Christmas in Munich, part 1

5am, Friday, 22nd Dec and both Matt's and my alarms go off. We jump out of bed, throw on warm clothes and head towards the taxi rank with our suitcases. We're off to Munich for a couple of days- away from London and from work.... Beer, sausages and pretzels, here we come!

We get to City Airport and discover that our flight's been delayed indefinitely, due to the blanket of heavy fog hanging over London for the past few days. In a few minutes, our worst fears have realised- they've cancelled nearly every flight leaving from the airport for that morning. We line up for almost two hours at the Lufthansa desk. When it comes to our turn, they put us on another flight heading into Dusseldorf, with a connection into Munich. This flight's out of Stanstead Airport, which has been the least affected by the fog. We're thankful, until the lady behind the desk says that it's at 5pm in the evening. However, they do provide us with a car to the airport, and we share that with two other girls who were booked to fly the original flight with us.

We spend the rest of the Friday at the bar at Stanstead. It's not a bad way to while away the hours, I guess.. Our flights to Dusseldorf and then to Munich were both on Air Berlin, and we find it hard to believe that Air Berlin's considered a budget airline- it's pretty spacious, clean and the staff are so pleasant! We arrive in Munich, get to our hotel with minimum hassle- thanks to plenty of useful advice from Phil, a friend from work.

The next day, we head straight to the Christmas Markets in Munchen Freiheit. It's a cute little place... wooden stalls selling hot food, lots of gluhwein (mulled wine) and crafty things. The stalls are all painted bright colours and there are lots of festive, colourful decorations everywhere, but we're almost too cold to take it all in... Whilst not cold enough to snow, the cold seeping through my boots prevents me from staying too long in one spot. I find myself marching Matt around the place, looking for the perfect German (hot) snack to wrap my hands round and sink my teeth into.

After steering Matt away from the stall selling Thai inspired pizzas, we head to the sausage stall and ask for a 'currywurst mit semmel'. Phil had mentioned that this was one thing that we absolutely had to try, and I had thought it was a curry flavoured bratwurst... it came in a cardboard tray, pieces of sausage swimming in a hot curry flavoured sauce and a bread roll to dip into the sauce. I didn't think I'd like it... but it was excellent. We also had a white sausage in a roll with ketchup and mustard. That was nice, too. I could definitely taste the thyme in the sausage.

Wandered around some more. Plenty of really interesting and pretty things- I got a pair of felt shoes for Hilda... we then walked past another stall selling what looked like little pancakes with toppings... (I got told they are called 'Kartoffelpuffer'- they're potato pancakes) We asked for sweet toppings- the people before me had melted cheese and ham... yum... but we just had our sausages. We got our pancakes sandwiching some cranberry preserves. The mix of warm, salty and sweet was oh so yummy... Kinda like when you put your McDonalds fries into a soft serve icecream....

We then had a bit of a walk throught he shopping district. Must've been a pretty upmarket place.. lots of women in near full-length fur coats, walking their dogs. Not as many canine friends as in Paris, but do these dogs have an access all areas pass? We saw dogs in shops, in cafes, in our hotel, on the train... Even in the departure lounge of the airport!

We then walked back to Marienplatz. When we got closer towards the city centre, we started to see some statues of lions dotted around the place. These had been painted in all different themes. The one you see here, with Matt... I presume the artist wanted to represent the inner Lionel Ritchie???? What say you?

We finally reached the Christmas market in Marienplatz. It was a lot larger than the one we went to, that morning. Lots more places selling roast chestnuts, gluhwein, and there even was a stall selling chocolate covered fruit on sticks! This is the only time you'll see me eating a banana, outside of Brunei...

We had some gluhwein... this was really, really good! With extra rum. We walked on, holding the warm cups... stopped at a place with a roast haunch of pig. Had a pig sandwich... There was something that they were selling in the stall. Something white, with speckled bits, spread on toast. The stall owner said it wasn't pork fat.... Matt didn't let me buy it.... but I'm quite curious as to what it could be.

Just did a google search: Schmaltz- pork dripping with crackling in it. Damn. Missed opportunity!

Dinner was at a little Japanese restaurant. It is so weird, after living in Australia and then in London, to head into a Japanese restaurant where the language they speak after Japanese ISN'T English! We still got by, though! Great food, and great atmosphere. I needed help from the diners next to us to ask for dessert!

Next post: Christmas Eve and the big day itself...

Nitin Sawhney at Jazz Cafe

Decided to organise another work/friend outing. Sometime in Nov, I'd read an article on Nitin Sawhney in the newspaper and it said that he'd be holding a gig at the Jazz Cafe on the 5th of December.

Amazing man. A talented flamenco guitarist, he's written compositions for orchestras, and is in the midst of doing the soundtrack to a Playstation game (?!) , I know him from the ambient cds he's released. I've also heard him play live, in Melbourne (thanks Joelsy!) and it was one of the best shows I'd ever been to.

So, reading this, I got all excited and looked to see who would be game enough to come check this out with me.

Most people came back with a "Nitin who?!!" but in the end, found 10 willing participants and on the day itself, a few of us trooped off to the Camden Kitchen, a little cafe and had huge falafel and beef burgers... we then met up with the rest inside the Jazz Cafe.

The place filled up pretty quickly. The Jazz Cafe had a huge main floor with a stage at one end where acts perform. The floor has a small bar on one side and another, larger, bar which services the floor as well as small lounge area, near the entrance to the venue.

Anyway, at 9pm, the band, Nitin included, trooped onto the stage. They had a person on the drums, a cellist, a bass guitarist, an Indian flute player (I assumed that the person playing the Indian flute was Indian, too) who sang sometimes, a tabla player, a human beatbox and Nitin played the piano and the flamenco guitar. They also had an assortment of female singers who sang in various different styles (Arabian, Indian, French, blues, rapping in Spanish... ) and it was a curious and glorious mix and match of instruments and styles.

Anyway, it all ended at 11-ish to an amazing encore. We sat around for a bit, waiting for the main press of people to head home before we went to collect our coats. It's been a month since the gig, and I still have this sense of awe, thinking back to it.

If anyone's interested in finding out more about Nitin Sawhney, you can check out the albums on Amazon here, or else visit his website here.

chocolates and Primal Scream

I've been slack, I know. So much has happened since my last post and since I haven't been forcing myself to sit down in front of the computer, it's now nearly a whole month of things to blog about!

Let's see... we've had Denis over from Melbourne- it was great catching up with him, as well as checking out the new Hotel du Chocolat, over near Moorgate Station. It's 10 mins away from work, guys. The first week that I found out about it, I was over there three times, in the same week! I was definitely wallowing in choccie heaven. Being the lovely person I was, I decided to appropriate Denis' pack mule services and deliver some to my workmates in Melbourne!

