As It Was Diana's Day Off,

it was up to London for us,

 wrapped up warm,

 we waited for train to Victoria,

then the tube to Temple station,

 where our walk began,

 we passed Australia House,

 stopping for a pose,

 Diana snapping away,

 we were headed for Somerset House,

 when I noticed this old disused tube station,

 we took the first entrance into the building to look at the outdoor skating rink,

 I asked Diana if she wanted to skate, but that was a no,

 in front of the rink,

 a huge tree,

 from Fortnum & Mason,

 it was big,

 we both,

had to have a pose,

 underneath us was an artwork, you needed an app on your telephone to see it, but it all appeared a little too complicated to view it,

  still it was nice looking,

 at so many people having a nice time,

 we continued our walk, to the second part of the building,

to, you guessed it! The Gingerbread City,

 and it truly is a city,

 the idea behind it is this,

 over 100 architects, engineers and designers expected to use their design expertise (and baking genius) to create a city, 

 funds raised will be going towards the Museum of Architecture's Grant Giving Fund which will be launched in Spring 2020 to support architectural entrepreneurship and public engagement, but here is the thing, all of the buildings are made of gingerbread, 

  now in its fourth year,

participants this year will include Foster + Partners, PDP London, PLP Architecture, Turner Works and Phase3, between them, they've designed Wembley Stadium, The Gherkin, Chelsea Barracks, 22 Bishopsgate and Pop Brixton, You can see the results of previous years — including castles, cathedrals and even a viaduct — here,

 so time to have a look,

 you must remember not to nibble!

 although a bit tricky to see,

 each building has a name card in front, or to the side of it,

 giving details of the building company or architects,

 and there is plenty of detail as you look inside some of the buildings,

 there were two layouts,

 on each so much to look at,

 as well as the works on display,

 there are gingerbread house making workshops going on,

Diana was so happy, as it happens it was Diana's idea to come here, I had not heard of this until we arrived, and what a surprise it was,

 in fact Diana had the whole day planned,

 you might notice a slight change in the these indoor photographs, up until now I have posted the photographs that Diana took on her telephone, which handle low light conditions much better than our Sony Alpha, which is the camera I used for the next set of photographs,

 the amount of work that the teams had put in was most impressive,

 I am pretty sure gingerbread is not the easiest of mediums to use,

 well done to Diana for suggesting that we visit here,

  I was busy snapping away,

 looking at,

 and trying to identify some of the buildings,

 as well as watch the Inter City 125 make its rounds,

 in the distance a gingerbread admirer,

 I know this one, it is the M & M building in Leicester Square,

 I menton it as Diana has told me she has booked a table for a late lunch near the square, another surprise for myself,

 a last look at the gingerbread display,

 and we were on our way,

 past the overhead Christmas decorations,

 to our next port of call,

 as soon as I saw Balthazar,

 I knew where we were heading,

 and just in front of it,

 this winter wonderland,

courtesy of Tiffany & Co,

 the snow looked so real,

what a great way to advertise your brand,

 the place Diana was taking me to was next to the Transport Museum, that we visited in 2016,

 we were going to visit Covent Garden,

 with all of it's stalls and shops,

 inside one of the main halls,

 there is a seating area, with normally a small group playing classical instruments,

 again going back to 2016,we visited this store, but not at this location, we went to Pollock's Toy Museum,

back to Covent Garden,

we walked to the other end of this hall,

with huge lights of mistletoe over head,

we emerged into the square at the far end,

turned around and went back though the other hall,

this hall,

has lots of stalls, 

selling handicrafts,

we were outside again,

so time for a pose,

and a look around the outside,

at some of the stores fronting the square,

we went past Tiffany & Co again,

when on our way out and again,

had time for a couple of poses from me,

 we had to stop at a couple of stores, 

 well it is Christmas,

I liked the way the screen changes in the window, 

 we walked to Leicester Square, 

 where the square had a Christmas Faye,

 with all manner of stalls,

 and Santa's Grotto,

 these were a bit scary dairy, you could have your face in 3D put on a Santa or Christmas Teddy, 

can you imagine me on a Teddy Bear? frightening!

we past TWG Tea,

 to the next part of my surprise, Diana eventually said she had booked a table in a restaurant in Chinatown, I had no idea which one,

until now! it was the Burger & Lobster,

Diana wanted to treat me to a meal there as a early Christmas present,

no prizes for guessing what we ordered!

'Cheers!',

we both went for the 1.5 lb lobsters,

Diana was all smiles,

well we both were,

so cracking away we went,

Oh what a beauty!

that sounds like a song,

what a lovely surprise,

to round the meal off a Cuban coffee,

and cheesecake,

these are some of the lobsters for sale,

this one super huge at 3.5 kilos, how do we know?

because they are priced here, that's correct £204.75 and he is yours!

many, many thanks to Diana for treating me to such a delicious meal,

it was late in the afternoon when we left,

the afternoon crowd gone,

the evenings dinners not yet arrived,

a quick look at the oyster bar,

and seating at the bar,

arriving home there was something I forgot to do in the morning, look at today's mini bubbly from the advent calendar, so here it is, 

and nice it was too as we watched the BBC production of The War of The Worlds, we are only making this one post today as it took a bit of time, so with the end of the latest episode we were off to bed.