Did That Really Just Happen???

Alarm goes off at 8:15 Wednesday morning because I had a lot to do that day.  Wednesday was supposed to be my last day of work but I wasn't going in until around noon because my boss was coming back from holiday late the night before.  I got up and rolled out of bed so I could go for a nice run through Regent's Park.  My run was a little rough since I hadn't gone in awhile but I pushed through and felt so much better after.  While I was running, I got a text from my boss saying that she wasn't feeling well and wasn't going into her studio...so no work after all.  I was kind of sad since I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to her but I did end up having a really great day so ended up being a good thing.  I got back from my run, showered, and got ready.  One of my roommates and another really good friend of mine from the trip were planning to go shopping and run errands that day so I just decided to go along with them since I hadn't been spending as much time with them because of my parents being in London.

We headed off down Baker Street and our first stop was Selfridges, which is one of the big department stores there that I had already visited.  We wandered around in there for about an hour but didn't really find anything that blew us away.  Our next stop was River Island because I needed to exchange a skirt and get my VAT tax form from them.  I ended up returning the skirt and buying a super cute pair of flowy pants so it was a successful stop.  I got my forma all printed out and we headed back to Selfridges because one of my friends wanted to try on a pair of pants that she had seen earlier and I wanted to grab lunch there.  She ended up going back to River Island to buy a pair of pants but the lunch that I got at Selfridges was SO good.  It was from a place called Chopp'd and it was one of the best salads that I had eaten there.  Jerk chicken, roasted red peppers, carrots, and sweet potatoes need I say more?

Our next stop was a store called Cool Britannia, which is a huge souvenir shop in Piccadilly Circus because my roommate wanted to find a hat for her dad.  We hopped on the Tube and headed down there but we did make a few pit stops on the way haha.  When you're on Oxford Street, it kind of hard not to get sucked into shopping in some of the stores.  We wandered around TopShop and Zara but I didn't end up getting anything because I think TopShop is a little overpriced and you all know my feelings about Zara from previous customer service issue earlier in the trip.  We also stopped by Anthropologie because my roommate had to get a VAT form there as well.  We finally made it to Cool Britannia and this is what you see when you walk in the front doors...

I have never seen so many Union Jacks in one place let me tell you.  It was a really cool store but I wasn't really into buying anything like that so I just wandered around while my friends picked up gifts for their friends and family.  After we finished up there, we got back on the Tube to head home before going to the Camden market.  They both had never been so we decided to go for a little bit and I like the market so I didn't mind going back.  We caught the same bus I did before on Monday and headed over there.  I showed them around where I had bought a couple things and they enjoyed looking around and made a couple purchases themselves.  We were there about and hour/hour and a half and then headed back because the market was closing down and I had to be back to get ready to go to dinner with my parents.  We were going to one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants so I had to come back and get ready.  For those of you who don't know who he is, he is a world renowned chef who owns several very high class restaurants around the world and who hosts several tv shows such as Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares.  We are big fans of his so we wanted to see what one of his restaurants was like.  I made it back in plenty of time to get ready and meet my parents at the Tube.

I met up with my parents around 7 for our 8 pm reservation because we didn't want to be late.  We got on the Tube and rode down there but realized it was a lot closer than we thought.  Rather to be early than late though.  We had a little bit of a walk to get there though so that killed some time and my parents stopped at the phone store because they needed to add more minutes to their phone so that ended up killing two birds with one stone.  We finally arrived about 20 minutes early and they actually seated us when we got there.  The restaurant is called Maze Grill and come to find out, it's actually his favorite restaurant that he owns in London.  We picked the best one!  Here's what the entrance looks like.

It was really nice inside but it had kind of a casual vibe to it as well because they played music so it was just the right fit for us.  Our waiter was so nice and extremely helpful when we asked him about a thousand questions because we had no idea what to order.  They are known for their steaks so my dad ended up getting a steak, I got bass, and my mom got lamb kebabs.  Let me just tell you, the meal was worth every penny.  I got a whole roasted bass with couscous and roasted fennel with carrots on the side.  It was SO good and I ate it all haha.  Here's what it looked like...

NOM

We all got our food pretty quickly but the only problem was when my dad cut into his steak, it was not really done.  He asked for medium which we learned is way different there than it is here.  He ended up sending it back because it was not done enough so they brought him another one.  This one was cooked enough either because I think they thought he said medium again when he actually said medium well this time.  So he sent that one back as well and they finally brought him out a medium well steak.  It was all good after that and I he got some type of peppercorn sauce to go with it and I was mildly obsessed with it.  I could have probably just sat there and ate that it was so good.  After we finished all our meals, our waiter came to give us the check and he says that he may be able to see if we can go back and tour the kitchen...um what?  That ended up happening!  We got to go back into the kitchen and meet the head chef himself!  He was so nice and even apologized to my dad for his steak not being cooked right.  One of the other chefs took us around the kitchen and explained everything and introduced us to everyone.  It was so cool!  We were all kind of standing there in awe because we couldn't believe that we were actually in the kitchen of one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants during a dinner service.  It was SO hot back there though and we felt kind of in the way because it was not very big and all the chefs were moving around so fast cooking food.  They were all so nice though and I still can't believe they let us go back there.  Here are some shots from the kitchen...

 My parents and I in the kitchen with two of the chefs

Garnish section

Food window with lots of steaks ready to go out

We were needless to say in awe after that experience.  It was so cool to go back there and I

m so thankful and happy that they let us!  After that, we walked back to my flat and my parents and I parted ways.  I met up with my friends and hung out with them for awhile and then we headed back to watch The Bachelorette.  It actually worked this time but I'm so over this season that I'm kind of wondering why I'm still watching it.  The finale is tomorrow though so I have to see it through.  It was pretty late after we finished so we all crashed again because Thursday was our last real day in London so we had to have some energy for it!