So it was appropriate when Keeley (boss lady) was over in the last week of November, that I tell her exactly where the shop is located, incase she wished to top up on supplies! Keeley was over to roll out some training in London and that sort of broke my routine for a bit. I also went over to New York for a couple of days to help roll the training out to our offices there.

New York was unseasonably warm. So much so, that in the last couple of days in Nov, we were wondering around with no coats! Bizarre, but eh, pretty enjoyable. Finally checked out Central Park. It's great! The squirrels are so much more friendly, in NY, and so not shy!

Unfortunately, I only bought my camera on my last day, hence the extreme lack of photos. But it was a too short visit, so I'll make sure I'm more prepared, the next time!

Back to London, and that same Friday, I head off to Brixton to check out Primal Scream, with a couple of guys from work. I don't think I've ever really listened to them before, but it was a spur of the moment thing to expand my horizons, awright?

Brixton's a little dodgy. We went into this pub where there were people wandering around that looked like they probably slept on the streets... and I was nearly caught between two such people, having a stare-off over who got to pick up the 10pence on the floor. I grabbed my half-pint and scurried back to the safety of my seat, with the boys.

Anyway, we then moved on, to look for dinner. It was weird. Brixton's supposed to be an area with a high Afro-Carribean population, yet every eating place we saw was Thai or Japanese food?! We were getting desperate when we decided to go into this Columbian restaurant. It decor was basic, bright florescent lighting, but it was reassuring to note that the waitresses and other diners seemed to be Spanish speakers. We ordered heaps of food, tapas and mains alike, to share. The tamal and the deep fried pork fat stood out.... bit stodgy, but oh so tasty!

We then wandered over to Brixton Academy, which was the venue for the gig. Nice- sloping grounds, not all that packed... we listened to the support act, "The View", who happen to be getting decent airplay on the London radiostations.... I got told that the acoustics make the singing and words a little muffled, but listening to The View on normal radio just supported my opinion that that particular band don't enunciate very well!

Anyway, Primal Scream came on, performed a lot of songs, of which I recognised two... and then it was time to head home! I'm sure you can tell that it didn't really affect me all that much... but I'm still glad I went. I liked the venue, and I liked the meal we had before the gig. Don't think I'll be rushing out to buy Primal Scream's CD anytime soon, though!

Ps- Matt didn't come to Primal Scream. Are you kidding?! The Cricket's on!
Pps- Finally wrote about Croatia- Have a look at the index on the right.

Rodin

This past weekend, there was a bit of shopping, sport and sulking (due to excessive sport watching) on the Saturday, and on Sunday, Matt and I went over to the Royal Academy of Art, off Piccadilly Road and checked out the exhibition on Rodin.

Lovely weather- crisp and sun-shiny. The 'Virgin Mother' statue by Damien Hirst had been replaced by Rodin's 'Gates of Hell', but we walked straight past it to check out the exhibition.

It was pretty awesome. First room started with two bronze statues- After his first statue was first cast, it seemed that people at that time accused Rodin of cheating- by covering his models with plastercasts, instead of modeling them in clay/wax first! So, he deliberately made his second statue larger than life, to stem all the gossip. Funny that. I'd be inclined to believe the rumours, they looked so lifelike.

The rest of the exhibition covered sketches he'd made of works, little models of the statues in different positions and poses, past commissions that he'd done, studies of his real life models, busts he'd made-in bronze, plaster and marble- it became quite fashionable and de rigueur for members of London's artistic and moneyed society to have a bust created by the great French master.

We saw a few variations of 'The Kiss' and 'The Thinker', in various sizes. Funny how they'd originally came about as characters for Rodin's work, the Gates of Hell- The Kiss was based on the story of Paulo and Francesca, in Dante's 'Inferno' and the Thinker was meant to represent Dante, himself, overlooking the gates of Hell. Rodin ended up singling them out and then enlarging them as pieces in their own right.

It was amazing- the exhibition culminated in a final statue of The Thinker, set right in the middle of an octagonal room... And after going through the different rooms displaying works in progress, and variations of different pieces, you end up with much more appreciation of the talent and hard work that went into these works of art.

After all that, we went out and had a look at the display of The Gates of Hell, taking it all in, and trying to find the characters we'd so recently met.

If you're interested, you can read more about Rodin and The Gates of Hell,

here.

Anyway, after Rodin, we went over to Covent Garden to do a bit of shopping- all right, I shopped while Matt read the paper, but we have now joined the ranks of annoying couples that match their clothes. All my fault- I'd gotten Matt a black Carhart hoodie and liked it so much that I went and got myself the exact same one. But while Matt doesn't care that we look like Arnold and Danny in Twins, I'm now thinking feverishly of when I'd next be out, in casual clothes without him, so as to get maximum wear out of my new jacket! (well, the other option was for me to get it in camouflage, and I didn't think it would be of much use in blending into the urban jungle...)

We then came home, Naomi came over for dinner, which was a Greek roast with mutton from the Borough Market (where else?) and roasted for 2.5 hours in a slow oven in a tray half filled with wine and stock. Yum. While we were waiting for the mutton to cook, we popped over to Village East (bar/cafe) for a couple of glasses of wine.

Great weekend, all in all..

Bonfire night and Barbara's Birthday!

Just a quick one- Today's Guy Fawkes' Day and while Matt and I had plans to check out the fireworks last night and tonight, we never ended up doing so. But we don't wholly miss out, as every man and his kid seems to have gotten fireworks and as I type, there are rockets whizzing past our window and exploding, it seems, just above our roof!

It was a sport-filled weekend for Matt- Football, rugby and cricket all yesterday and today. Meanwhile, I went shopping with Hilda and ended up buying more things for Matt than myself- thank goodness, because his previously only warm jacket is seriously MANKY. Sometimes I wish he was a bit more of a metrosexual than the blokey bloke he is (can you imagine?!)... but then my shopping gets curtailed by half, doesn't it?

Anyway, mustn't forget- Happy Birthday to Matt's mom, Barbara!!!!! Hope the party was a fun one, best wishes for the rest of the year!

Derby Day, Potato Cakes and Shopping!

Saturday morning, and I'm lying in bed listening to the 'click, click' of the laptop as Matt is checking out the sports results, including those of the Derby Day races in Melbourne- when all of a sudden, my mobile phone rings, and I fling off the blanket and race to answer it.

