London in Pictures

London is one of the world’s great cities, with something for everyone. In honor of the Olympics, I’m sharing some pictures of London sights.

If you’re a foodie, London might not be your first thought. But their food markets are wonderful. Harrods, the department store has beautiful displays of food to eat there or to go. Check out the candy display…

…and this fanciful cake.

The cake is actually for sale for 2,000 British pounds, about $3,000 US. Even the pizzeria is spotless and the big guy there was actually singing opera.

Fortnum & Mason is another well-known store with exquisite windows and food displays. The first picture on this blog is the side entrance, and gives you an idea of the very British decoration. The Royal Family does business with this store.

One last market I’d like to show you is the Borough Market, a recently revitalized food showroom where farmers hawk their homemade wares at individual stalls. Each vendor has only one type of food, but there is tremendous variety of that type.

Olives.

Mushrooms.

Salts.

You may be able to see Fresh Truffle Sea Salt on the middle shelf on the right. Above it is Shallots Sea Salt, and there are many other varieties. You can just walk around and choose whatever you want at this market, and make a lunch of it.

Here’s Westminster Abbey.

My kids wanted to go inside (because that’s where the marriage of Kate and William took place). Hubby and I had already been in, so we decided to walk over to the War Rooms which have been preserved intact from WW 2. Here’s where Churchill and his top war ministers lived while London was being bombed. It’s all underground, quite tiny and non-luxurious. Here’s the kitchen, which gives you a good idea of how they lived.

After the war ended, they discovered the underground bunker was not properly constructed and never would have survived a direct hit.

Our reward for taking in some history is that we saw the Queen drive by in a big caravan of limos. This was in June of last year and she was celebrating her birthday. There was no one around because she was merely on her way to Buckingham Palace…

…where they were having ceremonies. We didn’t tell our kids. They would have been so disappointed to have missed her.

Last, but not least, for you pet lovers, Harrods has an adorable pet shop.

Alas, I don’t have any books set in London. My latest release, Baby, It’s Cold Outside, is an erotic romance that takes place in NYC. Brenna is caught in a blizzard with Grant while she’s trying to make amends for accidentally busting up his marriage. Grant knows one thing she could do that would make him forget he ever had a wife. While a cold blizzard howls outside his bachelor Manhattan apartment, he turns up the heat inside.

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B006FD0LZK
B & N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1107759126?ean=2940013517967

I have more travel pictures on Pinterest. http://pinterest.com/carlycarson/