Photo Album: Out and about in London...

This is an afternoon tea. It's finger sandwiches with no crusts, scones with jam and clotted cream, mini-quiches and a selection of little cakes and shortbread cookies. (And tea, obviously.) The sandwiches and quiches are savory, but there is an awful lot of sweet going on - maybe more than would be to my liking. This was at Fait Maison in Kensington, which was a nice little cafe. The tea was excellent, and overall this was a fun little thing to do...especially if you like cake. I did notice that the English like cake...my homestay Kathy would sometimes go out with a friend and just have tea and cake. London did baked goods really well. I did this tea with my Women Writers students (see final photo.)

This photo was taken by Jackson of the Viaduct Tavern, which is near the Old Bailey in the legal district where Newgate prison would have been. You can see remnants of an old prison cell in the place, which is supposedly haunted. It's a popular joint, so Dan and I had trouble getting in, but the students said it was it was a great pub and stood out among other London pubs.

My favorite part of the extracurricular activities available in London was the markets. There were numerous options, including the Spitalfields Market which is pictured here. I think Spitalfields was my favorite, because it had a lot to offer in terms of what I like (clothes and jewelry mainly) but it wasn't as crowded as the Portobello Road market.

This was an amazing scone, and one of the better coffees I had while in London. Scones were on another level here, but coffee often left something to be desired. As an American who drinks black coffee every day, you need to order an Americano black. They will ask you if you want cream and sugar anyway, and look at you like you're insane when you refuse. Then you will either get a larger version of a straight espresso or a slightly burned cup of what tastes like Folgers or something. Occasionally a place would get it right to go (or for take away, as they put it), such as the Happy Cafe in Ealing or Cafe Society in Kensington. This place was in Leadenhall Market and was called Aux Merveilleux. 

This was a pub in Shepherd's Bush which would be a good spot to play games. I appreciated the decor, including the Dethklok poster here. There were many corner pubs in London, though most fell under a cadre of major brewers: Young's Greene King, Fuller's or Wetherspoon. This was a Young's pub.

The prawns we get in the US are obtained using very questionable labor practices, so it's best to avoid them, but in London prawns were everywhere. (Hopefully no slavery is involved in procuring them.) Since we are near the sea, the quality was better...and the size. Look at the size of these monsters in the Borough Market!

This is Portobello Road Market...a huge market and probably the best in terms of interesting offerings and especially vintage clothing. On the weekend, it's massive, and you could spend an entire day perusing the stalls. Plus, the weekend features a food stall area that is to die for: plenty of Caribbean, Indian and Mediterranean deliciousness. I had some incredible falafel, and Danielle had some yummy halloumi, which if you don't know is cheese that is usually served fried. (There is a lot of halloumi in London, and I recommend it highly.) I also got a cool map of Central London for our map wall, and Danielle got an authentic bobby hat.

Portobello Market vintage clothing. Seriously if you can't find it here it doesn't exist.

Fish and chips and the meat pie are among England's contributions to world cuisine. These were enjoyed by Danielle and me at the Hung, Drawn and Quartered pub not far from the Tower of London (hence the name.) This was a popular spot, and we were lucky to get a table. This was a beef pie they called the Eastender, and it was my first pie. It was delicious, and I even like the "minted peas" that came with it. Peas usually come with fish and chips and with pies, and you can usually get them mushy or whole. The ladle you see here contains "pie liquor," the purpose of which still mystifies me. I think you pour it on the chips? Or the pie if it's too dry?

These are pancakes from Coco Momo in Kensington, featuring clotted cream and berries. Clotted cream is wonderful. Berries in the UK by the way tend to be much bigger than in the US - note the raspberries here. These blueberries are actually tiny compared to some that I saw. Kathy put some on her cereal that were almost an inch around. Fresh fruit is pretty reasonable at the grocery I found, and the quality is better. You could get cut up mango just about any time, which you definitely can't expect in the US. I ate a lot of mango.

This is Leadenhall Market, which was very pretty, but many of the store fronts were dark. I think Covid had a pretty dire effect on it unfortunately. We did find a decent pub and a nice French bakery cafe there though.

This was from a Mediterranean restaurant pub in Ealing. Needless to say I broke very bad as a veggie in London, but there was enough falafel that I probably didn't need to. Falafel, halloumi, and other Mediterranean fare was easy to find and usually really good.

This was just a neighborhood in Kensington in early April. In London, the temperatures don't go below freezing for long, hence you saw flowers blooming even in February...lots of camelia, lilac, daffodil and tulips. This was wisteria.

Indian and similar food (Sir Lankan, Nepalese...what have you) of all price ranges was very available in all parts of London. The official dish of English is tikka masala, which is weird. Also, it probably isn't technically an authentic version, but whatever. You could get biryani almost anywhere, and it was usually pretty good. This was at Kathmandu, a Nepalese joint in Ealing. It was butter chicken, and though it didn't photograph well, it was delicious.

This is the Jubilee Market in Covent Garden. It offered a lot of artsy crafty stuff, but also clothing and jewelry and food. Covent Garden is very very busy on the weekend, so you should definitely go, but prepare for a crowd.

