la bea boheme: A weekend away and a break from reality

I adore weekends away, they are chance to sit back and forget the hectic schedule of everyday life; all while enjoying exploring a new place and spending some time with those you love. As you may have noticed from my Instagram, I spent the weekend in London (gold star for you, Sherlock). I was born there and we generally visit pretty regularly, so Paddington Station has become a bit of a haunt! This time it was my sister’s birthday which called for the occasion, so we put our weekend in her (and my mum's) hands and let our trip be dictated by her desires.

My sister is vegan so before leaving home we hunted down several vegan restaurants and booked out evening meal for Saturday night – I’d recommend having some idea of places to eat in the area you are visiting because not all restaurants are vegan friendly! For dinner we settled for Wild Food Cafe, a small hub of activity nestled in Neals Yard where you can watch your meal being cooked whilst getting to know your fellow diners. Almost everything there is both raw and vegan and we really enjoyed the cheesecakes, so much so that we ordered two simultaneously! Although now we eat mainly vegan at home, I really enjoyed trying the different specialties the restaurants had on offer and am definitely inspired to attempt some now I'm home.

Enjoying dinner at Wild Food Cafe

Breakfast was at Le Pain Quotidien (the only place, in my opinion, to eat breakfast when out!) after a snoop in the beautifully renovated St Pancreas Hotel, and a promise to come back and stay. As my sister was queen of the family for the weekend, we trailed the canals to Camden and spent a good few hours having a root around the market and haggling with reluctant stall holders.

Knackered and a bit flustered by the never ending crowds, we stumbled upon the most fabulous cafe, My Little Village, in the centre of the high street. Filled with a warm amber glow and ultra friendly staff, I had a hard time remembering the busy streets of Camden were just a stone’s throw away. On arrival we were presented with homemade soup and spiced hot chocolate (which I can honestly say was the nicest drink I have ever tried) and around us there were groups of families, friends, even what seemed like colleagues enjoying lunch and tucked in the corners were lone wolves snuggled up with books. I almost didn’t want to leave and continue our trip, but time was ticking and the train was calling.