It turned out to be Cheryl and Elisa, ringing after a champagne fuelled and profitable (for Cheryl, at least!) day at the Flemington Raceground, in Melbourne. They sounded so happy and tipsy... It made me wish that I was back there and with them. Apparently a few toasts were made to me that day, as last year, Elisa and I never made it to the races- we were having too much fun drinking champers with Cheryl and Shahran, in the pubs along Swanston Street. Hearing their voices on the phone just brought it all back, including the reminder that I'd had so much champagne I didn't notice my strapless top had fallen down! Maybe I'm glad that I'm safely on the other side of the world, and very, very sober! Nah. That's why Hollywood Tape was invented, no? *Miss you guys!*

Anyway. Instead of quaffing champagne, Matt and I head to Borough Market and do our weekly shop. Made it home without eating anything there- which is a huge change for me, at least!

We decided to have a big fryup, with smoked bacon, cherry tomatoes and fresh eggs from the Market. I decided to try making some potato pancakes that I'd read about years ago... in the very first cookbook I bought. I can't remember its title or who it's by, at the moment, as it's packed away in a box in Matt's parents' place... but I'll try to look it up..

Anyway, it turned out pretty good, and we both gobbled everything down pretty quickly- I'd thought to share the recipe with you- as it's simple and is a big change from a slice of toast, or a deep fried hashbrown.

Here's our first attempt at photographing something we'd made earlier... it was after we'd eaten breakkie, so trust me when I say it looks a lot better fresh from the pan! But you get the idea....

Potato Pancakes:
Feeds two greedy guts, with a couple extra for snacking on later

Need:
1 potato (large as your closed fist)
2 onions (bit smaller than the potato)
1 egg
salt and pepper
a couple of dessert spoons of flour

So- peel and grate the potato. Use the largest sized holes of your cheese grater, but watch your knuckles and fingers!)
Peel the papery skins off the onions and grate into the potato. What you can't grate, just roughly chop with a knife and chuck that into the mix.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add the egg, and start mixing with your spoon or hand... add enough flour so that it's not too wet, but still holds together (mine was still a bit slimey).
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan. Not till smoking, but if it's not hot enough, the pancakes won't crisp.
Put a golfball sized amount in the oil and using the back of a spoon, or your fingers, press it out so that it's a thin layer. Don't worry, the oil doesn't spit.
When the edges turn a golden brown, flip it over and press down on the cake with the spatula. It'll only take a minute before that side is brown. Put it on a couple of sheets of kitchen towel to drain, then serve straightaway with relish or the rest of your fryup.

Hope you enjoy- Hilda and I are now heading out to shop..... we might even have ourselves some champagne!

Poker Night and Wine Fest

I think I'll give up on getting the whole blog 'Just Right' and start using it the way it was meant to be used. So, there'll be shorter and more up to date entries, but we'll still be posting entries on our last couple of holidays, don't worry.

Anyway, this weekend's been pretty good- Friday night, Matt and I head to the Jazz Cafe in Camden to check out Giles Peterson. While in Melbourne, I'd bought a compilation CD by the DJ- he specialises in sourcing out obscure music, all which tenuously fall within the 'acid jazz' territory.

So we head to Camden and have some pretty yummy Japanese food, right next door to the Jazz Cafe. I think it was called the Bento Box Cafe. Matt ordered a bento box (what else?) and I had tempura ebi(prawns) in udon noodle soup. Both were passable, but we had the NICEST gyozas and some terrible fried chicken pieces to start. Overall, it was okay.

Went to the Cafe and were lucky enough to score some seats over by the bar. It was too packed to check out the rest of the place, but it looks like there's an open place that would be a dancefloor if it was so packed (I hate crowds), so while we weren't right in the midst of the action, that suited me fine.

There was a really good jazz quintet playing. We could see the person playing the xylophones and he was funny- very good, and banging away for all he was worth. Great music, great atmosphere... and the rest of the people around us were interesting enough for Matt and I to keep tugging on each others' sleeve going "..check him/her out!.."

Unfortunately, it seemed that Giles Peterson's set got delayed- I got really tired and we decided to leave, as the place just kept getting more and more full. Though I think I did see him as he came in, so that's my first celebrity spot!

Saturday, we had the boys over- Allo, Dobson and Graham for poker, as Matt's been picked for one of the poker teams sponsored by his work. He wanted to get some practice in, before the big event... and doubled this up with a feed, as they hadn't yet been over to our new place for dinner.

So, while the boys were shuffling the cards and mucking about with the poker chips, yours truly was in the kitchen the whole afternoon. Made some meatballs- had thought that Matt and I would have them for a heat up meal during the week, but they all got eaten last night... anyway, I digress, we had:
Roast pork with the crackliest crackling I've ever made... even if the bloody oven smoked like a chimney for a time...
Lemon roast potatoes,
Garlic roasted parsnips and
Some unidentifiable greens, chopped up and fried Italian style (olive oil, garlic,then a squeeze of lemon, after).

It all went down fine, apart from when Allo told me he didn't eat pork (just doesn't like it). He did have a bit of the bread and butter pudding I made after. The pudding was made of the choc chip brioche we bought from the Borough Market, and some custard that was a bit too eggy. Was okay... I'll know next time.

I didn't play poker, and nor would I want to. Think things got a bit heated between the boys... but a walk to get more beer does wonders in clearing the head and cooling tempers.

Today, we met up with Hilda and Tristan over in Islington for the Wine Fest. 5 hours of walking round tasting all different wines and we didn't even see everything! Bought some yummy rioja and a New Zealand Sauvignion Blanc. Matt got some biltong, and we also got a packet of chili chocolate.

Good day. We're home early, and it's now off to bed for an early start next week!

Croatia

... So, Matt and I are on a plane, on our way to Split, Croatia to meet up with Claire and Shane who would both be flying in from Greece. We would be spending a bit more than a week at Claire's friend's family home and it would be a relaxing sun, surf and drinking holiday (one which we hadn't really had... I mean, you just want to pack everything into your vacation, don't you? See all the sights...eat all the food...etc)

We find them at the bar. How brown they both are! They finally found all the sun they'd been looking for, over in Ibiza and Greek Islands... And Claire's friend Vesna was there, too. We decide to rent a car and drive over to Vesna's place, after she tells us that it's a couple of hours by bus.. Not to mention Claire and Shane's mountains of luggage (true, they did have to pack for a couple of weeks' travel). So we get a little car and start packing everything into the boot.

I drove first. Did I forget to mention that the cars in Croatia follow the rest of Europe in that it's left hand drive, and they also drive on the right side of the road? It was really tense. Everyone was oohing and ahhing over the glorious coastline and scenery... thought the majority of that drive, I was too stressed out to notice much else but the road.

