Science Museum, South Kensington

If you remember, I went to Natural History Museum lates a few months back, and it seemed like the right time to revisit Exhibition Road, so I headed off to my favourite of the area, the Science Museum.

This month the focus was on Churchill and the 1940s, with a swing band at the entrance and swing dancing upstairs.

In the space exhibit, a silent disco had people raving like it was a Friday night at a club, not Wednesday in a museum. The canteen had a mini debate group crowded around a table, while upstairs we were taught how to screen print (with an appropriately themed radio tower and planes).

Devi's, Maltby Street Market

Tucked away in a little road by the railway arches near Bermondsey is Maltby Street Market, a nest of street food stalls, restaurants and a handful of authentic antique shops, complete with creepy items in stock (pretend heads from the London Dungeon, anyone?).

We popped down on Sunday, to visit newcomers Devi's, an Indian food stall which, as well as selling delicious vegetarian food (with just the right level of spice), is raising money to build free schools for girls in rural India.

We went for the 'very good vara pau', a potato bhaji in a sweet brioche bun, oh and a chocolate brownie from the much-too-tempting Bad Brownie stand..

Citadel Festival, Victoria Park

On Sunday I went along to Citadel, a new one day festival in Victoria Park, east London.

The site follows the same layout as Lovebox, but the atmosphere is much more relaxed, with vintage stalls, gypsy jewellery stands and indie music.

My favourites for the day had to be Bombay Bicycle Club, who had not one, but three surprises for the audience, showering us and themselves with streamers and glitter.

Bear's Den were amazing too, though the hot weather had me melting while I tried to watch them, at least until I had some delicious bubble tea!

On the headphones: Anya Marina

I first fell in love with Anya Marina's music years ago, after seeing her perform at a tiny festival in my hometown. Her distinctive voice has such an intimate feeling to it, whilst her beautiful melodies have a slight rock'n'roll edge. You may not know the same, but you'll recognise at least one of her tunes from their appearances in Twilight and Grey's Anatomy.

I hadn't thought about her in years, until this week when I was searching for a similar name and she popped up! Turns out the songstress has a new record coming out, with a PledgeMusic campaign to fund it. She's already reached her target, so no pressure, but if you fancy having a little browse around, head over here.

In the meantime, enjoy this lovely number from her debut record:

Calling Festival, Clapham Common

So I cleverly spent last weekend's unbelievable (even for July) heat outdoors, wearing many layers of sunscreen of course. Heading over to Clapham Common, there was Calling festival going on, with my Swedish favourites from many years ago, The Hives performing a typically charismatic and energetic set. Amazingly, they even wore their sharp white suits, so I can't imagine how hot they must have been! (Actually, I can. As singer Pelle, stated onstage, it was only fairly hot. Then The Hives played and it was VERY hot).

The highlight of the day was hotly tipped rockers Wolf Alice, who headlined the second stage with their melodic grunge-pop. Considering Noel Gallagher was about to step onto the main stage, they pulled in quite a crowd, with the centre dancing away through their whole set.

Things to do: Rooftop Cinema

The weather has been unbelievably warm this week, hasn't it? If you aren't cowering indoors, wearing factor 50 and trying desperately not to overheat, you may want to take advantage of our all-too-short summers and try Rooftop Cinema.

With four locations around central London, the company shows a mix of classic and new releases, with seating on comfy deckchairs (waterproofs to be provided in case of sudden downpours). There's drinks and snacks available to buy, and you also get a beautiful look over London from the heights of your chosen cinema.

For more information and listings, go to www.rooftopfilmclub.com/.

Rawduck, Hackney

Quite obviously (with me being vegetarian), this isn't a post about eating uncooked birds. It is in fact, about a lovely brunch place in Hackney. Granted, there are many places that'll serve you the local standard, poached eggs, kale, avocado, but Rawduck, situated on the edge of London Fields serves it up in the freshest form with beautiful presentation.

The staff are friendly, the room is light and airy and the coffee is some of the best to be found (quite a claim, I know). There's a relaxed atmosphere, to the point where you wonder who are the servers, before releasing that the person chatting with you is also bringing your drinks. Definitely the place to go on a late summer morning.

On the headphones: Gin Wigmore

I'm really feeling the retro vibes today with the new single from New Zealand-turned-Deep South songstress Gin Wigmore. Imagine Duffy's vocals, over a dark, electro beat and you'll be close to the sounds of her new single 'New Rush'.

