Harrod’s and a stroll
We visited Harrod’s food hall and ogled the goods. Too expensive to buy anything but we enjoyed seeing how the other half lives. Note the price in the lobster is 34 pounds which is about 68 dollars…yicks! It was swanky but I’ll take Borough market any day.
It was a beautiful day with a big, blustery wind so we went for a walk in Kensington Park. Dexter and a swan engaged in a staring contest…the swan won. The tree’s buds were all exploding and the fragrance of the flower pictured in the last frame was incredible…but I didn’t recognize the bloom.
Today is our last day and we wanted to go to Kew Gardens but the tube service is down and so we’ll explore areas we haven’t yet and visit the famous Abbey Road crossing.
Cheers!
Old Smoke, art, and wildebeest
Old smoke is London’s nickname and it’s easy to see why. Our lovely weather has given way to drizzle and fog but the temps are still reasonable and if we carry our umbrellas we guarantee it won’t actually rain.
We went back to the Tate Modern and the Imperial War Museum. Both are excellent museums with such extensive collections that we were unable to see it all on our first visits. The IWM has a fascinating exhibit on what it was like to live in London during the blitz. The Tate has these huge tube slides that the boys were crazy about. I loved the Sliding Doors exhibit which focuses on perception.
After our late afternoon nap (yes, holiday is fabulous) we hopped back on the tube and headed east to Tower Hill Station. We had a brief walk to the evening’s restaurant but we managed to get incredibly lost and ended up hailing a cab to take us the short distance to Cafe Spice Nameste.
Aidan Brooks did some training at this restaurant and once he knew we were eager to eat Indian food he and his father Mike recommended that we go to Cafe Spice. We are so glad we did because it was fabulous. To be honest I’ve never eaten Indian food in a restaurant. I’ve made Indian food and I’ve eaten it at a friend’s house but in Madison there aren’t a lot of Indian food options.
Alex was looking forward to the new culinary experience but Dexter was worn out and claimed that he wouldn’t be eating. But that quickly changed. The papadums arrived and we all dug in. For starters we ordered the fabulous traditional snack mix of Bhael Poori, a potato fritter type thing called Papeta Nay Kheema na Pattice, and a lamb Dosa. For entrees Alex ordered the Wildebeest skewers, I had the Ostrich Bhuna, Dave went with the stuffed chicken breast of Saphaed Murgi ni Chaanti, and Dex had the Vindalho de Carne de Porco. We also had Peshwari Naan. Everything was incredibly fresh, full of individual flavors that really popped, and it was delightful. Alex and Dave favored the Wildebeest as their favorite and I loved my Ostrich, and of course Dexter adored his Pork. The meal was a huge success. I wish I could eat food like that all the time. It was so inventive, robust, and delicious. I have to learn how to make the peshwari naan because it was positively addicting. We had no room left for dessert though.
Today we will prowl through more museums and tonight we’re seeing a show in the west end called Jump. It is billed as Jackie Chan meets the Royals…should be a hoot.
Cheers!
The London Tower, British Museum, and Cheese
Leaden Hall and the blokes having a pint of Guiness outside the pub.
London Tower with Tower Bridge in the background.
A lovely example of the vast amount of loot plundered by the Brits and on display at The British Museum.
British cheeses on sale at Neal’s Yard Dairy. Delicious stuff here.
More cheese…we bought some Kirkham’s Lancashire.
Last night we went to Ealing Common for a incredible dinner of sushi at a mom and pop establishment called Sushi Hiro. Very fresh, absolutely perfect sushi served just the way I like it…by the chef’s determination of what is best. Today we are somewhat worn out. The British Museum is huge and frankly I can only tolerate so many frigging grecian urns before I go insane.
Some observations:
- We’ve only seen a total of four children in restaurants.
- Brits use the f__ word in the newspaper and telly but consider the word “bloody” to be a swear word.
- Coke and Pepsi are often served in glass bottles. You know the kind we haven’t seen in the US since the 1980s.
- The Coke served here is made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
- Pubs have to be licensed for children (many aren’t).
- So many smokers…everywhere.
- There are pictures of naked women in the phone booths and newspapers.
It has been easy posting while on holiday. GHs laptop, my camera, wordpress and FTPing my photos to Bluehost have made it a simple process. We are loving our holiday and hope to be more adventurous tomorrow.
Cheers!
