Silly American with British Food
I didn't blog yesterday, cause we were too busy, so here I am blogging late for both Saturday and Sunday...it's been a very busy and totally awesome weekend!
Ok, first things first: I happened to weigh myself on Jamie's scale Thursday night and I discovered that I had mysteriously lost 3pounds somewhere over the Atlantic. Now, I don't know if maybe the Earth's gravitaional pull is slightly less severe in London due to the extensive pollution, but I have to say I was psyched. By Friday morning I was another .5pound lighter. I think it might be time for me to invest in a new scale since mine is old and clearly miscalibrated. This being said, I planned to eat my way through the weekend. Oh, food glorious food.
On Saturday, after Jamie dragged my sorry butt out of bed, we decided it would be fun to walk along the South Bank and see the Globe Theatre, National Theatre, London Bridge, Millennium Bridge and Black Friar's Bridge. Which we did, BUT before we even got there we stumbled upon the Borough Market...this odoriferous open-air food market. So, we shove our way through the crowds to check out the stalls and Jamie finds a chicken burger place where she gets herself a sandwich with "everything"-- everything includes mayonnaise, salsa and spicy German style mustard. Yum?? I get it in my head that since I'm in England I should have something that I would never eat in America...hey-- when in London, right?! So, I stand in an endless queue for a West-country venison burger (I'm pretty sure Whales is the West-Country, but I'm not 100% sure on that point). There are lots of condiment options and I see bright yellow mustard that sure looks like French's to me. Since I don't consider French's to be very spicy and since I'm a little concerned about the actual taste of a venison burger I get it in my head that I need extra mustard, lots and lots and lots of extra mustard. I slap the bun in place and march off...then I take my first bite. Eye-popping, palate-burning, nasal-searing pain ensued. With tears streaming down my face I searched for a bin to spit the offending bite into. Needless to say, there weren't any and there I stood like a silly American, trying not to breathe through my nose or move my tongue. Jamie took a picture. The point of this story is: just because you see yellow mustard that looks like good olde American French's does not mean it is French's. Come to think of it-- at no point should you look at any food here and just assume it's like it's American counterpoint. I got rid of the bun and wiped off most of the evil wasabi/horseradish mustard in order to eat the venison. I made a valiant effort, but both Jamie and I ended up with big nasty stomachaches after that. We needed a brief time-out.
Moving on.
Following our tour of the South Bank, we crossed the river to take a proper English Creame Tea. Along the way we met a stag party. Yep, that's right I flew all the way to London to see how the English treat their grooms-to-be. This bevy of boys was actually wearing antlers...pretty funny unto itself, but add to that the fact that they all had custom-made rugby shirts on that included a picture of the groom on their chest and their nick-name on the back and they were quite the drunken herd. Since they were lost Jamie whipped out the omni-present A-Z and explained to them how they were to get where they needed to go. Boy, there's nothing like seeing an American gal tell a group of English lads how to get about in London. I was very proud. They wanted us to join them on their pub-tour, but we declined.
Finally, we did have a lovely tea. Then we were off to Jubilee Market, for some souvenir shopping. At about 6 we met John for dinner. It would have been a great meal if it weren't for the fact that Jamie ordered Asparagus Linguine. Described as linguine in a white wine butter sauce with sautéed asparagus it certainly seemed like a nice little vegetarian dish. Out comes our food and there on Jamie's linguine is squid AND ham but not one piece of asparagus. We called the waiter over to make sure that he brought out the correct dish. He did. We explained that Jamie was a vegetarian and he shrugged his shoulders. She picked everything out and ate a few noodles before giving up in order to have some well-deserved New York Cheesecake. (I had Berry Charlotte, as with the Welsh rarebit I had no idea what a Charlotte was, but I ordered it and it was great). When Jamie got home she posted 3 online revues...so future diners would beware. Way to go Jamie, if it had been me I would have sent it back!!!
Squid my ass!!!
We ended our evening with a trip to the theatre, Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. It was a 6-person production done with an amazing mobile set in a studio theatre. Fabulous direction, great acting (I think the English are born reciting Shakespeare) and a near-flawless use of set, props and stage. It was great and we all really liked it. We paid a lot for the tickets, considering the space, but I'm glad we did cause I really wanted to see a show while I was here and this was sooooo well done. I was impressed and I think Jamie and John were too, but I'll let Jamie do actual theatre critique in another blog.
