Notting Hill and Portabello Road

Today, I met Abbey's friend, Amy, and we visited Notting Hill and the market at Portabello Road. The market stretches nearly the length of Notting Hill (about a mile) and is famous for its antiques.



We got there a little after 12PM and left around 4PM. It was a long day, but the market is absolutely incredible. I didn't buy much (amber earrings and a ring -- I can't resist amber jewelry). It was just fun looking at everything, from strange old trinkets to contemporary fashion. The market had everything.





We ended up getting lunch at the market (a couple pies that were just okay), and intrigued by the many stands advertising it, I tried some mulled wine. It was pretty incredible, and I'm hoping to find a recipe for how it's made. It tasted a lot like traditional mulled cider (a personal favorite) but had the fruity hint of red wine. Abbey later got bruschetta from one of the food vendors, and Amy got a crêpe. It was all very good (and reasonably priced).

Here are some photos from the market. Thanks, Abbey!


These two musicians were a lot of fun! The sign on the side of the double bass provides a link to their MySpace page.


Not sure what to say about these mannequins from one of the stalls...


I got my photo with a Highlander!


And Abbey got her photo with the Queen!

Night Rider

Late at night, when all normal people are asleep, a black Lamborghini convertible appears right outside the door of Liberty House.

Abbey and I have both seen this car on several occasions, but only after midnight or before 6AM. We first spotted the car on a trip to the Smithfield Meat Market at 3AM. I saw it again when I left for the train to Cardiff at 5AM, and since then, there have been several additional sightings (always between 12AM and 6AM).

We have nicknamed this vehicle the "Night Rider." Some day, we will have to get our photo with this mysterious automobile. It's so fascinating and random...

"Brighton" Up Your Day

Abbey and I took a day trip to Brighton. Some of you may recognize the name from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The city is well-known as the decadent weekend destination of the Prince Regent (George IV).

In fact, the Brighton Museum displays the Prince Regent's "corpulent" trousers.




Brighton is a lovely seaside town. The architecture is very similar to that of Cape May, but it's much more extravagant and the water is significantly bluer than anything at the Jersey shore.



In this video, you can see the destroyed West Pier which was separated from the mainland after a hurricane and burned down in 2003. The Palace Pier (in the distance) boasts amusement rides, an arcade, and a wide assortment of sweets and candyfloss and ice cream.









Eventually, we decided to get lunch. After discovering that the restaurant in the guide book was closed down, we stopped at a local restaurant that served pretty typical British cuisine. I wanted to try fish (as we were at the coast), but the main dishes were a bit pricey. Ultimately, I decided to order a fish starter and a small main dish. I couldn't quite decipher which menu items were actually fish, so I assumed the "Whitebait with tartar sauce and lemon" MUST be fish (based on the presence of tartar sauce and lemon). Well, actually, it was many fish. Whole fish. Deep fried. Eyes, tails, organs, everything. You eat them whole... I wasn't quite expecting it, but it was pretty good, especially drenched in tartar sauce.

Croeso i Gymru

Taylor, Cate, Holly, Ariel, Eunice and I ventured out of England to Wales this weekend. As it was rugby weekend, Cardiff was packed with people, and we were unable to find housing in any hostels. Instead, we chose to "couch surf". I was pretty skeptical about staying with people we'd never met and knew very little about, but it turned out to be a fantastic experience. I would definitely do it again!

We stayed with a couple Cardiff University students and another couch-surfing group, a frisbee team from the University of Plymouth. I think there were something like 17 of us in total. In short, it was pretty crowded, but we got to meet a lot of interesting people. Our hosts helped us find our way around the city and were very accommodating. They were very laid back and didn't seem at all phased by 17 people traipsing through the house at all hours of the night and day. They had a bunch of large mattresses that were laid out in any available space. Our group had a bed and a mattress. Three people slept in the bed, two on the mattress, and two of us took the floor.

On the first day, we visited Cardiff Castle and Cardiff Bay. The castle was really fascinating and sits right in the middle of the city. The castle grounds are surrounded by a huge wall that sets it apart from the modern office buildings and stores that surround it. Mostly, there's just the keep and the castle itself.

Here's a photo looking out from a window in the keep. You can see the castle on the right and the city to the left.


After we'd explored the castle (and the gift shop), we hopped a cab to the Millennium Centre at Cardiff Bay. The buses were running on a strange schedule on account of the rugby craze, and the bay was a bit of a walk from the city centre.

