The weekend, continued

Warning: This post will make you hungry.

First, a couple other food related things I forgot to mention: We went back to Wagamama on Wednesday before we saw Wall-E (Apparently it was a W-theme night) and it was all kinds of delicious once again. I got chicken chili men and gyozo dumplings. On Thursday I got lunch from the little café that is right next door to our office, Café Pomodoro. Chicken pesto salad on toasted ciabatta. So good.

Friday:

Continuing on the food theme….Portobello Market, part 2! First let me just say how much I love this market. And going on Fridays is the way to go – it is not crowded at all, but all the stands and shops are open and fully stocked. You have time to leisurely stroll and talk to the vendors and take your time deciding between all the jewelry, fresh produce, breads, antiques, and every other wonderful option. The food is so good but it’s also just visually pleasing. All the colors of the produce and the way the breads are laid out, and….agh. This place makes me so happy.

My breakfast and lunch (or lunch 1 and 2, either way) on Friday were, in a word, amazing. Jenna and I went back to the crepe stand. I got ham and cheese, she got nutella, but then we cut them in half and switched. SO GOOD. We walked all the way down the market, making mental notes of the stuff we were going to buy on the walk back. And oh, did we. I bought marinated artichoke hearts and we both got this incredibly good looking (and tasting!) feta salad. Then, we went to a bread/pastry stand and I bought an olive focaccia loaf, and Jenna bought a rosemary, sea salt and olive oil focaccia loaf. We then went to a fruit and vegetable stand – Jenna bought nectarines and sweet corn, and I got more cherries.

After I got home I just kind of laid around for a while, ate my cherries and watched some Family Guy episodes on my computer. I had my focaccia and feta salad for dinner, then I met up with Jenna and her friend at the Arc for a drink.

Saturday:

Went to Borough Market with Jenna and Sharon. Silly little me thought Portobello was good. No, no, no. I mean, it is...but Borough is way better in terms of food selection. And they give samples. It’s like Costco but on crack. We had such an indulgent morning, it was insane. One of the stands was selling glasses of Prosecco, so we each bought a glass and sipped it as we walked around. We wandered around trying different kinds of cheeses, brownies, jams, caramel spreads, mustards, meat, oils, and balsamic syrups (one blended with forest fruits was so incredibly good) and finally we broke down and started buying stuff. I bought a brownie, a roasted garlic and honey focaccia loaf, and some brie. Then came lunch. They had a stand where they made Raclettes and toasted cheese sandwiches. I got a sandwich and Jenna and Sharon shared a Raclette (which I had a little bit of) and they were so rich and amazing and I choose to not think about how unhealthy they were.

Dinner was the roasted garlic and honey focaccia loaf topped with brie and raspberry jam, then toasted. I don’t think I have to tell you that it was delicious. Spent the rest of the evening drinking cider and watching more Family Guy with Sharon. All in all, a lazy but very pleasing day.

Today:

I had originally planned to go to a church service at Westminster Abbey this morning, but instead chose to sleep until 10am. I’m not feeling particularly guilty about it, either. After a relaxing morning of drinking tea (with milk and sugar!) and reading, I ventured out with Jenna and Sharon to Brick Lane. We wanted to get Indian food but each ended up getting something completely different but good nonetheless. We walked back home and stopped at the Offside and had a beer outside. It was the perfect combination of a cold drink and warm sunshine.

We bummed around the apartment for an hour and a half, then Jenna and I made our way to the Embankment tube stop in the hopes of doing a Harry Potter walking tour that started at 5…we got there at 5:10. Oops. Determined to enjoy the rest of the day and evening, we walked through the Embankment Gardens, stopped to listen to a Bluepeace concert performance, then walked across the bridge, and down towards the Tate/Globe/Milennium Bridge area. It was a beautiful walk with lots of cute little places to eat, sit, and people watch. We stopped at the Thameside Inn and got a Magners, then hopped on the tube back home. Aaaand that brings us to right now!

Tomorrow is my last full day in London…yeesh. And sadly, I’ll have to spend it packing and doing laundry. WAH WAHHHHHHH. But Billy, Liz, and Laura will return in the afternoon and then I’m sure we’ll get into some last and final shenanigans in the area :-P