Touristy Travels

As a visitor of London, there are just certain things that need to be seen. We played our part as the typical American tourists by visiting some of the London sites, and, given my interest in history, I was obviously thrilled. Actually, I was quite excited after I got some sustenance. Thank you to my handy Italian sandwich shop!

Next to my dorm is a truly authentic Italian bistro -- and most likely cafe, although I was too eager to read that far down the menu. Hoards of Italian friends and family always fill up the small joint. I think of them as props, adding to the whole experience. Served on freshly baked breads, Italia Uno's traditional Italian sandwiches remind you just how special simplicity can be. 

I ordered what looked like the mother of all their sandwiches: three different meats, cheese, home-made sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, eggplant, pesto, love. I think the grease-stained parchment paper explains it all. Or the fact that we resorted to chowing down on the platform of the tube station because we couldn't wait until we were seated.

After making a complete mess on the tube, we arrived at the Tower of London. Five surprising finds and two letdowns: 

First, the Tower of London is less of a tower and more of a fortress. In fact, that's exactly what it is -- an old royal palace that takes hours to navigate. Second, if you alert the clerk at the ticket counter that you have no desire to make a donation to the Tower, then you'll receive a cheaper ticket that is not advertised on the price list. Evidently, they automatically add a donation into every price. What wankers!
Third, visitors are able to view and test out King Henry VIII's toilet.

Fourth, evidently Swarovski makes embellished guns for royalty. Whoever believes in gun control has obviously never tried a 9mm in amethyst.

Fifth and finally, I discovered the Church of Holy Fat Palate.

This ceiling oddly resembles a molding my orthodontist once took of the roof of my mouth.
The letdowns were much more shocking. First, when viewing the Crown Jewels, you can neither take photos nor fragments of any jewel with you. And most disheartening of all, I think I may have finally found the novel of my dreams, but it was unfortunately locked behind a pane of glass.

Cameron and I later ventured to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Making a quick trip to the Cathedral's toilets so that I could wash some spilled tahini sauce out of my shirt, we managed to get sufficiently lost on the cathedral floor before hiking up to the Stone Gallery, then the Dome, and finally the Golden Gallery.

The trek up the stairs was like a cross between an old episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? and a reoccurring nightmare I used to have when I was five.

The majority of the steps were open enough so that you could have some room to breathe and pretend as though you had an idea of the remaining distance to the top. 

The hard part came when the stairwell narrowed, and we couldn't see beyond the person in front of us. Suddenly, a cold wind rushed down the corridor, and we were reminded of our height. Our excitement picked up with the breeze until we finally found the light at the end of the tunnel.

The view was amazing, and the hair styles were even better.

The wind at the top was incredible. We could barely see with all the hair flying everywhere. We tried to take a picture of it -- the crazy hair, I mean --in the reflection of a window. This fellow traveler made it into the shot because, like I said, my vision was impaired.

It took us a few minutes to realize that we hadn't arrived at the absolute peak. After wandering in circles, we found yet another stairwell that took us to the top. Somehow, at the highest level of the dome, the air was completely still. The view was of course outstanding and made for another romantic excursion for Cameron and Paige.

Chocolate Smoked Salmon Sandwich

Once I'm in Borough market territory, I do consider myself a master of navigation, so much so that I decided to venture out to some of the surrounding cafes and shops. The first store I passed, Rabot Estate, sold everything chocolate, including sandwiches, and that little temptress of a store steered me straight to the smoked salmon and chocolate toastie with cocoa nibs.

Upon opening this modern twist on a Chinese takeout box, I couldn't help but appreciate the authentic chocolate fingerprint smear around the outsides. Oh yea, this baby was for real. Atop a vintage beer-barrel-turned-cafe-table, I tore open the box to reveal my prize.

Perhaps not the most gorgeous item to ever come out of a takeout box, but she had a hidden charm to her. My senses were a bit confused, picking up aromas of bittersweet chocolate mixed with fish, but I refused to let that deter me. This was going to be delicious. The arugula was a little unexpected, but surprises were welcome -- let us not forget what I ordered here. 
I took my first bite and instantly tasted the rich chocolate. I didn't pick up the salmon immediately, but the smell permeated through the sandwich--not like a smokey fish smell, but more like fishy fish smell, the type you don't want lingering around your chocolate. The whole thing was a little off-putting, but I refused to let it go down like that, so I sunk my teeth in once again. 
Now the arugula was joining in on the dance. For those of you who are unfamiliar with arugula, it is a bitter green that is wildly unpopular, and this sandwich was not helping its case.
For a moment, I grew legitimately angry that this chocolatier would actually sell a sandwich like this to human beings, but, surprisingly, I still want to go back. I can't leave any chocolate stones unturned.

2 Stoney Street
Borough Market
London
SE1 9AA
http://www.rabotestate.com/index.html

Borough Market: take 2 and 3 and....