Her new record, 'Blood To Bone' was written in Brixton's own Iguana Studios, with Alt-J producer Charlie Andrew and is due out this October.

Barclaycard presents British Summer Time with The Strokes, Hyde Park

More of a festival than simple a performance, Barclaycard presents had expanded on last year, hosting four stages and a small festival-worth's food stalls. It might not quite match east London's food markets, but there's plenty to choose from (including a couple of decent veggie options!).

The only downside (except for accidentally positioning yourself behind the 'treehouse' to watch the main stage) are the horrific bar queues. For a quicker turn around, head left, but still expect a long wait, so pick a bar with a good view.

Thursday's one-before-headliner Beck had the crowd dancing wherever they stood, with a surpassingly number of memorable tracks, especially those from his Futurama appearances. 

The Strokes may look tired, but they still bring energy to every fan-favourite track. Frontman Julian Casablancas struggles a little with stage banter, resorting to typically British chats about the weather, but his synthesised vocals are as powerful as ever. 

Cahoots, Soho

The Blitz is long finished, thankfully, but deep (not so deep) underground in Soho, the spirit lives on in a secret little bar near Kingly Court, called Cahoots. The experience is almost completely immersive, with a guard to welcome you aboard, train carriage seating and a newspaper style cocktail menu.

If you're planning to sit in, you'll need to book far ahead, but visit early in the week and there may be space at the bar, where you can watch the delicious, and very inventive cocktails being made. We stuck to the standard glasses, but there was an interesting one in a tea cup, with a biscuit on the side that definitely looked worth trying..

Vauxhall City Farm

It's almost strange to think that farms exist in the city, especially such a sprawling one as London, but still there are a few scattered about, bringing the countryside into the urban landscape.

For those of you who read about my trip to the Horniman Museum, you'll know how much I love rabbits, so I was pretty excited to see that they have a few at Vauxhall City Farm! As well as chickens, horses, sheep, turkeys and many others, of course.

For just £1, you can enter their miniature 'petting area', where a helpful member of staff will help you interact with some of the more friendly animals. When I visited, there was a beautiful little lamb, a flock of ducklings and, most adorable of all, a lionhead rabbit.

Find it at: 165 Tyers Street, London SE11 5HS

Tate Britain, Millbank

Tate Britain may not be as popular as its 'modern' sister over in Blackfriars, but it's filled with inspiring artworks and thoughtful pieces from historical and current artists alike.

Current exhibitions include the pre raphaelite movement (remember that classic painting of Ophelia?), as well as Tracy Emin's bed, which, if you haven't heard yet, shows a unique insight into the artist's life in her younger years.

It's quiet enough there, that even on a weekend you can stroll around peacefully as we did, taking in each piece of work at a time. To avoid getting lost, we tried the 'always turn right' trick, but there's so many different parts to the gallery that you could be wandering in there all day.

My favourite part was the drip colour drapes, hanging from the ceiling of the central gallery. Having been left in dye, the colours were slowly soaked into the material from the bottom upwards.

Find it at: Millbank, London SW1P 4RG

Tayyabs, Whitechapel

It's rare that I'll be patient enough to queue up for food, so you'll know that I was promised something great when I agreed to go to Tayyabs, a hugely popular Pakistani Punjabi restuarant in Whitechapel.

You can book in advance, but for a truly authentic experience you simply give the server your details and then huddle around in the foyer, smelling the amazing food and examining the sweets counter carefully. You might be waiting a while, but its completely worth it. The portion sizes are decent, the food is well priced, and the food is just delicious (sorry there are no pictures, I was too busy eating..).

What's more impressive is the sheer size of the restaurant, with diners spread out over three floors, and separate dining areas on each floor. For a massive-scale like this, the service is incredibly fast and efficient, so you won't be kept waiting with your mouth watering for long!

Find it at: 83-89 Fieldgate Street, E1 1JU

Udderbelly Festival, Southbank Centre

For anyone who's walked along the south bank lately, you might wonder why there's a giant inflatable purple cow (yes, you heard that correctly!) casually sat behind the bridge from Embankment, near the London Eye.

Those of you in the know will have already wandered in, to explore Udderbelly Festival, a pop up selection of bars, food stalls and full on theatre performances.

The main area is free entry, but you'll need to bring cash if you want to sample the food, including pittas, burgers and gluten free pizza.

