Southbank Centre Food Market

During a recent visit to London we happened upon this most amazing market selling great international street food. I didn't know at the time that this was a regular weekly event and have since been reading up about SC Food Market. 

Opening times

• Friday, 12 noon – 8pm
• Saturday, 11am – 8pm 
• Sunday, 12 noon – 6pm 
• Monday (bank holidays only), 12 noon – 6pm

Summer opening hours (July – August)

• Friday, 12 noon – 9pm
• Saturday, 11am – 9pm
• Sunday, 12 noon – 6pm
• Monday (bank holidays only), 12 noon – 6pm

Where to find it?

Situated just off Golden Jubilee Bridge and just a few minutes walk from The London Eye the SC Food Market is easily accessible. 

The food is fresh, colourful and very moreish! 

Stalls prepare their foods and drinks fresh each day, bringing vibrancy and tantalising tastes to the public, from small producers to independent traders, foods from home and abroad, there is literally something for everyone here.

Prices ranged from £2-£8 for most things and portion sizes were larger than I expected. We had a good look round first, starting off with cocktails. Mine was a rather delicious Hedgerow Berry cocktail mixed with Prosecco, from Honestfolk.

By the time we finished our drinks we were ready to choose. I opted for a Grilled Halloumi Souvlaki from The Athenian

It was delicious!

Emily went for traditional Italian wood fired pizza from Dough Bro and Mollie choose Chicken and Chorizo Paella, cooked by Label Anglais. Chris went for a burger from Jacob's Ladder, but he had eaten most of it by the time he walked back to us so no photo!

To finish I had Baklava, which was priced at £3 for 2 generous pieces. and the girls had fresh fruit and marshmallow kebabs with melted Belgium chocolate and an assortment of toppings!!! 

There is a limited amount of seating at SC Food Market and we got lucky as we spotted a group leaving and nabbed their table, great when you're with children but most people were happy enough walking round eating.

We LOVED the SC Food Market and I have already put it on our "Must Do" when we next visit London!

There was a great atmosphere and the place was packed. We enjoyed trying the different foods and the girls were keen to sample a few new things too.

Jaimexx

Shreks Adventure - Merlin Entertainment

We recently visited Shrek's Adventure London, situated on South bank just by Westminster Bridge. 

Shrek's Adventure is part of Merlin Entertainments and ticket prices start from £19.00 per adult and £15.30 per child (online discount prices.) or you can save even more money by purchasing a combi ticket and visit 2 or more of Merlin's Attractions!

Shrek's Adventure is open daily, 10-4pm weekdays and 10-5/6pm weekends (for more information ad to prebook your tickets then visit their website.)

We hadn't heard much about Shrek's Adventure before we went, unlike Merlin's other popluar attractions, so we were unsure of what to expect.

Checking in was simple, the queue for this was drastically quieter than nearby London Dungeons or Coca Cola London Eye, and we went straight through to the ticket desk. We had prebooked our time slot but arrived quite a bit early, however, the super helpful staff allowed us in early.

The great theming was evident from the entrance, some quirky nick nacks running along and behind the ticket desk and through the corridors to the attraction.

As we made our way inside there were plenty of signs about informing us that photography was not allowed so sadly we had to put our cameras away.

Separated at birth!

As we entered the first performance arena we were introduced to the quest we faced in Far Far Away Land and then boarded the Red Route Master to commence our journey. Shrek's Adventure takes you through 10 live character interactions within different areas of Far Far Away land, meet characters such as Cinderella and the Wicked Witch! These are live actors and I must say they were exceptional, not the usual cheese and awkwardness you find in attractions.

Each of the characters you meet include plenty of audience participation, including asking some of the children to look after objects to take with them to the next character. Both the girls had chances to do this and this certainly added a fun aspect to the tour.

Whilst we visited they were also running a treasure hunt, searching for Dinosaur eggs, this has since finished but I expect they will have alternatives throughout the year.

Finally you get to meet Shrek himself and at this point you are allowed to take photos. There was a short queue for this and the staff still gave each family ample time to pose with Shrek. The costume was high end which was pleasing as I have seen some shockingly cheap character costumes at attractions over the years!

At the end of Shrek's Adventure you will find an area for posing and some fun photo opportunities, a few interactive displays for the kids (the small and the BIG!)

Then the final exit via the gift shop, Emily found her twin in here! 

I must admit. this attraction was one of the most enjoyable of the Merlin Entertainment at South bank, second to the London Dungeons. Particularly as we had never been before. 

For more information then check out their website or find them on Facebook.

Check out our other Merlin Entertainment features:

The London Dungeon.

The Cola Cola London Eye.

Madame Tussauds

Sealife London Aquarium.