Nothing can keep me away. I even walked to the market by myself last Friday without any sort of map or online route finder -- which was an experience within itself as I somehow wound up on a highway that was by no means pedestrian-friendly. Following vacated sidewalks and construction signs, I stumbled upon a building of King's College. Nice campus you've got there...

The most outrageous part about Borough Market is that I seem to go almost daily (that's not outrageous, that's just to be expected), and I still discover entirely new worlds of food with each visit. For instance, this empanada stand must have sprouted out of the ground since my last visit. And with the variety of fillings, you can try something new each time, and I plan to.

I somehow found yet another sausage station, but this one was cooking up something different.

I think I ordered the wild boar sausage, but I honestly couldn't tell you with certainty. There were so many options, and, when it came to ordering, everyone else seemed like an exotic sausage veteran, so I just became overwhelmed. I was so clueless that when it finally came time for me to order, I simply pointed to the one that looked the best on the grill. Whatever it was, it was the right choice.

But if you're in the mood for something a bit more familiar, then the Borough's got you covered.

Yes, that is a mountain behind that man's elbow, and yes, it is made up of cheese. This station is all about toasted sandwiches stuffed with nothing but layers and layers of shredded cheese. They will also make you a plate of potatoes coated in their melted cheese, but they seem to do it in the most inefficient, labor intensive way. These large, metal heaters are installed, inside which the master chefs and cheese carvers place half of a giant wheel of cheese. After the heater has melted and browned the flattened part of the cheese wheel, the entire cheese wheel is taken out of the heater, and the melted edges are scraped off and onto your potatoes.

And if you like oils, look at this keg lineup. It's like the frat party of olive oils.

You can taste, choose, and bottle up whichever flavors you like. Or, if you're in the mood for something sweet, make your way over to meringue heaven:

Or, my personal favorite which I can never seem to pass up, the chocolate-covered nut and dried fruit bar.

This station pours chocolate over everything from hazelnuts to dried bananas. They recently added a new milk-chocolate-covered honeycomb to their selection which is superb, but my favorite is still their chocolate covered almonds dusted with cinnamon. The best combination is getting a scoop of these bad boys in the same bag as another chocolate-covered treat. Then, you shake the bag so the cinnamon dusts everything with its bittersweet goodness.

Then, Cameron and I ran into these mega frying pans filled with different curries. 

The curries had brilliant color and smelled incredible, but after viewing it neighbors, I think curry may be the one food we will never try.

Hanging next to these oversized pans were freshly killed (I'm assuming fresh, but it's hard to tell these days) rabbits. They were bloody, covered with flies, and tourists still insisted on taking pictures with them. One man even went up and touched one in order to really make a memory. As Cameron is not only a huge fan of bunnies but also a vegetarian, we left the scene immediately to go get her a drink, and boy did we find it.

The market had a huge selection of wines in addition to an even larger selection of beers. The beers were arranged by country, and some had really beautiful bottles that resembled champagne. Many of them were also flavored, and Cameron picked out a bottle of raspberry beer.

But if you haven't yet acclimated to the British culture of starting your alcohol consumption at noon, you can make your way over to the Natural Smoothie Company's booth for some freshly squeezed smoothies and juices.

 Aaah, the delicious taste of success. Again.

Restaurant Deja Vu

A significant part of the London food scene is comprised of restaurants that can only be found in London yet are found all over London. If you're the type to quickly get turned off by chains, then you may want to reconsider. Ranging from French to Italian to Japanese, these restaurants are so quaint and delightful that, up until recently, I had no idea they were chains -- I simply thought I had been walking in circles.


The Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) is like the burger translation of the California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). They serve beef, chicken, buffalo, chorizo, lamb, lentils, falafel, and mushroom burgers -- and if you think that's bad, you should see the list of toppings. Of course by bad I mean WOW because they're putting camembert cheese and cranberry sauce on their chicken breast.

I went for the Mint Lamb burger with mayonnaise, homemade mint relish, and salad, which I think are the basic veggies you see before you. The burger was everything the menu said it would be and more, literally. Standing at a height of almost 1 foot, this thing was colossal. 
If you think I'm going to deem mayo as the winning ingredient, you are mistaken. Covering my hands, dripping down my arms, and somehow getting stuck in my hair, the relish got everywhere and I loved every second of it. I would have licked my plate if there was anything left on it, but by the last bite (yes, I finished it) all the remaining relish had made its way onto my body, so I opted for the napkin.


We had some more traditional palates at the table, but that's not to say their burgers weren't incredible as well.

David ordered the avocado & bacon burger, and, judging from that smile, I think he made a wise decision. He also ordered the gbk "chunky" fries, which are really special because of all the toppings, of course: garlic mayo, chili, bleu cheese, sour cream, satay, barbeque, smoked chili mayo, and sour cream & sweet chili dip.

