Give me a quiet, and uneventful and an ordinary day any day – this is exactly how I can describe today. It started off with the difficult commute though – everything that could go wrong went wrong: bus turned up late, delays on the packed trains and the Circle line on the tube was buggered. Oh well, I had a nice 15-minute walk to work this morning and was only 7 minutes late to work! I always love walking through the City, even at peak time with many pedestrians rushing to get to their offices on time, I just wish I did not have to rush too much due to running late for work.

Bicycle sculpture by The Gherkin

Bicycle sculpture by The Gherkin

When I walk past The Gherkin in St Mary Axe, I always stop for a moment and look up – it is, after all, one of London’s most eye catching buildings 🙂 One day, me and Simon will go to the Searcys restaurant up there on the 39th floor. I am making a list of places to go to 🙂

I love the stainless steel bicycle sculpture installed in front of The Gherkin – according to the Observer, it is a creation of the Chinese artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei. Hmm, an interesting idea.

This evening I did some cooking at home. As my friend from Ukraine is staying with us this week I decided to cook him… borscht! I have not cooked it for ages and ages, and today is the day when I rolled up my sleeves and threw the necessary ingredients into my cauldron 🙂 Well, not quite that easy, there is a method to cooking borscht, but I think it turned out well. My friend brought me a few nice things from Ukraine – including delicious rye bread from the bakery in the city I grew up in. The smell and the taste of childhood…

Borscht with rye bread – a bright bowl full of goodness

Delicious rye bread

So this evening I was transported back to Ukraine just by eating the food I grew up with… Did I say it was just an ordinary day earlier? It has been nothing but extraordinary!