Time and Tide Museum Great Yarmouth

26th July 2017 UPDATE:

We were fortunate enough to attend a Bloggers Brunch at Time and Tide where we had a tour of the Titanic: Honour and Glory exhibit. The artefacts are part of a private collection from Scotland and are on loan until 24th September, (still plenty of time to catch it before it goes!)

Although many of the items are from the Titanic's sister ship The RMS Olympic, they are identical to those that would have been used on the Titanic itself. 

It was interesting to read the local connections, for instance if you were a 2nd Class passenger you would have enjoyed dining on Yarmouth Bloaters for breakfast!

Or read about Ellen Bird, a maid for a 1st Class passenger, she survived the shipwreck after her employer, Ida Strauss refused to leave her husband (millionaire Macys owner) and gifted Ellen her fur coat to keep her warm on the lifeboat.

We also found out information about the Wednesday Family Fun Days, running throughout the Summer holidays. The theme of these varies throughout the weeks, today's theme was Seaside Special, with hourly traditional Punch and Judy shows in the Courtyard, free face painting and some fun sand art (this was a BIG hit with the girls!)

The girls spent quite a while making their sand art creations, Mollie worked on a mermaid...

...whilst Emily created a whale about to eat a sea turtle!

Click here for more information about the Family Fun Days.

The girls and I took an evening trip to visit the Time and Tide Museum, Great Yarmouth. As part of the UK bi-annual event Museums at Night, the Time and Tide were offering visitors free entry from 6pm-10pm. 

What is Time and Tide?

Housed in one of the historic Victorian Herring works, Time and Tide showcases Great Yarmouth's vibrant history - from it's bustling herring fishing to wartime tales from locals, a replica Victorian Row to the progression of the seaside industry of which Great Yarmouth is well known for.

They also have a Titanic Exhibit - Honour and Glory, which is running from 1st April - 24th September.

This was something that the girls were particularly keen to see and was the main focus of our visit.

Where is it?

Time and Tide is situated along Blackfriars Road in Great Yarmouth. There is a public car park opposite the entrance or you can reach it by foot from the local town centre.

Normal opening times and prices.

Opening Dates

1 March - 31 October 2017

open daily 10am - 4.30pm

1 November 2017 - 31 March 2018

Monday - Friday 10am - 4pm Saturday and Sunday 12 - 4pm 

NB closed 24-26 December and 1 January

Ticket prices

Adult £5.70

Concession £5.40

Child (4-18) £4.55

Family (1 adult + all children) £14.55

Family (2 adults + all children) £19.40

Twilight Ticket (1 hour before closing) £2

The Museum

As you enter the gates, you will find yourself in an expanding courtyard, nostalgically decorated with bunting and Union Jacks. Children can enjoy a play on the wooden boat, view an old fishing boat and play courtyard games whilst adults enjoy a break at the Silver Darlings Cafe. 

Once we were inside the girls enjoyed wandering along the replica Row. For those who don't know, Great Yarmouth is home to a network of 145 very narrow streets which are unique to the town. These consisted of housing and shops. These were originally inhabited by both the rich and poor. 

In the Time and Tide replica you can see how the dwellings would have been utilised as housing, a pawn broker and an old Fisherman's home.

We then made our way through to where the old smoke rooms can be found. These are part of the originally building and are eerily atmospheric.

Great Yarmouth is infamous for its rich herring fishing, dating back in history to the Doomsday book! Sadly it is no longer the case but you can learn quite a bit about the herring fleets at Time and Tide.

Stand in one of the smoke rooms and you can detect the ancient smoked herring smells lingering.

Along this level we also found free face painting (as part of Museums at Night), music and tried our hand at Morse Code!

We then made our way upstairs to the second level to view the Titanic exhibit.

Here we spent time reading the names of the passengers and crew aboard the Titanic, dressing up as passengers, having a look at a replica of the sunken ship, the girls were particularly interested in this and hearing about how the ship broke into two.

 From here we moved through to enjoy a few more of the permanent displays. I really liked the Seaside Gallery. The old British Transport posters, the seaside regelia and swimwear of yesteryear!

In other areas of the museum you will find local history of World War 2, with audios of local residence and their war time experiences.

This area was a real eye opener for the girls, Emily couldn't get over the old Morrison Shelter and how these were used over beds. 

The girls also had fun seeing the objects from the 1950/60's. The old dial telephone brought back memories and the girls decided that dials were far too much hassle!

All in all we had a good visit, we will definitely look into when the next Museums at Night is running (usually around October). Its lovely that the Time and Tide celebrate and showcase the towns history.

For more information about Time and Tide, then visit the Norfolk Museums Services or find them on Facebook.