Lara, Ryan and Bel were already at Vesna's place when we got there. It was great- they were brown, too... though not as much as Claire and Shane! We all pitched in with setting up where we were going to sleep... Just as the sun was setting. In the midst of that, we heard a heap of bells and bleatings.... Ran outside and it was the daily homecoming of the neighbours' sheep and goats. We whipped out our cameras.. but were too late. Vesna, laughing, told us that we'd have plenty more chances as we'd hear them coming and going everyday.

One thing that I can say about where we were- it was HOT. So very, very hot.... I don't think it rained once, when we were over there... and it would have been so welcome. Didn't think the houses there had air conditioning, either... I am such a wimp!

What did we get up to? We went into the little town closest to us- had plenty of cheese filled burek- The Croation version of burek being different to the borek that I'm used to, in Melbourne. In Oz, and I'm not sure if it's Lebanese or Turkish, but it's usually been a hand held slightly oily pastry with a thin stuffing of minced lamb or spinach and cheese... This Croatian burek was more doughey layers stuffed into a big round pan, with some cheese in the middle layers, then more dough on top and baked. Also quite oily. Nice, when warm. We also had an apple version, which was more a coiled snake shape. I liked the cheese one, with lots of tabasco!

We also went to a couple of beaches.. A pebbled one... and I was wondering why people were walking there with rolled up yoga mats! But we a spot where there was a thick scattering of pine needles. The water was very clear, and quite bracing... I quickly scrambled out to lay in the sun. Oh. Matt and I had some really delicious langoustines and chips- we went to the restaurant to order some to takeaway, and they didn't have any containers and so we were walking down the beach with langoustines and chips on china plates. Yes. We did garner some looks. But that all paled in comparison to how fresh the little critters were. YUM!

We also made it to another beach which we were told had "health sand". Mineral mud pits! We worked that out when we saw some strange apparitions walking down the beach... all covered with black gunge. A couple of us decided to go have a look.

It looked like... a bog. Didn't smell... was just black, and swampy. Shane decided to fall into it... and splashed the rest of us, so we decided to pile it all on.... We walked back to the rest of the party (Shane was having a lot of trouble keeping his shorts on, as the mud was heavy yet slippery!) and then sat down for a bit...but it got a little hard to move, so we dashed back into the sea to was it off. This beach was nice. The water was really shallow for ages, and because of that, was really warm.

What else did we do? We checked out the city of Zadar. A fortified city founded in the 9th century BC... it's surrounded by thick, golden brown walls. There are little windey alleyways lined with bars and eateries. We had a couple of drinks the openair terrace of a bar. All cane furniture underneath shady trees. Bliss.


Another thing that we did, was to charter a boat out into the Adriatic Sea for the day. They'd provide enough wine for the day, as well as sandwiches for lunch. It was a glorious day. Bright, sunny, the water blue.... within the first hour, we see dolphins... and we also stop off in a little bay area to have a swim. Unfortunately the tide's brought in hundreds of jellyfish!

Undeterred, we putt-putt off to another island and find this little bit of water totally uninhabited. The water was still slightly chilly, but it was so nice to have a strech of sea all just for us. It was like this for the next couple of hours... swimming, having a plastic cup of home brew, some biccies.

All was well, until all the grog ran out. We HAD warned them that a bunch of Aussies would be requiring a lot more alcohol than your average tourist. So, we made the ship stop off at the nearest inhabited island where everyone decided to hop off and door knock! No luck there... they only get supplies delivered by ship once a month, and had nothing to spare! Grumpy, we decided to head back to shore, when some vital piece of the engine blew out and we were stranded in the middle of the sea!

The crew (of two) tried to get the engine fixed, but had to finally give up. At this point in time, everyone was sobering up, and starting to tire of the endless sun and sea. We could see the shore, but it was just so far away. When the rescue boat finally appeared to tow us back, we were just about to commit mutiny- then there was the hour's ride back into shore. Oh well, the majority of it was good. Though, I was glad to make it back on shore!

Our visit to the party island of Pag. Where a member of our group got off to a head start in the partying... where I nearly drank a wasp... and we spent a rather cold night on the beach... finally finding a taxi driver to take us home, but not before stopping off at a store that sold the best burek in town...

We also tried to roast a chicken in the fire shed (for want of a better description!). Apparently, most houses in the country have a firepit located in a building outside of the main house. This is so that any baking or roasting they do is done separately so that the houses don't get overheated in summer. So, Vesna had been promising us a home roasted chicken for days, and we got everything together. Shane started up a fire in the pit, and Vesna walked us through what we needed to do; once the fire died down to embers, we were to clear a little spot in the embers to put the roasting tin. We'd then cover the chicken with a domed metal lid and leave it.

However, we weren't sure if the embers were going to be hot enough to cook the whole chicken. So the boys lit another branch and put it on top of the metal lid. Which, I think, was our undoing.... When we finally took the lid off, the Top of the chicken was BLACK, and the potatoes that we'd put in there were close to being as one with the roasting tin *sigh*. I have no photos to show you, but trust me... the bits we could scrounge from the blackened beast were yummy, if a trifle dry. Ah. One lives and learn.

On the whole, Croatia was great- fun for the most of it.. and just what we needed. It was great hanging out with everyone, and I was sad to say goodbye to Lara, Ryan and Bec as they packed up for the rest of their driving tour. Claire, Shane, Matt and I left for London on the same flight as the two of them had an extra day in London before heading back to Melbourne via Hong Kong.

We came away a little more tanned (or burnt, in Matt's case), and a little more relaxed. I guess this'll get added to the list of all the other places that we would like to head back to, and check out all the things we missed... and I sure as heck wouldn't mind having another go at roasting the chicken again!

Faces from home

Matt's sisters Claire and Lara came over to Europe during the summer... The plan was to spend a few days in London, before going their separate ways around Europe- Claire and her boyfriend Shane would head to the Greek Islands and Ibiza for a bit of sun and fun, and Lara, Ryan (Lara's boyfriend) would rent a campervan, pick up Lara's friend Bel and the three of them would drive around as many places in Europe as they could within 4 weeks. However, in the middle of it all, we'd meet up with them for a week in Croatia.

Caught up with them at the St Georges Pub on Borough High Street. Despite being summer, the days have been slightly chilly. Oh, but how good was it to seem them all! I mean, it didn't hit me how much I loved being in Melbourne and around my friends and family till I saw their familiar faces and heard their voices in person. I must admit, I got a little teary eyed- at least till the first round of beers! Franga and Amy rocked up a little later, and we all went across the road to Tas, an Anatolian (Anatoly being a region of Turkey) restaurant, which Matt and I had been to before. It was spacious, cheerful and had a wide range of food that catered to the various dietary requirements of everyone in the party. Veggie casseroles to platters of grilled meats... yum.

