Side note. I would like to point out that the weather in London upon my arrival was cold, wet and very rainy. I think the temperature hovered around 45F or so, dipping into the high 30´sF at night. I couldn´t tell you for certain because the British)like the rest of the world) use the metric system, so 17C means nothing to me. I should take a quick lesson in the metric system. Hell, America should join the rest of the modern world and use the metric system.
Back to Saurday. We went to the nearby pub for a traditional English breakfast, yum! Had my tea with it and it was delicious. I had brought a guidebook with me, but hadn´t exactly read it, so my friend just led me around the city. Last time I was in London I did most of the touristy things. The tower of London, tower bridge, Tate modern, etc. So this time around I wanted some time exploring the city like the locals do. I´ve very much the traveler that likes to absorb the culture of a city. This trait leads me to stay at non chain hotels and eat local food at mom and pop places. It´s also led to stumble across some neat places and meet some really interesting people.
We end up taking the tube to central Londond(he lives in north London) and walked around Borough Market. He had mentionesçd this market and I wasn´t sure what to expect. I guess I was thinking that it was like the Farmers market at Sunset Valley. I was dead wrong. This market was amazing! It´s set up with a maze of food stalls. But along with the traditional fruit and vegetable stalls, you find fresh fish on ice, dried fruits, chocolates, italian desserts and loads of other food related items. AND they let you taste the food, so you get samples! I love sample day at Central Market, but this was sample day on crack. Everywhere you turned there would be yet another man with a sample tray. I took some time wandering the market and getting great shots of the stall and the atmosphere. I can´t wait to post some when I get back. If I go home.
After the market we wandered along the Thames and in and out of alley´s. Saw Millenium bridge(very cool design.)
Grabed some coffee at Café Nerro and made out way to London and Tower bridge. It started raining pretty hard and the wind was blowing which made taking pictures dificult. But I managed to pull off some shots without ruining my camera. I was freezing so we stopped at an H&M(reason number 17 to move to London) to buy a sweater. We continued to Tower bridge and crossed it on foot! I had no idea that you could cross it on foot. Got some good shots of the bridges structural detail....which probably no one except my best friend-the architect- will be interested in seeing. Made our way around the Tower of London amongst the hundreds of American high schoolers. Funny quote of the day from one of the American kids.High schooler guy: " Man I´m starving but I don´t want any of that awful British food. Who the hell thinks fish and french fries go together? Stupid British...hey there´s the McDonalds!" Oh my. No wonder the rest of the world stereotypes Americans. I struggled not to laugh as we walked by.
Below is the famous Globe Theatre and the detail on the iron gate. I just like the iron gate shot.
I think it was at this point we started to get hungry. My friend´s friend was meeting us for lunch so we decided to grab lunch at this place called Wagamama....an asian fusion place near the Tower. Yup, I had Asian food in London. I was quiet surprised and had a very good noodle dish with chicken and shrimp. Afterwards we took the bus to St. Pauls Cathedral. I have to say that I think St. Pauls is one of the most beautiful structures I´ve seen from the outside. Now if I could only go to London when the place was not under construction and closed. Alas the cathedral was closed for renovations when we got there. It was closed for renovations two years ago when I went also. Hurry up and finish it! Anyway we walked down the street and decided to go to Harrods. I had never ben to Harrods before. Clearly I being such a good shopper that I am knew all about the wonderfulness that is Harrods. But it was still a shock when I walked in. I had found my Mecca.
As soon as you walk in, all you really notice is the hundreds of people walking around and the Harrod employees dressed to the nine´s handing out maps. This place has a MAP with rooms outlined and numbered. We wandered the food halls for a while. I was impressed. More than impressed actually. The ornate ceilings, the crown molding, the exemplary attention to detail. The entire place is a tad bit overdone really. But it´s not cheesy, just shockingly admirable, considering American stores arent´t decorated a tenth of how Harrods is. We wandered the store just in awe. We hit up almost every floor. I was dragged to the sporting equipment level where I was amused to find riding equipment alongside soccer equipment. My friend is a huge Chelsea fan and so we spent a considerable amount of time looking through the Chelsea gear. Next we wandered to the home furnishings level because it was on the same level as instruments and I wanted to see the grand pianos. The bedroom sets were grand. There was a bed frame that was straight out of the Henry XIII era that was 130,000 POUNDS. That´s $260,00 for a bedframe, actual bed not included. The grand pianos weren´t much better price wise. But they were beautiful to look at, all shiny and black. I touched a key, just one and got a very dissaproving look from the employee that was hovering around.
Next came the electronic section combined with the movie/DVD section. The guys went crazy in there. They each bought a Wii game and a couple DVD´s. I wanted this DVD that was on sale, and was actually really cheap when translated back to dollars. But it would be one more thing for me to carry so I passed. After Harrod´s closed, we went back to the flat and unwound with a movie and a bottle of wine before going to the local pub. Oh how I love the pub atmosphere. So very laid back and chill. It reminds me of the Cain and Abel´s near UT campus, which was a favorite hang out in college. We drank some beers and made friends with the locals. British guys are fun guys. Had some fun discussion on British futbol and rugby teams. Good times.
Next up...Sunday wanderings...
As soon as you walk in, all you really notice is the hundreds of people walking around and the Harrod employees dressed to the nine´s handing out maps. This place has a MAP with rooms outlined and numbered. We wandered the food halls for a while. I was impressed. More than impressed actually. The ornate ceilings, the crown molding, the exemplary attention to detail. The entire place is a tad bit overdone really. But it´s not cheesy, just shockingly admirable, considering American stores arent´t decorated a tenth of how Harrods is. We wandered the store just in awe. We hit up almost every floor. I was dragged to the sporting equipment level where I was amused to find riding equipment alongside soccer equipment. My friend is a huge Chelsea fan and so we spent a considerable amount of time looking through the Chelsea gear. Next we wandered to the home furnishings level because it was on the same level as instruments and I wanted to see the grand pianos. The bedroom sets were grand. There was a bed frame that was straight out of the Henry XIII era that was 130,000 POUNDS. That´s $260,00 for a bedframe, actual bed not included. The grand pianos weren´t much better price wise. But they were beautiful to look at, all shiny and black. I touched a key, just one and got a very dissaproving look from the employee that was hovering around.
Next came the electronic section combined with the movie/DVD section. The guys went crazy in there. They each bought a Wii game and a couple DVD´s. I wanted this DVD that was on sale, and was actually really cheap when translated back to dollars. But it would be one more thing for me to carry so I passed. After Harrod´s closed, we went back to the flat and unwound with a movie and a bottle of wine before going to the local pub. Oh how I love the pub atmosphere. So very laid back and chill. It reminds me of the Cain and Abel´s near UT campus, which was a favorite hang out in college. We drank some beers and made friends with the locals. British guys are fun guys. Had some fun discussion on British futbol and rugby teams. Good times.
Next up...Sunday wanderings...
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