A quiet morning in Camden Markets

This morning Rhys and I tried to go grocery shopping before 10am...too early and all the shops were closed! Instead we ended up wandering through an empty Stables Market in the misty rain. I forgot how nice it is just to be somewhere and not be in a huge jostling crowd. A perfect start to a Sunday morning:

Books, lovely fat books

Since my commute is pretty long, I have been lucky enough to have lots of computer/internet free time. Which means I get to read all kinds of books!

This week I spent my time reading "In Defence of Food" by Michael Pollan, the guy who wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma (A book I have tried to read and failed- I will probably re-try now!). It was very interesting, and answered the question "what should I eat to be healthy and not kill the world" (my own phrasing). The first section was all about nutritionism and essentially the flaws of science- by breaking foods down into their nutritional components a lot is missed. Essentially we know carrots (For example) are healthy, science says maybe it is the beta-carotine. Instead of going and eating a food supplemented with beta-carotine, we should just eat carrots. Essentially science doesn't know why some foods are healthier than others. But we do know that fruits and vegetables are healthy- so we don't really need to know the exact scientific answer of WHY it is healthy- we can just go ahead and eat it.

Happy Halloween!

The clocks fall back on Sunday (Halloween), and we are officially on the road to frost, snow, and Christmas. But first it's time to enjoy Autumn's bounty, like delicious pumpkins:

One day I will make it to London Zoo and see the lions licking pumpkins (yes this is a picture taken from the London Zoo website). why is he licking the pumpkin? Did they rub meat on it first for a 'photo opp'?

Bring on hot apple cider, roasted chestnuts, and warm woollen mittens!

People (and dog) Watching on the London Underground

Taking the Tube/Subway every day and walking around London gives the best people watching. London is not just people in black London Fog coats with black umbrellas and black boots like I thought it would be. Instead there are people from a thousand cultures, lots of languages, and some crazy crazy people (Essential in any big city).

Visiting Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station

today we went to PLATFORM 9 3/4 at Kings Cross station (where Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts in all the books). It made me giddy with excitement! It's not everyday you get to relive your childhood dreams of being a wizard. Kings Cross station even had a special label set up with a trolley "going through the wall". aaah! so cool!!!!!!

Myths dismissed

some people think London is all cold grey stone and seriousness...

weekend adventures

Sadly my blogging is now a bit behind the times, but here is my weekend update (because weekends are much more exciting than weekdays in terms of stories).
This weekend Rhys and I were very busy travelling and traipsing about. I didnt even have time to do my laundry or complete my weekly library visit!

On Saturday morning we went to an amazing fantastic coffee shop- my new favorite! It is a sort of hippy-vegan-organic place (Mom: it even randomly sells Tom's of Main toothepaste! What!). It was founded a few years ago and is run by an Iranian guy who came to London in 1991 to study interior design in London. After graduating, he went on to design and run this coffee shop. Everything inside is wood and brick with warm lighting, free newspapers, and the best hot chocolate I have ever had!
(no pictures yet but I plan on going back next weekend)

Walk Along the Thames: Tower of London, Tate Moder and St. Paul's

In true Saturday fashion R. and I spent the day wandering around central London and the City of Westminster. The original plan was to go on the paid tour of the Tower of London. We walked by it a week or two ago and it looked like a perfect day out- at least a full day of touring! The tours are led by Beefeaters (old ex army guys). however since we dont like planning or reading or doing anything in advance (boring!)- we showed up at 1pm and found out that tickets were £17!! ridiculous considering most museums are free in London, and going to a castle in the countryside is maybe £5- tops. so we decided that £17 was too much and decided we should just wander about for a while.

Covent Gardens- take 2

I am getting behind on my blogging, but going to work everyday makes for less exciting stories. However, my weekends still make for some nice stories, I hope. It does mean that I am fairly behind on my emailing everyone though- so if you are waiting on a reply there will be one (at some point soon hopefully).  I dont have pictures from last weekend, but Rhys was under the weather so my flatmate K. and I went to Covent Garden. K. has been to london as a normal tourist several times, and has lived here longer than me. This meant she knew her way around a bit and she took me back to Covent Garden (you may remember how dissapointed I was the first time I went).

The Omnivore's 100

Sorry to bore you, but this is one of those blogging games called the "Omnivore's 100" where you:

1) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
2) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

I have eaten 40/100 of the foods listed. I'm not sure who exactly made the list, so I'm not sure what level of accomplishment is appropriate. I'm pleased to say that living in England has allowed me to tick off "Cream tea" on the list though. My cousins Pete and Chris took me to a cream tea at a castle. Cream tea is actually tea, scones, and clotted cream and jam. The clotted cream is key, it is only made in Cornwall and a few other places so it is a special thing to have it. It is kind of like unsweetened, extra dense whipped cream. Absolutely delicious when served as cream tea- I would recommend it to anyone who is lucky enough to come across it!

Commuting in London

It has now been officially one week since work has started for me, and it is very strange to suddenly be thrown into real-life. Being unemployed meant I was doing a lot of wandering around london, lots of naps, and lots of stressing about money. Now I am employed I suddenly seem VERY VERY busy- I work 8:30-5:30 Monday-Thursday, and then an exciting half-day on Friday. It is about a one hour commute to work at the moment. I am working in Harrow, and living in Golders Green, so it's about ten miles. However, I am still living in my temporary housing for another month or so. I am hoping to move closer and cut my commute to thirty minutes once my lease expires. That would free up quite a bit of time!