I'd taken the next day off from work to hang out with Claire, Lara, Shane and Ryan. We took one of the hop-on, hop-off London Bus Tours... Checked out Westminster Abbey from the outside, Big Ben, a quick tour of Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park (where Claire tried to make friends with every squirrel)... Lara, Ryan and I did some quick shopping along Oxford Street while Claire and Shane went over to Madame Tussaud's. We then all lost each other in Topshop but managed to meet up, in time to head home. I think we might have headed out to Clapham, later that night, as Claire and Shane caught up with their mates who were over in London.

What else did we do? Met up with Lara and Ryan to check out the Tower of London, my first time ever... We had a great guide- the Ravenmaster! (For those of you who might like to read up on what a Ravenmaster does, click here) The tour was so interesting- he told us all the stories of the famous "guests" at the Tower, pointed out all the various buildings and what they were used for. He also gave us little snippets of what life in the Tower of London was like then, as well as in the present day. He even pointed out all the ravens around the place, and referred to each by name (would you expect nothing less from the Ravenmaster?!). We finished off our tour with a gawk at the Crown Jewels. So shiny.

Anyway, the girls and their respective partners soon had to catch their flights to the rest of Europe- I THINK (and Claire and Lara, you can definitely correct me here) that all four of them first went off to Amsterdam.

Was a fun filled couple of days exploring London along with them, with the best bit yet to come.... Croatia!

What else did we do?

Well, we went up the Eiffel, and we went to Notre Dame.... but firstly!

One thing I need to mention... we'd so been warned by everyone about how rude the Parisians could be, and I don't think that I can agree with that statement- While one or two people probably weren't as smiley as your average Disneyland employee, no one was rude to us, and I would have thought that the majority of people were pleasant and polite as you would find elsewhere... but that's just based on my one trip to the city. What else did we do? We decided to climb up the Eiffel Tower. In my last post, I mentioned that the tower looked beautiful, in the distance... but up close, my only thought is that it's just HUGE... The lines to the lift from the ground were rather long, and Matt decides that we should walk up the stairs. Which we do, round and round an enclosed set of stairs. We get onto the first platform of the tower, and the view's pretty good. After wondering around for a bit, we are then forced to take the elevator from there, to the top of the tower *phew*.

View was... okay... not that great. In fact, I think that they were the first photos to be deleted, as we were running out of camera memory...

On our last day in Paris, we decided to check out Notre Dame....
Went to the little island (Ile de la Cite) and there it was! I would say that Notre Dame isn't the most beautiful cathedral that we've ever been into, nor is it the largest one, either.

However, when we learnt that it contains two relics of the Christian world- one being a splinter from the cross that Christ was crucified on, and the second being a portion of the crown of thorns... We were intrigued. Matt got bored of listening to the audioguide, but when I heard it mention that the splinter was kept in the cathedral's treasury, I made sure I pulled him along with me.

The crown of thorns only gets brought out into the public on religious occasions, but we managed to see the splinter, kept in a sealed capsule, in the treasury. It's bizzare... you read about Christ being the son of God, performing miracles and it never seems to be 'real'- Seeing that little piece of wood (I can't confirm this, but I think they did carbon date this to be from that time that Christ was cruicified) was a reminder(?) of him actually existing, and if the man existed..... maybe the miracles did happen, and maybe there's a little kernel of salvation for us all, yet!

After Notre Dame, we had a really mediocre meal in a cafe on the same island- overpriced and just plain yuck. We then decided to check out St Germain, and wandered into the foodie bit of the arrondisement- cafe after shop after takeaway place full of delicious smelling and looking food! I was soooo disappointed that we did eat before we went there... but Matt consoled me with a Berthilon ice cream, which we shared, sitting on the banks of the river Seine. Lovely. That finished, we bid Paris adieu, and made our way to the Gard du Nord, and caught the eurostar home.

Oo La La... Gay Paree, part two.

After the hectic first day, we aimed to get to the Louvre early in the morning to hopefully miss out on the crowds. Walking and more walking, we finally get into the Louvre- After reading DanBrown's 'Da Vinci Code', it was rather cool to see the glass pyramids.

We got into line, andas you can see, it really wasn't too long. Bought our tickets and our guide earphones and went hunting for the Mona Lisa.

Again, at 10am, it wasn't very busy, and we got up to the front of the barricades where Ms Lisa was and got an eyeful of the famous lady.

The actual picture itself is rather small. While I don't quite know what all the fanfare is about... I do think that she has quite a sad smile.We then wondered about the rest of the Louvre. It is SO BIG- We went into a couple of rooms which contained paintings which would just about cover an entire wall (and more) of your regular bedrooms.

I was very glad to have the audioguide- I think that part of the draw of appreciating art is finding out the story behind it. Maybe I've only just come to this realisation late in my life- but while it's all well and good to say - nice colours, great modelling of the human body... it's better yet, when you learn about the artist's motives, and what they were trying to achieve- and if there are any additional stories attached to the subject. It becomes more...real(?) to me.

Anyway, we trundled up and down the Louvre for a few hours, before the grumblings of my stomach drew us to more pressing matters. We decided to head across the river Seine and go into St Germain.

I had read of the most wonderful maker of 'macarons'- that's French for mouthfuls of heaven- think flavoured meringue-y ground almond biscuits, sandwiched by a flavoured creme. I don't do them justice- you can find out more, over here: http://travelerslunchbox.com/journal/2005/12/5/gluttony-101-three-days-in-paris.html
Anyway, we found the Pierre Hermes shop and walked in- a jewel of a shop, with the cakes, pastries and macarrons displayed under glass cases like multicoloured jewels. I horrified Matt by choosing 15 macarrons in 2 minutes. Packed in tissue and into a box with a ribbon around it (ah, only in Paris), we walked out in search of lunch. Matt exclaiming over the amount of Euros I spent in the shop, and me being oblivious to the scolding.

The weather that day was WEIRD. One minute the sun would be blazing down, and the next, it would be pouring down (really, I kid you not) with rain. The whole day, it just went from sunny, to pissing down and back.... We were walking really quickly and decided to duck into this bistrot to have a bite of lunch.

Matt had a roast duck meal.. and I ordered an oven baked venison stew, with preserved lemons. While I remembered Matt's dish as being really yummy, I was in love with my meal- tender meat, melting bits of aubergine/eggplant and the salty tang of the preserved lemon skins cutting through everything. I don't THINK we ordered any desert, we were so full... but if they were half as good as our mains were, maybe we should have ordered ahead! We broke out the macarrons- Matt had a peanut butter one, and I had a salted caramel- *bliss*. I ask Matt what he thinks.. "Not bad". Finally rolling ourselves out the door with a "Merci, au revoir!" We head back out to wander the streets, lined with canvases and one art gallery after another.

