in an adorable café not far from my new flat in Chiswick, enjoying a latte and an unnecessary but wonderfully delicious dessert. The small-ish café is furnished with mismatched pastel-coloured chairs and tables (no doubt accumulated from garage sales and the like) and the various delicacies are served on old, intricately designed China plates. There is art on the walls, a soft-serve machine and smarties dispensers and this whole establishment, which looks like the brainchild of London designer Cath Kidston, has been given the quirky yet fitting name of "Drink Me Eat Me". 

Being in London is dangerously like being a kid in a candy store. Or rather, me in this café. I could sit here for hours on end drinking inordinate amounts of coffee and eating way too many sweets but I certainly can't afford it. And yet it's right there in the name isn't it? When I'm at this café, I have no choice but to comply. London has the reputation it has because it actually IS amazing. You can get anything and everything you could want here and in many cases have it delivered to your doorstep. The whole city is screaming "Drink me! Eat me!". And I must comply.

Within reason of course. I have not much money to spend while I'm here so I need to be extra careful. I brought two lunches with me to Southwark yesterday when I knew I was going to be there until the evening. I was watching Comedy of Errors, and then later Julius Caesar, at the Globe Theatre. So instead of buying food AND theatre tickets, I picked one (which was actually the less expensive option!). 

If I'm going to live here, I may as well LIVE here. I could stay in my overpriced flat all day avoiding spending money as if it were the Black Plague ripe for the catching right beyond my doorstep. But then my living in London will have been a useless venture. So I'm going to be careful with my spending (#thriftymusiciansftw) but while I'm here, I will drink and I will definitely eat.