Today I got up early to go with my friends Lauryn, Paige and Mandy to Portobello Market. It was an absolutely incredible day. We walked across Hyde Park to the market which was absolutely exploding with activity. We were on a mission to find t-shirts with the goofy Wills and Kate engagement pictures. I really love the Portobello Road Market. It's fun and vibrant, and even the houses on either side of the road are brightly painted and full of flowers. The wisteria vines crawling up some of the houses were already blooming. They were also about as big around as my waist near the ground, so I imagine they are incredibly old. We stopped at the infamous Hummingbird Bakery for red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Sooooo good! I looked at some silver, but decided I really need to do some research before I buy any. I got 4 scarves in bright colors, because I don't have any solid color scarves at home, and I know Erin's just going to steal them anyway. I found a postcard with the "Keep calm and carry on" phrase, which I'd been looking for, and a simple Union Jack magnet for our fridge collection here at the flat. I went back to a seller of antique prints I'd seen the last time I was there and selected a Beatrix Potter print with two scenes from Peter Rabbit, as well as a beautiful "Dandelion Fairy" print from the 1930s for Brooke. All along the way I took pictures, but I realized half way through the morning that I had forgotten to put my memory card in my camera so none of them worked. I'll steal my friends' pictures in the next few days and post those.
After the Portobello Market, we took a tube over to London Bridge, where the Borough Market was in full swing. This market is more about foods. You can buy really amazing cheeses, fresh meat of all sorts, odd-looking fishes, honey, fruit preserves, strange mushrooms, fresh herbs and every kind of fruit and vegetable imaginable, plus put-together meals. We roamed the market, searching for curry, but found none. Then Mandy spotted a booth that she had eaten at before and we just had to try it. The line was huge, but it was well worth it. They had rounds of sweet, nutty white cheese cut in half that were placed on special stands underneath a heat light. The top of the cheese would bubble and melt and turn just barely crispy while the men at the stand mashed up some tender potatoes and threw a handful of sweet gherkins and pickled onions on the side. Then they would scrape the top layer of melted cheese onto the bed of potatoes. It was indescribably good. Like, life-changing good. Best meal ever! We also had seen some people walking around with iced tea, so while I stood in line, Mandy found us our own glasses. It was truly wonderful iced tea, probably the best I've ever had. She said it was called something like "Ceylon" tea, and was made with lemon and spearmint and had the perfect balance between sweet and bitter. Perfect to cut through my plate of cheesy potatoes on a super hot day!
After we had all eaten our fill, we took off for something we'd heard about called the "London Southbank Chocolate Festival," which we were pretty excited about. We walked there from London Bridge, which was a pretty good walk and of course I had to get blisters, but it was very pretty and the light wind from the river was nice on the hot day. We found our way to the Royal Festival Hall, where the festival was being held in the courtyard and oh my goodness. There was chocolate EVERYWHERE! And not just chocolate, but good chocolate! First we stopped for a chocolate beer, which I liked a lot, then for a chocolate strawberry, then mixed fancy chocolates with elegant flavors like "black cardamom" and "coffee and star anise," then flavored white chocolate in orange, lemon, and strawberry, then dark chocolate-covered coffee beans, then super dark, bitter, chocolate, then chocolate in little shapes like Easter bunnies and ducklings. It was heaven. I only bought one bag of mixed fancy chocolates that had been "factory rejects" for 2 pounds (amazing deal) because I was so stuffed with chocolate by the end. But when I got home, I decided I'll just have to go back tomorrow for more. Mostly that decision was made by my mother, who, while I was skyping her, gave me a good lecture about how I needed to bring some home for her. So now I'm looking forward to tomorrow even more! Tonight is Wine and Cards night with my friends, which is always wonderfully fun.
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