Savory ice cream at Scoop - Covent Garden

Scoop Gelato just round the corner from Covent Garden tube station have got a really good reputation for fantasic authentic Italian gelato and I noticed on their <a href="http://www.scoopgelato.com" target="_blank">website</a> a while ago that today was a special 'savory' day, so I moseyed along to take a look.

Goig in with the intention of trying the savories, I must admit that at this point my sweet tooth faught and completely battered my savory side, so five minutes later, I came out with a cone with pistachio, panna cotta, amaretto and dark chocolate for the bargainous price of £4, which were all divine - the dark chocolate one being almost like an ice cream version of mousse au chocolat.

At that point, I must admit, I was already really rather full, however, not wanting to fail my mission, I wandered back in, examining the savory menu. I must admit the 'Kiwi and Prawns' really didn't sound appealing at all, but the rest were all interesting. Going for the Honey cream and pecorino, it was actually very nice and the savory nature of the cheese going well with the melon. Rather than 'shavings' they were more like chunks, which actually meant that you didn't get cheese in every bite - maybe shavings mixed in with the ice cream would have been better. For the final round, I went with the Plum cream and crispy bacon, but this worked less well, although the ice cream itself was delicious. 

Honey cream and pecorino cheese shavings

 

Plum cream and crispy bacon sprinklers

The various salami, bacon, cheese and prawn accompaniments

 

The manager was extremely chatty and it came over really clearly that he was passionate about what he does and that he wanted to do it really well - certainly I've never had such good quality Gelato outside of Rome, and it's certainly well worth a visit. They also do specially wrapped tubs of ice cream that will apparently get home without melting - cheaper and much much nicer than Haagen Das. Anyway, after all of this, I left, feeling a little sick at eating so much so quickly and did a couple of very slow laps of Covent Gardenl.

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Baby monitor advert :)

via youtube.com

Quality video :)

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Biggest Waterslide Jump Ever

via current.com

Real? Hmmmm

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My Spring/Summer photomontage

via vimeo.com

Inspired by Curtis James's excellent website and his cool photomontages, I decided to try one of my own based on some of the snaps I've taken in the last few months: mainly of stuff in and around London, but with the odd visit to New York, Paris and Amsterdam thrown in too...

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Bikram Yogaboo - sweaty fun in Soho

So I was a bit nervous, more than a bit unsure of what to expect and even more uncertain whether I'd actually live through 90 minutes of yoga positions in 90 degree heat. Initial thoughts after the event here:

 

I was surprised, compared to me, how easy some people made it look, including lots who didn't even look as though they'd been anywhere hot! After a cold shower, a coffee and some lunch I managed to float my way home quite successfully and as the 'unlimited initial membership' lasts for another 9 days, I'll try and go again in the next day or so. And I didn't fall over balancing on one foot with my other somewhere by my hip.

If you're interested, it's Bikram Yoga Soho even though it's actually just off Great Portland Street:

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A year's worth of weather

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A blog a day until Christmas

Can I do it?
Aided by my iPhone and trusty software 'Blogpress' (forget the others, they're rubbish), I'll give it a go (!) Prepare for more banality than you ever thought possible.

Random thoughts for the day so far (8.05am)

1. In a scary likeness to real life, why do Circle Line trains always come when I want anything but? (Forrest Gump-like thinking)

2. I hate people being ill, especially when I end up covering for them.

3. It'll soon be the winter equinox, so it'll be getting lighter again soon. Yippppeee!

4. Will I be late for work today and have to walk into a meeting after everyone else has arrived?

5. When, exactly, will I feel able to take off my 2 scarves that I've been wearing for the past 2 weeks, off?

6. Doesn't winter sun on your face, even when it's not particularly warm, feel lovely?:

7. Will I get to work by 8.15am?
8. No.

Up and over Hampstead Heath

Having run out for my traditional Sunday morning coffee yesterday and seen how (almost) springlike the weather in London was, I decided to make the trek up to pretty much the highest point in London, Hampstead Heath.

Arriving there by tube for the first time, rather than the 24 bus that would have taken about 3 weeks to dodge past the masses at Camden, I emerged onto the rather nice Heath Street, which was full of baby shops, nice-looking Christmas wreathes on doors, and had it been a weekday morning, probably full of mummies looking to spend their money. I was really impressed by its villagy feel really, especially its quaint, traditional-looking street signs:

The Heath itself has no obvious entrance and so getting onto any 'main' bits was more down to luck rather than judgement. Deserted in parts, hugely muddy in others, this was dog walkers' heaven and I think I must have patted and stroked more friendly and overenthusiastic dogs than I have done for months. I also, easily got to see at least 3 seasons in one afternoon, being really autumnal in some parts:



and most definitely winter in others, with frozen ponds in the more exposed parts:



There were also quite a few signs of blossom and other flowering plants beginning to emerge, which although it looked nice didn't quite seem right somehow, we're miles from spring yet. One thing that I'd forgotten about however, that did make me smile was seeing this on the way out. I don't think the swans had much competition, to be honest!:

What to do with my exciting prize

So the comments from the last post flooded in.
Ok, well maybe 4 comments did anyway - and half (you do the maths) suggested I gamble my hard-earned £10.
Passing a Tesco on the way home, I ran in and grabbed 5 lottery tickets for Saturday and 5 scratchcards - which I've never actually bought before.

Anyhow, those lucky dips didn't do a lot of good for me just after I'd bought them - running up the steps at Turnham Green station to jump onto a train that was about to depart, I lost my balance and thudded onto the platform floor, twisting my knee and ankle, laptop falling on the floor, making a hole in the knee of my trousers and having the train doors close before I could crawl on it: all completed in one highly-elegant move. The train driver, to his credit, did reopen the doors so I could hobble on - which, Mr Driver, I do appreciate - thanks :)

Getting home and clutching a £1 coin - one of the new ones (which incidentally, Josh Russell blogged about the other day, spotting their accessibility problems) - I began to scratch away at my 5 cards:

Not having ever used these before, I wasn't aware of how they're designed to be really addictive: you scratch off 2 panels out of 9, and already you've got two lots of '£100,000', needing just one more to win the star prize, which, of course, never materialises. I did though, win £1 - wooooo (shall I buy another lottery ticket?!)

I'll now have to wait until Saturday to see if any of my 5 lucky dips come up...let's hope so.

In the unlikely event that absolutely anyone would be interested, I'll publish the numbers now - so if I do win, you'll know about it first ;) - think of it - a Londonstuff world exclusive :)

9, 12, 14, 38, 44, 47

2, 23, 27, 37, 41, 45

8, 19, 25, 30, 32, 47

18, 19, 30, 42, 46, 48

7, 12, 18, 24, 28, 41