After attending an outdoor play at the replica of the Globe Theatre in 40-degree weather -- which we left early because we were too cold -- Cameron decided to go with a milkshake. In her defense, it did look delicious, and I probably would have tried some if I wasn't so mortified that I had finished my burger in about 6 minutes. Or if I wasn't covered in relish.


Gourmet Burger Kitchen
1 Lindsey Street
Suite C Second Floor
London
EC1A9HP

Tel 0845 450 8937
Fax 0845 450 8938
Email info@gbk.co.u


Moving onto Chinese, Ping Pong, a restaurant that puts a modern spin on dim sum in a funky atmosphere, offers what they call "little steamed parcels of deliciousness" -- dim sum. Diners order in a similar fashion to ordering sushi, marking what they want right on a paper menu and handing the completed slip to the server.

Now for some more food porn:

Baked flakey Hoi Sin vegetable puff pastry glazed with honey

Crunchy vegetable & tofu roll with an herb-infused crust

Spicy mango dipping sauce

GRIDDLED spinach & mushroom dumplings
Citrus, apricot, and Goji berry dipping sauce

Crispy Hoi Sin duck roll
Hoi Sin sauce

And, la pièce de résistance, the butter to my bread and Hoi Sin to my duck.....

Steamed fluffy white buns with sauteed vegetables

Try to imagine a condensed cloud that's soaked in dry sweetness and hiding a savory secret. Yes, it's just like that. These spectacular buns define "little steamed parcels of deliciousness." All I need is about 20 more, and I'll be all set.

ping pong

Goodge Street
48 Newman Street
Corner of Goodge Street
LondonW1T 1QQ
tel: 020 7291 3080

Gallivanting in Greenwich

The commencement of classes caused my writing hiatus. My apologies, but evidently they're required.


So you missed my trip to Greenwich -- lucky you. 
Actually it was a fine trip that was tarnished due to a faulty weather reading that directed me towards clothing that was not nearly warm enough. Our tour guide also seemed a bit rushed and oddly annoyed, so I felt a little attacked at too early an hour. But overall it was good fun.

During our trek we ran into the set for the new Pirates of the Caribbean 3 movie. Unfortunately, we missed the taping by a day, but we still got to see part of the set and dozens of empty stables which I'm assuming housed all the A-list horses because they were completely bordered off.


For lunch, we went to a small noodle house that our tour guide wouldn't stop raving about. It's highlights were that it was warm and so was the food. 

They also had freshly made juices that arrived at the table with a thick layer of froth, fresh out of the production process. The apple juice was this vibrant neon green color. I've never thought of getting juice from a green apple, but the color was absolutely exquisite. Everyone seemed to be getting sick, so I was nervous to try it, but this may be worth a second visit.

The noodles were special because of the varieties and because of the toppings. 

I ordered a flat, translucent noodle with roast duck. There were some fatty pieces, but overall the meat was salty and spectacular. It was served in a sauce comparable to that of pad thai but not quite as strong or complex of a flavor.

Cameron ordered a thin, fried noodle with vegetables. It was good, but I think we agreed that next time we'll just go for pad thai.

One girl that was with us ordered the fried noodles with sweet and sour chicken. When I first saw it on the menu, I thought it sounded like overkill, but once it arrived at the table I was instantly jealous. 


After lunch we went to the Queens House and walked the famous Tulip Staircase. In 1966 Rev. R W Hardy visited the Queens House and was taking pictures of the interior when he snapped a startling photograph of the staircase. 

His wife was by his side and witnessed that there was no one else in the room; however, when the photo was developed, a hooded figure was grasping onto the rails of the stairs. After this photo was discovered and studied, many people later claimed to see a woman haunting the stairs and claimed that there were unidentified noises coming from the stairwell. 

Like a true oblivious tourist, I didn't read any of the dozens of signs that asked visitors to not use any cameras, so I was able to capture this great illegal shot of the beautiful staircase. No ghosts, however the light on the right looks a little like a tiny man....

We also visited the Prime Meridian of the world. This red ball slowly starts to rise at 5 minutes to 1:00 pm. When it finally reaches 1:00, the ball drops, setting the time for the entire planet.

Not quite New Years, but I’d like to see Dick Clark rock all 24 time zones at once.

After we watched the ball drop, we took a hike so that we could actually see the International Date Line for ourselves. The walk was surprisingly steep, but Cameron and I took it like champions.

In school you’re always told that the Prime Meridian is an imaginary line, but that's clearly false. Cameron and I got to stand on that line and then put one foot in the western hemisphere and one foot in the eastern hemisphere.

We left Greenwich and unintentionally spent some time at the University of London, which, as it turns out, is not the same thing as University College London. Cameron was of course very thrilled with that news.

Needless to say, we eventually made it home, and the adventures continued! Stay tuned...