Gay Paree! Part one.

Matt took me to Paris for my birthday.... Am I not a lucky girl?!

We left on the day itself, a day where I had one too many drinks at work for lunch, and then yet more, when someone set up an 'off-site meeting'! Barely made it to the Eurostar in time for the train...

But made it we did. The train ride to Paris took about 2 hours... Was very weird when we had the 20 mins of total darkness outside while we were under the English Channel. We got into the Gard du Nord station at about 10pm Paris time and walked to our hotel. More a motel. Located in the 16th arrondissement, on a bustling street. Not much else to say, except the bed had one of those polyester, non-descript floral-patterned bedspreads on it. (i dunno, I just had to remark on it) We crashed out pretty quickly, that night.

Next day: Paris! we're in Paris! Rushed out after getting ready and had a good wander down the street. First stop on the tourist map-the Arc de Triomph. The streets were rather full of people- LOTS of little dogs everywhere (Le Chien- seemed like each suburb had it's particular breed of dog!). Went into a French Bakery and got a baguette (oo la la!) to share. Pretty yummy. It's such a sunny day- Paris has really pretty buildings- all sand coloured stone and wrought-iron railings. Not many parks or flora, but cobblestones abounded.

On our way to the Arc, we nearly got run over by some cars. It's really as they say- Parisian drivers are nuts! Not very good road signage, and you think that you should be safe from them crazy drivers coz you're in a no-car area... but where you're standing is actually the middle of the path for cars to zoom in and out of underground carparks!

Anyway, still alive, we make our way towards the Arc, and I turn my head, and see the Eiffel tower, standing tall and proud, in the distance. That view, just encapsulated what the whole idea of Paris was- I wasn't watching it on TV, and it wasn't a postcard, but the real thing. However, the sandy/pebbly walk that was the last bit of the trek to the Arc was hell on my poor feet. I know that everyone walks everywhere in Paris, but really, not when I'm trying to look tres chic, in my little green shoes (going the minimalist look- minimal cushioning and support)! We see the Arc, took some photos, but didn't get to go up there. We had the 1pm reservation at
Hiramatsu to go to!

Were early, so we duck into this bistro, and have a glass of wine each, standing at the bar- very reminiscent of the bars in Spain- ciggie butts and ash on the ground. Broad range of characters. Grumpy barmen.

At 1- we trouped out of the bistro and into Hiramatsu- michelin starred restaurant that (regardless of what the name suggests) specialises in modern french cuisine. We walked into this oasis of calm- lush indoor plants and flower arrangements... there were cool coffee tables with different spices embedded in the glass table top. (photos are courtesy of the restaurant's website)


The restaurant was empty. Which brought the atmosphere down, but that also meant we had pretty much all the waiters' attention (which matt would argue wasn't necessarily a good thing, either). Looking at the menu, Matt went for the 3 course lunch special, and I decided to go for the 'delice gastronomique' menu. I wasn't
going to eat it all myself! My intention was to share with Matt, the whole time! Not THAT much of a guts!

We both started off with some still-warm cheese puffs. yummy. Salty, cheesy and buttery flakes of pastry. I THINK I had some sort of gazpacho in a teeney tea cup, but I've forgotten... My next course was then some medallions of lobster, with slices of truffles on top, some grilled asparagus, with hollondaise sauce and some truffle oil. Very yummy- mix of lighter lobster with the truffles... and the hollondaise.... really fluffy.

I think I liked the next course the best- I had a couple of ravioli stuffed with foie gras and they had morel (wrinkly looking mushroom) froth over the top of it. EEEYUM! you wouldn't think that a froth could have such strength of taste, would you? It was PERFECT. Went really well with the silky pasta and neither the morels nor the foie gras tastes overpowered each other. I
didn't want that dish to end.

Then came the salmon. Says that it was smoked ever so slightly- It's salmon. I don't think I have an opinion on the taste of the fish- but it was pink in the middle, and very tender and I liked the artichoke hearts in orange that it came with.

Matt, at this time was eating his main- lamb. I can't remember how it was cooked.... hang on... grilled or panfried lamb ribs with some sort of potato cream and roasted cherry tomatoes? Matt??? It was yummy, compared to my salmon and pigeon.

Next came a 'supreme' of pigeon- I think that's when they have the breast and the second joint of a bird. ANYWAY- it came rolled up and very lightly fried on the outside, and pink in the middle. Also on the plate were cubes of foie gras, lightly seared, and crushed coffee beans and some cocoa powder. At that point, Matt and I had already had the majority of a bottle of wine, and so I don't think I could adequately describe the pigeon, but I liked the cocoa and coffee tastes with it, and the foie gras was yum.

Then had a cheese platter. They wheeled out this trolley, the top being covered by cheeses of all shapes and sizes.... soft squidgey bries and camemberts, smelly washed rinds, monstrous slabs of cheddars, blues with varying amounts of growth... and we got to have 4 different cheeses! Not big pieces, but enough for two to taste and enjoy. Asked for a French blue, english cheddar, swiss holey cheese and a smoked cheddar.

THEN, we both had a fresh fruit salad with a pinapple granita on it.

I think it was about 3, when we finally trundled out of the restaurant.

What did I think? Um. Small portions. Lovely pairings of tastes and textures. Though I wouldn't have said that I thought that of every single dish. LOVED the cheese platter.... and I guess I would have prefered to have something a little more elaborate for dessert- though I probably
wouldn't have been able to fit anything else in! to tell you the truth, I think I would have preferred to go to the restaurant that I originally wanted to go to, regardless of the higher prices. But, Paris is only two hours away, and I can't imagine leaving the UK without ever heading back to it.

Anyway, we decided to head up the Eiffel tower after lunch. It was huge, though heading up there was not as awe-inspiring as seeing it as part of the scenery. hehehe. I guess you all know my priorities, no?

I'll tell you what the view was like, from up the Eiffel tower, in the next post!

the hills are alive.....

.... with the sounds of my yelps..... as I crash into the snow (yet again)......

My Chamonix experience begins when Matt and I rush into a waiting minicab and head towards the airport. We meet up with Paul and Andrew (Allo and Dobson, for those of you in the know) and hop onto a plane for Geneva. Get into Geneva and then BARELY make the only coach (well, the next one was in 3 hours' time!) to Chamonix.

Chamonix (say 'shamonee') is a little resort town located in a valley on the French side of the Alps. We get there and then immediately start walking in the wrong direction, and away from our accomodation. After Dobson released some pent up energy and fustration by pelting the rest of us with snowballs (and they CAN hit you with some force), we found a nice man with a nice bus to drop us off at our chalet.

