This week's 'Un dimanche à...' was spent in London, passing one of the most magical Sundays.

The day started with a 6am taxi pick up, destination Hyde Park, to watch my mum compete for Australia at the world triathlon series; not a usual Sunday, nor any day for that matter, occurrence.
The day ended on the other side of the city, and the Thames, with one of the best 'Sunday roasts' I've had the pleasure of devouring at the pup-friendly 'Cutty Sark' pub, named for the British ship that would often frequent Australia in the late 19th century, and a grand stroll around the Greenwich observatory. Mr M and I have decided that we'd very much like for this part of the world to be our home in the not too distant future...

This post marks the first in a few I'll post as a series on the trips I've recently taken and will take shortly. After working my little tush off all summer I had managed to plan, book and take four trips over the course of 28 days. I'm currently three trips down, I'll go with my mum on Saturday to Belgium for the weekend. It didn't really dawn on me that I would be away so often and frequently until it started to feel like I was never here! Which I actually haven't been, on this little blog, but that'll be changing soon, for sure.

The Cutty Sark Pub & Eating House

4-6 Ballast Quay
Greenwich, London, SE10 9PD 

www.cuttysarkse10.co.uk

xx

Real British Fish & Chips :: The Bay Restaurant, Dover

When Mr M and I agreed to cross La Manche again for the second time this year I was adamant that we'd stay closer to Dover so we could go explore its famous white cliffs which we had missed out on doing last time. No, I'm not about to post more pictures of cliffs - instead, as the title of this post suggests, I'm sharing the fantastic place we miraculously found while aimlessly driving around to try and find exactly what it is that we had found.

The White Cliffs Hotel and The Bay Restaurant sit almost at the top of a very narrow, windy road that cuts right through a gorgeously named suburb of Dover, Saint-Margaret's-at-Cliffe. Its off-street parking and large, clean, weather-boarded facade struck us first as being a suitable place to stop; its invitation to enjoy the large garden out the back had us walking through to take a seat. The inside of the restaurant struck me as being quintessentially British, with its eclectic and colourful cushions, fire place and large arm chairs. The Union Jack bunting hanging from the cross-beams and door frames themed the place beautifully without making the interiors seem too contrived.
The garden, shared with the Hotel and its guests, contained the most amazing teepee I have seen in my life, decked out with fairylights on the inside, several deck-chairs for mid-afternoon snoozing, and a vintage foozeball table that is sure to be popular with fussy teens stuck on a trip to the seaside with the family.
I'd actually recently had fish and chips for lunch in Paris, but the experience left me less than satisfied so I was very much looking forward to replacing it with a real British 'fish & chips' meal, possibly with also a glass of  Pimm's and a huge serving of cheery English hospitality. And we got it all. Including a complementary starter of olives and home-made sun-dried tomato bread due to the "bit of a wait" we had for our food (hardly at all!)

Almost never do I research a place to eat, drink or stay when Mr M is organising a trip, mostly because I'm happy to be "whisked away" and surprised. Additionally, if I'm given just the slightest opportunity to contribute to the planning of a trip I would completely take over, like the total control freak I am, and as Mr M was driving on this trip it's always best to leave it to him. But should I have gone researching for a place to have our first lunch in Dover, The Bay Restaurant is exactly where we would have gone. It was the best meal I've had in a long time, which could not all be attributed to the food; the rest to the lovely ladies at The Bay, the teepee, the bunting, the village Saint-Margaret's-at-Cliffe and the blackberry & elderflower Pimm's, mmmmmm!

The White Cliffs Hotel and The Bay Restaurant

High Street, St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe, Dover, Kent CT15 6AT, ENGLAND
T: +44 01304 852 229
E: mail@thewhitecliffs.com

Site - please do visit their site - listed in immense detail are all the producers, farmers and nearby Kentish regions that they source their produce and ingredients from. I had no idea about this while in their restaurant but since reading it it has given me a new-found appreciation for the great food we enjoyed.

xx