Theatre shows need to be booked, with performances from comedians including Richard Herring coming up, as well as the exhilarating vaudeville circus troupe Scotch & Soda, and lots more.

Find it at: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road Coach Park, SE1 8XX

Pop Brixton

A new pop-up outdoor opened over the weekend, built from metal shipping containers for that typical East-London boxpark look. But wait. It's not East London at all, in fact, Pop Brixton is in that deep, dark area that exists south of the river..

If you've ventured down there before, you'll have already sampled many of the treats that are available from Brixton Market, some of which feature at Pop too. The containers are still filling up, but for now, there's bars aplenty, plus a mix of food stalls from the classic market ramen to meat grills and Mexican. It's quite short on seating, but there's room to stand around. Best to get down early though, many of the stalls were running out of stock by 10pm..

Top tip: the lychee vodka shots are definitely worth a try!

Find it at: 53 Brixton Station Road, SW9 8PQ

A day trip to Brighton

I've always loved the sea, so when the long weekend came around I just had to head down to the coast.

Brighton is less than an hour from London, with trains running from London Bridge, Elephant and Castle and Victoria. For the cheapest prices, book in advance and look for deals on specific train lines.

The city has a relaxed vibe during the day, with the exception of the bustling pier, complete with arcades, fairground rides and traditional seaside souvenirs.

For a more cultural side, we wandered through the Lanes, an area of art galleries and cosy pubs. The Indian inspired Royal Pavilion is definitely worth a look too, if you fancy a walk round it's gardens.

In the evening, we took a walk along the pebble beach and made a few patterns out of stones. 

Hej Coffee, Bermondsey

It was a sunny bank holiday, so we wandered towards Bermondsey. Finding out way into the sun-trap of Bermondsey Square, we stopped at the cosy little Scandinavian coffee shop, Hej on the corner.

The staff are incredibly friendly, giving it a local feeling and the cinnamon buns (of course) are delicious, especially when heated up. The walls are decorated with contemporary art, and there's an arty mock-moose head above the fire (don't worry, it looks nothing like a living moose!).

Find it at: 1 Bermondsey Square, London SE1 3UN

Top tip: If you don't fancy the buns, try the 'everything cookie'..

Meeting the Moomins, Skandium

Last weekend we paid a visit to Skandium, a Scandinavian design shop in Kensington who were hosting a special day to celebrate the release of the new Moomins film. I'm a huge fan of the Finnish trolls myself, so just had to go along and meet one in person.

 The shop itself stocks various impeccably designed furniture pieces, from sofas to light fixtures, as well as Moomin crockery, toys and Scandinavian sweets. If you're at all interested in product design, the store is a must-see, even if, like me, you'll be wishing you had your own home to fill with their products.

Warner Bros Studio Tour: The Making Of Harry Potter

Leave your pride at the door, and suspend your disbelief as you enter the Warner Bros Studio Tour. There's no shame in fan-girling as you tread the floors of the great hall, or scream with delight on your first broomstick ride.

Although the trip, and souvenirs may be a little pricey, The Making Of Harry Potter is a truly unique experience, looking at the intense workload and attention to detail that went into creating such an incredible world for the big screen.

You can sample butterbeer (although taking any home is not allowed), climb aboard the Hogwarts Express and practice your wand-waving skills, with enthusiastic staff members explaining each section, if you ask them nicely.

Top tips: Turn up at least 30 minutes early, there's a long queue to enter. The canteen outside isn't great, and is quite expensive, so it's worth eating before you head in.

How to get there: Coaches depart from London Victoria, or take the train from Euston to Watford Junction, where buses run to the studio every 20 minutes

Comptoir Libanais, Soho

Last Sunday we wandered around Soho, looking for a place to eat that didn't have a minimum of thirty minutes waiting queue. I'm not a particularly fussy eater, but being vegetarian does limit the choices, even in a place as diverse as Soho in central London.

Luckily, we stumbled across the artfully decorated Comptoir Libanais, a chain of Lebanese restaurants with colourful themes. The food was rich, but not stodgy, a vegetarian moussaka came with the aubergine cooked perfectly and layers of creamy sauce. We tried the flavoured vodka as well, which was stronger than expected, but equally refreshing.

If you're fancying something more healthy, there are a variety of wraps, each comes with a salad, or mix things up with a mezze platter piled high with tasty dips and fresh flatbread to share.

Find it at: 59 Broadwick Street, W1F 9QH