“A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said,
“Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed—
Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.”

No pepper or vinegar today just lemon juice and Guinness as we spent the day at Hayes Galleria for the seafood festival.

After a trip to Hamburger Union for brunch we wandered through Covent Garden then down to the South Bank.

Normally Martin and get to amble along while the kids run off to explore but today Joanne was out of sorts and spent all day holding one of our hands or the other and complaining of a tummy ache (which oddly disappeared when we stopped for an ice cream). We watched the Peregrines roosting at the Tate Modern then strolled down the riverside in search of oysters.

Richard and I waited, getting our bearings amongst all the stalls while Martin and Joanne went to the toilet. And we waited, and waited. Eventually they appeared, it turned out that Joanne was trapped inside a toilet and had to be freed by the caretaker. Clearly it wasn’t her day. But after a sit down she soon perked up and they were off exploring while Martin and I got down to the serious business of oysters.

We came here last year but too late in the day and I was anxious to take Martin to the Whitstable Oyster stall. Whilst most people were selling rock oysters this stall sold the English native Whitstable Oyster and we decided to have the larger size 1’s. The taste and texture was amazing and they are clearly superior to the rock oysters generally on sale and whilst we savoured every one they were, alas, over all too soon.

See all the pictures here …

“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter,
“You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?’
But answer came there none—
And this was scarcely odd, because
They’d eaten every one.