Here's the stereotypical postcard photo of the Millennium Centre.


I also took a quick tour through the Doctor Who Exhibition at the nearby Red Dragon Centre. It was a lot of fun, but I was a bit disappointed. The exhibit consisted of a number of props and costumes from various episodes. The items were organized by episodes and each had a plaque that summarized the corresponding episode (with spoilers). Some (like the Daleks) used animatronics to move and make some noises. My major gripes with the exhibit were twofold. First, there wasn't any 'new' information. No interesting facts about filming or any write-ups about the cast or creatures. Except for the fact that I could see the costumes and props in-person, I could have gotten as much from watching the episode. My second gripe was that the exhibit only focused on the new reboot. Besides a couple pictures of the past Doctors on a wall at the entrance, any references to the earlier Doctor Who series were nonexistent.



The most interesting thing about the exhibit was really the people who came to see it. Mostly, the visitors were parents with children. The parents obviously LOVED Doctor Who and had imparted this sentiment upon their children. The parents would make some [geeky] comment about the show, and the kids would get so excited... Ah, well... I love the UK.

On Sunday, we went to the Museum of Welsh Life at St. Fagans. The museum itself was pretty interesting, and they were having a special exhibit about Italian immigrants in Wales.

Welsh Scrabble (this pretty much sums up the Welsh language)


The collection overall was rather small. The museum contained the Italian collection, some lovespoons and other items of Welsh culture (including Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart), some clothing, and agricultural tools.



The museum's real interest is the "open-air museum," which includes the old castle and "over forty buildings which represent the architecture of Wales." We were very fortunate in that the weather was moderately warm and sunny (a rarity in Wales and Britain in general).



We spent a couple hours exploring the castle and grounds. It was a really incredible experience, and I'd highly recommend the museum to anyone visiting in Cardiff.

Afterwards, we were told that the last two buses back to Cardiff City Centre had not come. We tried calling the "Traveline Cymru" which was posted in two places on the bus stop, but according to the lady who answered, the number had directed us to Northern Ireland and she had no idea what we were talking about. Instead, we had to walk to an alternate stop nearby.

Cardiff is home to the Brains Brewery, which produces a popular beer called "Brains" (it also sponsors the Welsh rugby union team and the Celtic Crusaders). Still, I found this to be incredibly amusing. Mostly because of such phrases like: "Have some brains!" or "Try my Brains!" I was determined to get some sort of Brains memorabilia, and as it turns out, Brains pubs sell their pint glass for only £1.99 ('Cymru' pint glasses in most shops ran to £5+).


Mission Accomplished.

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A few notes:

1) All the photos that I took from this trip can be found on Facebook.

2) Cardiff DOES NOT HAVE good food! Either pack something or do your research beforehand! Don't believe me? Go to the Zagat's site (I know Zagat's is not the only indicator of good food), set your location to Cardiff, and press "Show all restaurants." Do any restaurants come up? NO! When I went to look up food before we left, I could only find two reputable restaurants. When we got there, one had closed down and we never got around to the other. However, it is completely possible (though not healthy) to live off jacket potatoes.

I Came, I Saw, I Was Cold

Today, I decided to wander over to Brick Lane for the market and for the 24hr REAL bagel shop. If you're wondering, REAL bagels are boiled. British bagels are baked bread. The market is in a slightly sketchier part of town. When I was approaching the market at first, I only saw a bunch of tarps and some guy spray-painting graffiti on a nearby wall (no one ever took notice of him). The stalls sold a lot of garage-sale-type wares but there were a few fruit stands interspersed. It was really sketchy, and I don't know if I'd want to be in the neighborhood at night.

The bagel shop was really cool. You could watch them making bagels and a plain bagel was only £0.20 (£0.90 with cream cheese). The store was already bustling when I got there a little after 9AM. I got a bagel with cream cheese for myself and a plain bagel to bring back to Abbey. I don't think the British quite understand cream cheese, as it tasted much more like ricotta cheese. When I first took a bite, I couldn't quite figure out what was wrong, but after a couple bites (and I'd recognized the difference in cream cheese), I enjoyed the ricotta taste quite a bit.

I walked around the stalls for a bit while I ate my bagel, and I took a video for the blog (only to later realize that I apparently had not pressed the 'Record' button hard enough -- but I now have a nice video of the inside of my purse).

