Today was our "market day," along with a few little things we had planned to do between markets.
Well, not everything went as planned, which has happened to us a few times on this trip. Surprisingly, with us being planners, you would think it would drive us nuts not sticking to the itenerary ... however, once we got the lay of the land, we didn't mind doing things exactly to plan.
Take today for instance, our lunch and dinner ideas weren't at all how we planned and we did without the London Eye due to the rain.
We started our morning as usual ... coffee run. We went to Monmouth Coffee, which is right by our first market stop, Borough Market.
Monmouth had a big line, which is the first time we came across a line at a coffee shop here. So there was a guy coming down the line making note of what everyone wanted. We couldn't see the menu to see if they had filter coffee, so we just told him two americanos. When we got up to the counter, we saw they had filter coffee ... bummer. Oh well, something to try from them next time we're in London.
Other than the long line, the shop was cool and they were fast at getting us our Americanos. Click here for our review.
We then took our coffee to Borough Market, where most vendors were just opening. However, when we made our way toward the food, my goodness, plenty of vendors were ready with their yummy smells. Click here for our review.
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| Borough Market |
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| Borough Market |
We then moved on to the Jubilee Market, which is located in Covent Garden.
This market didn't really have food, rather antiques and little nicknacks. It was very close quarters, but they had some interesting stuff.
Matthew found a whole table filled with classic books ... he loves me. However, that vendor knows how to price their classics. I wanted many of them, but knew I could come across them in the states for a smaller price.
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| Jubilee Market |
We came away from the Jubilee Market with one thing, but found quite a few interesting things. Click here for our review.
Next, we had originally planned to go to the London Eye and Southbank Centre, but when we were there the other day the lines for the London Eye were crazy long. We would have liked to see London from a different vantage point, but due to the wait and the fact it was raining (not a clear view), we decided to save that one also for our next trip to London.:)
We had already visited Southbank Centre earlier in our trip when we went to the book market, so we just went ahead and scratched that off our list to be able to spend more time at the markets.
So we headed to Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill. This is the market I was most excited about ... I'm not sure if this was due to the actual market or that I had a certain Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant movie playing in my head. Whichever one, I was antsy to get there.
We were going to go ahead and grab lunch while looking at what the vendors had to offer, but like I said at the beginning of this post, things change. We were disappointed by this market. We may have easily come on the wrong day for delicious food, but still, there was very little offered. Click here for our review.
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| The plaque says, "GEORGE ORWELL 1903-1950 NOVELIST & POLITICAL ESSAYIST LIVED HERE" |
After the disappointment of the Portobello Road Market, we wanted to get back to the Tube so we could go back to Borough Market for lunch. We grumbled most of the way back about Notting Hill, but that could have easily been due to us starving at the time (we both get grumpy when hungry).
We finally got back to Borough Market around 2:30 p.m. and had a hard time deciding what to eat. Everything smelled so good, but one thing stuck out to us ... the Salt Beef sandwich.
Our sandwich included pickle spears, raw cabbage and sprouts, swiss cheese, and salt beef ... all on a bagel. Matthew's also had mustard.
Oh my word, spectacular. I'm not usually a big fan of pickles on sandwiches, but this one wouldn't have been as good without them.
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| Delicious dinner at Borough Market |
We have decided we'll be making these sandwiches as a tradition for St. Patrick's Day. Not sure if we can find Salt Beef in the U.S., so corned beef will have to do.
Also, the woman making our sandwiches told me she liked my Luke's Diner (Gilmore Girls) hoodie. I know people overseas watch shows from the U.S., so that didn't surprise me too much, but then when she asked where we were from and we told her Missouri, she then said she has a friend in St. Louis. It's definitely a small world.
After we finished our sandwiches and looked around a little, it was still raining, so we decided to head back to the hotel to start packing as much as we could of our bags. This way, we won't have to worry about it tomorrow night and maybe be able to get to bed earlier than we have been (before midnight).
Due to being at the hotel around the time we were hungry for dinner, we decided to try a Chinese Takaway place on Caledonian Road (where our hotel is). It was okay, but nothing special ... mainly something to fill our stomachs.
So that concludes our day. Tomorrow is our last day in London and we are sad we'll be saying goodbye to this city soon.
"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." - Samuel Johnson, 1777
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