This is a fancy drink I enjoyed with Danielle (she had some kind of bellini) on the terrace of Harrods. It was very nice, as Brits say for something that's yummy or delicious, and very expensive. Great view of Knightsbridge though. I bought mostly from the Chocolate Halls in Harrods, as everything else would have been well out of my price range. I went into Harvey Nichols too at some point, and felt the same feeling on not belonging, like someone was going to come by and throw me out the front door by my collar at some point. There wasn't much to be found under £250 there, but it was an interesting experience anyway.

Fish and chips and cider at a pub near Parliament Square called the Silver Cross. As someone who lived in fish fry territory my whole life, I didn't feel the same excitement and fascination about this signature dish. To be honest, I think Wisco does it better. Most often in England it was cod, which is fine, but a little bland for a lake dweller.

Full English breakfast however is pretty fantastic. This version is from Coco Momo in Kensington. It doesn't feature the black pudding, which was fine by me, but it had everything else. English bacon is more like ham, but I did like it, and I even like Heinz beans...to a point. The English don't really do different types of fried eggs, so they don't understand what "over easy" means, but it was still pretty darn good.

Another English food tradition is the Sunday roast or carvery, which Dan and I enjoyed at the Cumberland Arms in Kensington, which was another pretty nice pub. It was pretty delicious, but was not unlike the kind of beef roast my mom used to make, complete with cooked carrots and potatoes cooked in meat juices. Some places really go all out with these roasts, and it was pretty yummy, so definitely try it if you get a chance. If you can get it at the home of a British family - even better.

This was our dinner at Dishoom in Kensington, a posh and popular Indian restaurant. It was a lamb biryani in a pastry and chicken tikka with naan. We absolutely housed it, and it wasn't as expensive as we thought it would be.

This was Chinatown, which is in the theatre district basically. I didn't get a chance to spend much time there, but if you are hungry for Chinese food (or any East Asian food) this place offered every possible option. It looked pretty delicious too, and there was a lot of outdoor seating for those who like people-watching. 

Speaking of the theatre district, this is the St. Martin's Theater there in Leicester Square, where Danielle and I went to see Agatha Christie's The Mouse Trap. It's the oldest running show in London, and a great example of a timeless Christie mystery. We got box seats, which was cool if not the best possible view of the stage. Even if you don't like theater, it's worth hitting at least one show in London. They do drama well, and the price can't be beat, especially compared to the US.

This is a still from Heathers the Musical taken from my copy of the program. As I said, shows are relatively cheap, but the program doesn't come with the ticket - you have to buy it. Musicals aren't necessarily what London does best, but there sure were a lot of them. I personally don't care for musicals much, but I have seen great ones, and I couldn't resist this reboot of one of my favorite 80s films. It was an interesting take, for sure, and the students who saw it absolutely loved it.

This was the National Theatre...a very cool venue with a lot of offerings, including Small Island, which I saw toward the end of my stay. This was a very long production, but it didn't feel that long. Small Island would have been a great choice for one of the shows provided by AIFS. (AIFS didn't include the usual two theater productions this time, probably due to Covid.) It was about the experiences of Jamaican Brits who came to England after WWII on the Windrush, and intersected a lot with what we learned in British Life and Culture. It was also an example of the next-level brand of drama London offered. The performances, sets, stage mechanics...everything was very impressive. The same can be said for The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which showed at the Duke of York's Theatre.

This was the market in Cambridge, which was another good one especially for food. There is a lot of wool on offer at these markets, as that is a major UK product, so if you need a hat or scarf (and you will) you can find a lot of choices there. 

There are also a lot of pretty good local brews to be found, although it seemed like Londoners tended to go for wine, which was surprising. Beavertown featured some really good IPAs and lagers, and so did Camden Town Brewery, which was actually probably my favorite. Sometimes you would get a beer a little flat at a pub, because the taps are old and a little different, but that wasn't always the case.

One of the best markets for food was the Borough Market in Southwark, not far from Shakespeare's Globe. There was a lot of cheese, baked goods and meats especially - including oysters, which are a favorite of mine and Dan's. The main feature at the pictured stall was paella, which was amazing. A bit of advice though...just get one paella between two people, because 1) the serving is bigger than it looks, and 2) there is no seating, so you'll have trouble with the shellfish. Plenty of nice pubs lining the market if you do want to sit and have a pint, though.

This bagel place was in Whitechapel, in what had been the Jewish area of London. It's small and unassuming, but I ate one of the best meals here. It was a bagel with salt beef, pickles (or gherkins as they say) and mustard...and it was amazing. Expect a bit of a line if you go...but the line moves fast.

Finally, this is in Tavistock Park at the Virginia Woolf bust with my Women Writers students (from left to right: Angelica, Kylee, Tiphany, me and Macy.) There is a park in every neighborhood, and though it wasn't the right season when we were there, they would be gorgeous around May. 

The sculpture of Virginia was not so gorgeous...not sure if the artist was going for creepy. We looked great though...and I had a great semester with these ladies, too.