On Sunday morning, I took a leisurely stroll through the charming Columbia Road Flower Market. The wares were absolutely gorgeous and made me wished I lived in London among a house full of flowers, refreshed on the weekly. The only less-than-charming attribute were the merchants warning tourists they may be mugged at any moment and to keep their cellies hidden. Fantastic. Even better, as I was looking up directions to haul out of there, a woman stopped me and told me to put my phone away, because the muggings were very bad. Joy. Well, these hydrangeas were nearly worth it and thankfully, no one messed with me.

If someone gave me this bouquet, I’d marry them tomorrow, mugger or not.

The peonies were the size of a baby’s head.

Of course I was obsessed with the pink pineapples. Why don’t we grow these in the states?!

After a very long walk through Hackney and thankfully amongst the crowd of the Hackney Half Marathon, I arrived at the very unassuming Violet Bakery, very appropriately on the first anniversary of Harry and Meghan.

I didn’t have nearly enough time to over analyze the menu, so I opted for a flat white and take-away oatmeal cookie that featured some delightful candied orange. It was absolutely divine, but I was bummed there were no cakes for sample or purchase.

Busy avoiding muggers, I hadn’t eaten all day and also opted for the half order of avocado toast, clearly the avo-toast of The Dutchess, herself.

While the walk was long and a tad undesirable due to the relative sleepiness of the neighborhood and not really understanding my safety level, I would say that Violet Bakery was worth the trek. I’d really like to return and sample a proper dessert or scone, but a girl can only eat so many snacks in one day. If you’re at the flower market with some muscle, this is a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning and you can hop between very sleepy neighborhood pubs along the way. I chose to skip that fun part because although they were full of marthon-cheerers, I wanted my wits about me and to just arrive there.