Toby and Chessie

Although Toby and Chessie enjoy an active social life in Washington, they miss their London friends dearly, and take every possible opportunity to visit them. As with all of their trips, the agenda on their latest one included gossip sessions accompanied by treats, drinks and/or shopping (a combination of the three being ideal).


One place Toby and Chessie always try to hit is the Le Pain Quotidien on Marylebone High Street. While they can go to the Belgian chain back home this branch, the first in London, opened long before the restaurant came to Washington, and they have been meeting friends there for years. Although LPQ has many tasty offerings, they love nothing more than the Blondie spread, and they feel no shame in generously smearing it on slices of baguette.


After catching up and filling up Toby, Chessie and their friends waddled down to Selfridges, where they perused the clothing, home goods and gourmet shop, and made the somewhat disturbing discovery that Elizabeth Hurley has her own line of low calorie cereal bars. Needless to say they did not feel the urge to stock up on them.


While they often stick to their favorite haunts, Toby and Chessie were more adventurous on this trip, and ventured beyond the tried and true. One of their favorite new discoveries is Cocomaya, a lovely chocolate shop and café that also sells various odds and ends like Toby jars and vintage china. They also very much liked the Windsor Castle pub, where every nook and cranny is filled with assorted memorabilia and knickknacks, including the ceiling, which is covered in royal commemorative plates (they found the Diana and Charles divorce plate the most amusing).


Toby and Chessie also discovered that the pub is home to the Handlebar Club; while they certainly do not find mustaches even remotely attractive, they do support any group that promotes a quirky style.


The weather was lovely during their trip, providing the perfect excuse to try the gelato at Marylebone’s Cocorino, another new discovery (yogurt, banana, nocciola and pistachio were the flavors sampled). Toby and Chessie also hit one of their favorite places in London, Spitalfields Market.


They were impressed by how the area around the market keeps growing and growing, and they enjoyed checking out the additional fashion, food and vintage mini markets that have sprung up. Of course no trip to the area would be complete without stopping by the 24-hour Brick Lane Beigel Bake for bagels and challah, which they quickly devoured. They also recommend Montezuma’s for interesting chocolates, especially if you have a sweet tooth, which they naturally do.


On their last full day in England Toby and Chessie ventured out of central London, and went to Greenwich to visit a friend. It was yet another sunny day, making it perfect for a walk in the park and jumping on their friend’s trampoline (their favorite form of exercise, although they are also quite fond of hula-hooping).


As always the visit went by too quickly, and Toby and Chessie were very sad to leave. They were, however, pleasantly surprised when United upgraded them on the flight home. The skies are certainly friendlier when starting one’s journey with a glass of bubbly!