Columbia Road Flower Market and El Ganso at Broadway Market

If you were a bumblebee in London, there's probably only one place you'd want to be on a Sunday. Columbia Road. Following our little striped friends, my mother and I met up with my godfather and headed to Columbia Road flower market to have a little poke about and see if we could find any green-fingered deals. We were lucky- the sun was shining and it was surprisingly warm for October, meaning the market was in full swing!

The market is fantastic. Buskers line the road before the stalls start, filling the air with lively music. Then come the flowers. Every stall is stuffed with a myriad of colours as different beautiful flowers fight to get your attention. The displays are beautifully overwhelming and smell pretty fabulous too! As you squeeze past the other shoppers, delicious floral scents invade your nose, enticing you in.

Mum found what she wanted (two little box lollypops to guard the front door), I found a little chilli plant to brighten up my boyfriend's uni room (fingers crossed it survives!) and my godfather found some exotic redy-orange flowers I don't know the name of.

Plant hunting however is pretty hungry work and so before long, we were leaving the sights, sounds and smells of Columbia Road behind us and following my godfather to lunch.

Now, my godfather is many fabulous things, but 'foodie expert' is definitely one of my favourite qualities of his. If I want to know anything about anything vaguely foody, whether it's where to go for the best brunch to how to bake a soufflé, it's my godfather I ask. Baring this in mind, I was rather excited when he said he knew of a 'great tapas place,' El Ganso.

Well, I don't call him an 'expert' for nothing. El Ganso was fab! The little tables outside were full of people basking in the autumn sunshine, wine glasses in hand and plates piling up in front of them which I took as a good sign of what was to come.

Once seated at my godfather's favourite table, we perused the menu and picked out a number of dishes to share.

My cheese board arrived first. Cheese matures in red wine, with grapes, walnuts, quince jam and savoury biscuits. Yum.

Then the other food started piling in. All the plates were presented so beautifully but I couldn't wait to try them! The black pudding with tomato marmalade was particularly good, as was the tuna... and the salmon... and just look at the calamari!

My godfather showing Mum how to figure out Facebook

Thoroughly stuffed though I was, I of course had room for pudding. Hello lemon and poppyseed cake!

I had a wonderfully enjoyable afternoon munching my way through enough food to feed a small village for a week, but before long it was time to go home. Congratulating my godfather on his brilliant choice of restaurant, we rolled ourselves out of the door and into our car. Food, family and friends, it turns out, is the recipe for the perfect day!