Something I only just figured out this year was that the astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere officially begins on the 21st June and lasts for three months until the 21st September. I had always guessed that the summer solstices would mean the middle of summer, but it's actually the start of it over here, which makes sense as July and August tend to be the warmest months of the year anyway. Having said that, if it weren't for the date on the calendar, you'd had have a hard time guessing it was summer, considering I spent most of Saturday indoors listening to the howling wind outside and watching the dark grey overcast sky. Aah... good old British summer :) I managed to get quite a bit of admin stuff done around the house and go over some of my photos which have been building up. Later in the afternoon I headed off to Uns' place to give her a hand with some DIY around the house.

On Sunday we finished up a bit more DIY around the house then headed into town to meet up with Noel for lunch. Megan was working down in Sussex so was just the three of us for lunch. We thought we had booked the Hawksmoor in Seven Dials, Covent Garden but turned out it was actually on Air Street near to Piccadilly Circus. I guess as long as their roasts are just as good, doesn't matter which one we eat at! The Air Street branch is the newest of the four in London, having only opened end of last year. The last time Uns and I were at Hawksmoor was with Gav and Jane back in March of last year, and Noel had never even heard of it, so certainly was a good choice of restaurant for the afternoon.

We all decided on the beef roast instead of a steak, as they're known for one of the better roasts around. Between the lunch and dessert, we certainly didn't walk out there hungry! Such a good meal. To try walk off some of the food, Uns and myself took a stroll down to Saint James Park and slowly made our way around the lake, known as St. James's Park Lake, which has two small islands and includes a resident colony of pelicans. Walking around the park you'd hardly think you were in the middle of a massive city. Then after a nice chilled walk through the park, we made our way back home for the evening.

Yesterday I was up Sheffield for the day for work which was alright - just a day trip so no casino visits or big night out in any dodgy Sheffield student bar or anything! Save that for another time :) We got back into London around 7pm then I headed down to Leicester Square to meet up with Uns as well as Paul and Carol. We'd organised to meet up for dinner in China Town as we hadn't seen them in ages and China Town seemed fairly central for the four of us. They were waiting for us at Ku Bar, but we decided not to stay on for a drink and instead head over to Wardour Street for Japanese at Misato.

Misato have a pretty good name for their Katsu curry, and considering most of the clientele were Asian, it seemed a good choice for dinner. The portions were massive, so there was no fear of any of us going hungry! After dinner, Paul and Carol left to make their way home, and Uns and myself decided to take a slow walk through China Town since it was a lovely evening! It's a good feeling knowing that the actual summer isn't all that far away!