Sunday morning Jamie had to drag me out of bed again, she very nearly deflated the air mattress out from under me. I'm glad it didn't come to that 'cause it would have made for a lousy start to my morning. We had a delicious brunch at a local cafe with Drew, another American living here. After that we set out for the infamous Spitalfield's Market. This is a HUGE flea-market style space with hundreds of stalls...everything from funky-new-hip clothing to retro-vintage pieces can be found for men or women. Accessories galore, CDs, food...you name it. We walked the entire space and I spent all the cash I brought. Jamie and I each left the market with about 4 outfits...she got 2 dresses, 2 tops, a t-shirt, a belt and a necklace while I left with 2 dresses that can double as tunic tops, suede boots, a hobo bag, a belt and a scarf. We were so exhausted after spending all that money that we went to a Spanish place for tapas and wine. When we got home we did a little fashion show for John, who was such a good sport he even took pictures. Tonight, after some incredible Indian food, we played a rousing game of Scrabble, unbelievably I won.
It was a really great weekend, lots of eating and shopping. Tomorrow we'll hit the gym to work some of it off before I have to fly back to the States :(
This is a great city, everyone should come visit Jamie and John!!
Ok, first things first: I happened to weigh myself on Jamie's scale Thursday night and I discovered that I had mysteriously lost 3pounds somewhere over the Atlantic. Now, I don't know if maybe the Earth's gravitaional pull is slightly less severe in London due to the extensive pollution, but I have to say I was psyched. By Friday morning I was another .5pound lighter. I think it might be time for me to invest in a new scale since mine is old and clearly miscalibrated. This being said, I planned to eat my way through the weekend. Oh, food glorious food.
On Saturday, after Jamie dragged my sorry butt out of bed, we decided it would be fun to walk along the South Bank and see the Globe Theatre, National Theatre, London Bridge, Millennium Bridge and Black Friar's Bridge. Which we did, BUT before we even got there we stumbled upon the Borough Market...this odoriferous open-air food market. So, we shove our way through the crowds to check out the stalls and Jamie finds a chicken burger place where she gets herself a sandwich with "everything"-- everything includes mayonnaise, salsa and spicy German style mustard. Yum?? I get it in my head that since I'm in England I should have something that I would never eat in America...hey-- when in London, right?! So, I stand in an endless queue for a West-country venison burger (I'm pretty sure Whales is the West-Country, but I'm not 100% sure on that point). There are lots of condiment options and I see bright yellow mustard that sure looks like French's to me. Since I don't consider French's to be very spicy and since I'm a little concerned about the actual taste of a venison burger I get it in my head that I need extra mustard, lots and lots and lots of extra mustard. I slap the bun in place and march off...then I take my first bite. Eye-popping, palate-burning, nasal-searing pain ensued. With tears streaming down my face I searched for a bin to spit the offending bite into. Needless to say, there weren't any and there I stood like a silly American, trying not to breathe through my nose or move my tongue. Jamie took a picture. The point of this story is: just because you see yellow mustard that looks like good olde American French's does not mean it is French's. Come to think of it-- at no point should you look at any food here and just assume it's like it's American counterpoint. I got rid of the bun and wiped off most of the evil wasabi/horseradish mustard in order to eat the venison. I made a valiant effort, but both Jamie and I ended up with big nasty stomachaches after that. We needed a brief time-out.
Moving on.
Following our tour of the South Bank, we crossed the river to take a proper English Creame Tea. Along the way we met a stag party. Yep, that's right I flew all the way to London to see how the English treat their grooms-to-be. This bevy of boys was actually wearing antlers...pretty funny unto itself, but add to that the fact that they all had custom-made rugby shirts on that included a picture of the groom on their chest and their nick-name on the back and they were quite the drunken herd. Since they were lost Jamie whipped out the omni-present A-Z and explained to them how they were to get where they needed to go. Boy, there's nothing like seeing an American gal tell a group of English lads how to get about in London. I was very proud. They wanted us to join them on their pub-tour, but we declined.