Many of the shops on Brick Lane were closed, and there were a large number of international (especially Asian) stores. I stopped in at an "International Grocery Store" to try to find a drink, but I couldn't really find anything of interest and the smell of incense was a bit overpowering.

The real Brick Lane Market appeared to be in this large warehouse, but when I got there, most of the stalls were still setting up and there was nothing that particularly interested me. There were several appealing food stands, but I'd just eaten and I was holding out on lunch until the Russian festival. Since most of the shops of Brick Lane were closed for Sunday, I decided to cut down a side street to get me back to the Liverpool Street Station, and in the process of doing so, I walked right into the Spitalfields Market.

I enjoyed the Spitalfields Market a lot more than Brick Lane's. There were a lot of cool clothing shops and knitwears. At times, I could smell a wood-burning fire, and the neighborhood itself was very quaint. There were a lot of art prints and posters, and I ended up getting a really cheap print (posters are SO MUCH cheaper here!).



The graffiti artist, "Banksy", is apparently really popular, and it's easy to find prints of his work almost anywhere in London. I've been wanting to get a London-y poster for my room, so I ended up getting the print above. They didn't have my favorite (see below -- I've only seen it once, and it was on canvas).



I continued on to the Liverpool Street Station and walked past the Petticoat Lane Market. This market is a lot like San Lorenzo in Florence. There's lots of cheap clothing and a plethora of chintzy London souvenirs. A couple older ladies were trying to pawn off good-luck flowers to passerby, and the stalls seemed to stretch on forever. As I didn't really need anything else, I only walked around for a bit before catching the 48 bus to London Bridge Station.


Petticoat Lane Market, From Afar

I decided to swing by the Russian festival, even though I was very early. First of all, when I arrived, it was just me, a few sketchy Russian guys, and a large group of Japanese tourists. Sure, I was a bit early. But the stage was completely set up and a band was performing. There didn't seem to be anyone setting up new stands or activities. There were a few food trucks, but they were not selling Russian food at all. There was even a crepe stand and a cart selling British fare. The only thing that made it remotely Russian was the fact that their menus also boasted a Russian translation. I got an awful crepe and watery hot chocolate and ate it on a bench. Some random guy was leaning on a nearby trash can and watching me eat, so I bolted my food and decided to go home. I was cold and tired, and I was a bit skeptical of waiting around for the festivities to get started. It might be fun to go back later, but I have some homework and what not to get done and I don't know if I'll have the time this afternoon.



Based on the number of port-a-potties, the festival is expecting a lot more people later today. Also, on the plus side, there was an amazing view of the Tower Bridge.


The Stage with the Tower Bridge in the Background



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I've been meaning to post this photo for awhile, but I keep forgetting...

The King's College Strand building is a maze. The first week, I spent most of my time trying to find my classrooms. What could possibly make it so confusing? Well, here's a picture of the door to the Computer Science department.

Mission (Im)possible!

After an extensive scouring of Central London, I have arrived at my goal, cannoli.

Sfizio
35 Theobald's Road

It's certainly not the best cannoli I've ever had (the shell tasted slightly burned and the filling was a bit sweet), but it sated the cannoli craving and I'll probably go back at some point.

In any event, I also got to explore the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garrett, which was a wonderful experience. You have to climb 32 steps up a tiny, twisting wooden stairwell to get to the museum, and then, the entrance is really just a doorway in the stairwell. The museum itself made me feel like I was discovering old treasures in someone's attic. There were various herbs and medical instruments and information about outdated medicines. It was very cool.

The theatre itself was rather simple, but the room was enhanced with a gruesome print of a leg amputation surgery and a 'diary' of patient accounts. We read the first account of a 60 year-old woman whose leg had been run over by a carriage. It seemed like it was going to have a happy ending, but in the last sentence, the patient died, and we chose not to read any more patient records.

To learn more about the Operating Theatre (or what an operating theatre is), click here.

The museum was definitely worth the trip, if only for the experience.

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Yesterday, Taylor and I tried Darbucka, this popular Lebanese restaurant on our street. It offers 50% off your lunch order, so I've been eager to try it. It was a bit disappointing but still VERY cheap!

This morning, Abbey and I returned to the Smithfield Meat Market, as I was running low on meat and Abbey wanted to go. Again, it was a fantastic experience, and we were able to buy and split up some of the larger quantities of meat. Great success!

I recently started a 'food journal' to review the places at which I eat. I will try to include some of the better restaurants on the blog (and hopefully reduce some of the mediocre entries).