BTW- it had been made loud and clear that this was to be a boys' weekend so I better toughen up and join in, "maggot". Yep. For this brief period intime, I was one of the maggots. *RIGHT*

We then had a few beers, and a bite to eat-I tried an Alsacian specialty (were we even near Alsace?)- a HUGE plate ofsauerkraut and boiled meats (different sausages and somesort of bacon). *eh* nice, but boring after a while. even piled withmustard.we then went to rent our snow gear- coz I was so short (as dobson wouldsay, "a little maggot"), I got a kid's board. *bah* then it was back to thepub for more beers, while the big maggots decided where they wanted to tearup the next day.

As I mentioned earlier, Chamonix is in a valley, andthere's quite a few different areas with their separate ski lifts andcables that you could go to. So we were going to check out La Flegere/LesPraz. http://www.alpineskimaps.com/france/chamonix/winmap.html
Got there in the morning, via a bouncy cable car and step out into a winter wonderland. We're above the treeline so there's snow EVERYWHERE (duh, Ihear you say) and I can see mountain peaks close by.

It's not that sunny today so the colour palette's all white and grey. So not what I've everseen before.I'm really daunted by strapping myself both feet onto a piece of wood/plastic. we'd tried to set some lessons up for me, but there weren'tany available in the morning. the boys suggested that I come with them and try it out myself, first. We're on the next to easiest run (green run) but the slopes all look really steep. Matt shows me how to strap myself onto the snowboard while dobson and allo zoom off. I try to stand up and land straight on my @rse. matt puts his on and slides down to the slope easily........ I'm stuck. I have no idea how I'm meant to stand, balance, or even DO. Allo's back and suggests I walk down to the gentle bit, a few slopes down. Oh. The humiliation. It took me the whole morning to go down the one run, I fell that many times! I leave La Flegere to go meet my instructor at adifferent slope? area? at La Tour. The next couple of hours, we're on the baby slopes and she teaches me to make sure I balance well on both feet... imagine this in a French accent..."you must make sure you ba-lance on both your feet, relaxed and knees bent.... like a mongkee..." (les sange).

The next coupleof days my mantra as I'm up on my board is "be a monkey, be. the. monkey." sad to say, it does work! To an extent..... So. I learn how to turn on the front edge of the board (in my case, left- as I'm goofy-footed- right footfront, left foot behind) and turn right on the back edge of the board.

I'm starting to enjoy the feeling of sliding on the snow, the little kids zooming around on skis and snowboards, and even stacking it on the snow. There's a couple learning to ski at the same little area and I amuse everyone by falling at the guy's feet acouple of times. I ask for lessons with the same instructor the next morning. Meet the boys at the chalet, and matt and I go out for dinner.

W stop at a cafe ('La Napoleon'- ergo French food, non?) which seems to be staffed entirely by Aussies in the kitchen and kiwis on the floor. (oh, the irony). Matt and I had one of the nicest meals we've ever had. They gave us some yummy fresh bread with some sort of grains in it, and some balsamic vinegar and the grassiest olive oil to dip into. Matt got his mitts and mouth full of bread, of course.

Then our mains came. Matt had a rack oflamb, tender pink, with some spinach and ricotta 'gnocci' in a dollop oftomato sugo and some red wine sauce. I ordered a steak, with "cafe de parisbutter" (butter flavoured with garlic, parsley and orange) and escargot. Bet you're surprised, eh?

Matt's meal was yummy, and he really liked the'gnocci'. I LOVED my steak. it was charred and crispy on the outside, and ever so slightly rare on the inside. The butter was tasty (couldn't pick the orange) and the snails scattered on the plate just added to the melange(heeheehe, I'm taking French lessons soon, can you tell?) of textures. AND my meal came with a big bowl each of perfect potato wedges and a green salad. we finished off with some digestives. Matt had drambuie and I hadthe most foul tasting liquor- Poire Williams . Ewwww. it smells like pearshad been dissolved in gasoline, and tastes like gasoline. not one of mybetter choices. Matt sees me taking big sips (the faster I drink it, the less I taste it!) and not wanting to be outdone, shots the rest of his drambuie! Show off.

Anyway the rest of the trip was beautiful- I had my next lesson on a very sunny day. Guys, I wish you could see it- the snow just made every othercolour seem so sharp against it- the perfect, cloudless blue skies, the granite colour of the rocks, the various frozen dog poo.... the dogs roam free and happy amongst the streets and resorts of chamonix- their ownersmust be shop keepers as at the end of the day, you see dogs scratching at shop entrances, looking to be let back in for the night.

That day, I learnt to link my turns. You need to keep going in an S-shape,down a slope. Going straight just makes you go faster and faster. Well, I had progressed to the stage where I could stay on the board, but not turn quickly enough. So- my falls were rather spectacular- or should I say splat-actular. I ended up smashing into it and getting snow in my pants, in my shirt and up my nose. The snow trapped in the waistband's the worst. It all gets stuck between my pants and my poor stomach. eek! At the end of my last day on the slope I was almost sad that I couldn't keep doing this. I say almost.... as I hobbled off to wait for the bus.

This trip was great for another reason, though- it was our last night in Chamonix and we were out having a beer on the restaurant terrace. They were packing up as it was 8pm on a Monday night- but you look up, and it's dusk,you're surrounded on all sides by those beautiful mountain peaks. The air's different; the beer's flowery (special Mont Blanc beer- this one had coriander and orange blossom in it) and people are walking past chattering in French. "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" just kept popping up in my head. It really sunk in. I wasn't in Australia, there is nothing in Oz like this anyway and... that's fine. It was a perfect moment. I can only hope that I have many more like this in the upcoming year.

Well- as an afterword- I'm walking fine- have a few bruises but am doing great. Slightly sunburnt along my nose but that's it. I'll stop here. Hope you are all well.

Meat lovers!!!! We interrupt your regular program to bring you....

......MY ST JOHN EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!

Those of you who are veggies, almost veggies, and squirrel-lovers might want to give this a miss... After months of salivating over just what strange animal organs I would be tucking into, in one of the more well known meat and offal focused restaurants in the world (there was a whole chapter in Anthony Bourdain's 'A Cook's Tour' which featured St John and its signature dish- which I'll talk about later).

March 15, Matt and I walk there from my work. We went to the St John Bar & Restautant, located in Smithfield- A rather cleanish, hip area of London. Nice pubs, a fewcafe/restaurant places, but we... well, I only have eyes for the white painted entrance leading into nirvana.