Finally, we did have a lovely tea. Then we were off to Jubilee Market, for some souvenir shopping. At about 6 we met John for dinner. It would have been a great meal if it weren't for the fact that Jamie ordered Asparagus Linguine. Described as linguine in a white wine butter sauce with sautéed asparagus it certainly seemed like a nice little vegetarian dish. Out comes our food and there on Jamie's linguine is squid AND ham but not one piece of asparagus. We called the waiter over to make sure that he brought out the correct dish. He did. We explained that Jamie was a vegetarian and he shrugged his shoulders. She picked everything out and ate a few noodles before giving up in order to have some well-deserved New York Cheesecake. (I had Berry Charlotte, as with the Welsh rarebit I had no idea what a Charlotte was, but I ordered it and it was great). When Jamie got home she posted 3 online revues...so future diners would beware. Way to go Jamie, if it had been me I would have sent it back!!!
Squid my ass!!!
We ended our evening with a trip to the theatre, Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. It was a 6-person production done with an amazing mobile set in a studio theatre. Fabulous direction, great acting (I think the English are born reciting Shakespeare) and a near-flawless use of set, props and stage. It was great and we all really liked it. We paid a lot for the tickets, considering the space, but I'm glad we did cause I really wanted to see a show while I was here and this was sooooo well done. I was impressed and I think Jamie and John were too, but I'll let Jamie do actual theatre critique in another blog.
Sunday morning Jamie had to drag me out of bed again, she very nearly deflated the air mattress out from under me. I'm glad it didn't come to that 'cause it would have made for a lousy start to my morning. We had a delicious brunch at a local cafe with Drew, another American living here. After that we set out for the infamous Spitalfield's Market. This is a HUGE flea-market style space with hundreds of stalls...everything from funky-new-hip clothing to retro-vintage pieces can be found for men or women. Accessories galore, CDs, food...you name it. We walked the entire space and I spent all the cash I brought. Jamie and I each left the market with about 4 outfits...she got 2 dresses, 2 tops, a t-shirt, a belt and a necklace while I left with 2 dresses that can double as tunic tops, suede boots, a hobo bag, a belt and a scarf. We were so exhausted after spending all that money that we went to a Spanish place for tapas and wine. When we got home we did a little fashion show for John, who was such a good sport he even took pictures. Tonight, after some incredible Indian food, we played a rousing game of Scrabble, unbelievably I won.
It was a really great weekend, lots of eating and shopping. Tomorrow we'll hit the gym to work some of it off before I have to fly back to the States :(
This is a great city, everyone should come visit Jamie and John!!
posted by Jamie & John | 2:33 PM
2 Comments:
I was going to write a blog of my own today, but decided against it because I didn't want you to miss out on Flo's last entry. So I'll just comment on hers. I just want to add three things. First off- I definitely agree with Flo about Titus Andronicus. While I do believe we spent too much for the tickets considering we were in a tiny space that must have had a very small budget, I thought it was a fine production. The Direction was phenomenal. It was clean and precise and I could just see his Script with the three columns on the left and perfect blocking notation. A man after my own heart! The use of the minimal set was inspirational for a director who is used to trying to do a lot with a little AND there was no set designer which means that the director came up with it himself-kudos! The acting was also very impressive. The only thing I had an issue with was the lighting. I don't think the lighting designer saw a run-through of the show. The Director used levels brilliantly, but the lighting designer didn't give him light for the upper levels. There were many times when the actors were in the dark. It was a shame. But as I said, overall I was very impressed with the production and look forward to seeing more of their work.
Secondly, I would like you all to know that John came with us to Spitalfields Market yesterday and endured endless hours of shopping for which he was rewarded with a couple of CDs, a T-Shirt, tapas and wine!
Finally, I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it was to have a visitor. This is a great city and having someone to show it off to makes it even better! I would like to repeat our invitation to you all- please visit when you can. And as an added incentive- I promise if you come, you can guest-blog.
Oh Flo!! I should have warned you about Indian food the night before a trans-Atlantic flight! Needless to say we had a bad experience with it.
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