We walk in, and there's wooden floors, benches and tables, a white-painted bar and loaves of bread on a display stand. The walls are all white as well- and there are plain lamps hanging down from the ceiling. Rather plain and clinical. We realise that this is just the 'bar' area and walk up a few steps into the dining room. More white painted... everything. Even the floorboards are whitewashed.

We're seated at a table for two, against the wall and have a pretty good view of the rest of the dining area. They've set up tables close together in the middle of the room. We're lucky we're early eaters. Come any later and we'd be elbow to elbow with other diners.

I take the menu with barely contained eagerness- Entrees- grilled oysters, razor clams, pollock (what's that? was it supposed to be spelled with a 'b' p'raps?) with egg and toast, squid,some boring veggie options (heehee) andthe world famous MARROW BONE AND PARSLEY SALAD! I'd been dying to try this for yonks. Ever since I read Bourdain's description in his book... yum.

However, the waiter (clad all in white- what is it with white?) comes back to take our order and tells us the specials of the day. At the entree of 'Squirrel Livers'...I'm hooked. Who knows when they'd be able to catch more of the nimble little critters again? I go for the squirrel. Matt picks squid. Waiter comes right back to tell me that all the squirrels had beenordered by diners quicker than I was. Bugger. Oh well, I guess I'll go the marrow bones.

We have our entrees! Mine's this place with 4 tubes, standing upright, two slices of grilled rye bread, a mound of glistening parsley, sliced onion and capers. The waiter scoops some celery salt onto my place.

Matt has a beige medley of cold squid pieces (no tentacles) and some sort of pale vegetable and beige sauce.

Anyway, I pick up the crab-pick that they've given me and put it into the first marrowbone. You swirl it allaround to loosen the stuff, then scoop it out onto your toastie. It's weird. Like that layer of fat you get, when you refrigerate stock- it's gelatinous, fatty and 'essense of meat' - doesn't taste like pate, blood or what you'd expect. Sprinkle the celery salt, then pile on some parsley/caper stuff. Bite. Yuuuuuummmmmm. The crunchy bread, oily(?) marrow, salt and sour of the rest of the stuff just makes it SO good! I offer Matt some. He likes it more than his entree, too. He helps me finish mine :).

Main courses. Had a look through the menu. Apart from what I ordered, it seems that there isn't all that much strangness on the menu. there's fish,there's chicken, there's middlewhite and some veggie accompaniemant (we foundout middlewhite is the species of rare-breed british porker, that they serve,roasted- why not just say roast pork?).

For all you veggies out there,there were a few mains, including whole main sized serve, of cauliflower and cheese. hmmm. maybe it would have been nice cheese, but I'd have been a bit bored by the 5th mouthful, I think. Chicken necks were the main course special of the day, but that isn't something I think I'd ever have. (that and chicken feet are where I draw the line at)

So. I'm served my main of lamb tongue. NO. It's not a plated version of the rolling stones motive. It had been confitted (braised slowly in fat- ooh. Idon't think I'm doing it any favours here), then warmed under the grill, sliced and served with turnips and lambs lettuce and drizzled with anchovy mayo. I thought that it was pretty cheeky that they put lambs lettuce in with the salad. Or would it be more tongue in cheek???? (sorry,I amuse myself, sometimes)

Regardless, every bite was deeelightful. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth (SORRY!), and each mouthful was packed full of flavour.

Matt got the veal neck- which was a yummy irish stew with greatbig serves of tender meat. However, after having bites of my meal and trying his, I couldn't wait to get back to mine.

We had a nice bottle of bordeaux between us. Then had desert. I went a date loaf with butterscotch sauce and spice icecream. Matt did a buttermilk pudding with prunes and something else thatI forget (had quite a bit of that bottle of wine by then).

We got out of the now very packed restaurant, cabbed it home and I went to bed with a smile on my face.

Next- heading up to Chamonix to learn how to snow-board(translation: flounder inelegantly in the snow) for bout 5 days! Will write about that when I'm back.

First ever trip to London Bridge, and Borough Market

This was the first mass email that I sent out, describing Matt's and my first foray into London Bridge. We've now lived here, for nearly 8 months, and I STILL love our proximity to the riverside, the ease of access to different modes of public transport (especially the bus to work- aren't I lazy?!), the fact that Hilda and Tristan are only 15 mins' walk away.. and most of all, our weekly grocery shopping at the Borough Market!

Re-reading this makes me smile... though, I've taken the editing scissors to my long and lengthy email!

To all those whom I haven't emailed so far- All is well.... London hasn't been too cold, and even when it has- I've been all rugged up or else done the smart thing and stayed inside :).

This past Saturday, Matt and I went to the Borough Market, over at London Bridge (the... suburb?). Firstly- we thought that we'd get some food, and secondly, to check out the neighbourhood as a potential area to move to in Feb.

So we walk into this huge building, and it's heaving with people... I already like it- there's little stalls selling just pate, or just prociutto de parma, coffee... PASTRIES... However, we'd both had a run round the park and were hungry, so we headed straight to the stall that Julie (who's the wife of a mate of mine, Rob) was working at-

Well- Julie was lovely (and she gave us the burger for free- SCORE!) and the burger was great- pork and stilton- migosh, best burger EVER... There was another slice of cheddar, some perfectly caramelised onions and only a dash of seeded mustard. We finished that in about 4 bites?

Still hungry, we went to look for the chorizo rolls. This line was even longer than the one we left! Though, before we knew it, we were wiping off drool and giving our orders to the person..... Definitely worth going to the market, if only for the munchies, what else? We wandered around- didn't buy any fruits or vegies as we weren't too sure what we were doing later that night.

Ooooh- another highlight- we went into Neal's Yard Dairy. Like the cheeseroom in the Richmond Hill Larder but larger.... mounds upon mounds of cheeses on the tables, and the coolest thing was that it was all sourced from within the UK. We found ourselves being served by the most enthusiastic person. He was a cheese buyer over on a busman's (cheese enthusiast's?) holiday from America. We asked about raw milk cheeses and got to try like, 8 different things?! Heeheehee. The guy was like, "here, try this...ooh, I better trysome too".

We then met up with a couple of friends, went to a seafood stall and had grilled scallops (caught just that morning) with bacon and tabasco sauce. Heaven.

I did find London Bridge to be a rather pretty neighbourhood. After the Market, we went into one of the oldest pubs in London. 4 hours later, we're wondering where the time went! Back to Clapham and tapas, a paella and a couple of sangrias later, I was ready for bed. So yeah. That was my Saturday.

I'm so definitely making sure that I head back there next week! And it's definitely on Matt's and my lists of to-live places. If i could set up camp in the market itself, I would!