Walking Tour...take 2, October 20-26, 2014

Josh was out of town, or I should say traveling. I was corrected by a local. This reminds me of a rant I have... The British people love to laugh and make fun of how Americans say things...its really rude if you ask me. I would just like to point out that Americans don't think its posh to say "f" for "th" (ex-they say "firty" for "thirty" because they think it sounds intelligent) but you don't see us laughing at you. As an SLP this articulation choice is like nails on the chalk board!!!
Anyways...Josh was in Luxembourg this week so I filled my diary (calendar) with fun activities to keep me busy!
The day he left, I met him at work for lunch. We went to one of his favorites, Ceena, a Korean Barbecue place. It was not something I would normally pick, but it was pretty tasty. I got the beef and noodles and Josh got the chicken with rice. The next day I got a surprise call from Rachael. She had a double decker bus tour the day before, and the tickets are good for 48 hours so she wanted to know if I wanted to join her for day 2. We had a great time! I had been meaning to take one of these tours, and so glad it finally happened. It lasted about 2.5 hours. You can hop on and off at different tourist sites. We had been to most of them so we stayed on and enjoyed the commentator. I suggest every new to London visitor do this, and ride the yellow line to have a person tell you all kinds of fun London facts.

So many more poppies

Tower of London

Elizabeth Tower, Big Ben is the bell

Trafalgar Square

London Eye and Elizabeth Tower

After the bus tour we decided to get something to eat. It just so happened that we ended in Soho, right by a place we tried to go with a big group but was too crowded. We found our way there and made it just in time for lunch. Its called Pitt Cue, and has great reviews. I got a pulled pork sandwich with green chili slaw as my side with a cream soda. It was delicious but I was super excited about the cream soda...even if it was £2.50.

Pitt Cue

Cream Soda!

I will be going back because Josh really wants to try it too!

Serving canned food only

We passed a popular restaurant with a different kind of concept. The entire menu is canned food. Not sure it's something I want to try but it's very interesting...

The following day Kate, Rachael and I met at a movie theater to see The Judge. It was really interesting! The theater was super fancy but only had about 7 rows! So small! It reminded me if someone had a theater in their house. I liked the movie and felt very American after hearing so much American dialogue. After the movie Rachael and I hung out since her husband is out of town too. We went to my local cute cafe, Pimlico Fresh and then hung out at my flat. Josh got back on Thursday and the pups and I were so excited to see him. He likes Luxembourg, and I hope to some day get to join him on a trip there!

Luxembourg at night

 This weekend we set our clocks back an hour. It's a week before the states so for 1 week I will only be 5 hours ahead of Texas. On Saturday, I dusted off our "Walking London" tour book that we used at the beginning of our trip. We decided to walk the neighborhood of Trafalgar Square and Soho. We started in Trafalgar Square and were in for a big surprise! They were hosting the Atlanta Falcons NFL tailgate getting ready for the London game on Sunday. It was fun to see so many American jerseys!

Trafalgar Square

Some Falcons

The next stop was the National Gallery. Another free museum entry is always nice. We got to see Leonardo da Vinci's cartoon drawing of the Virgin and Child, and lots of Monet's work. We even took our weekly baby bump pick in front of it!

Virgin and Child

On to a famous church, St. Martin-in-the-Fields that has been copied by many New England churches.

St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Under the church is a crypt you can eat lunch at. It was sooo good! It's called Cafe in the Crypt. I got a made to order steak sandwich and Josh got mushroom soup. We split a yummy apple cobbler with cream.

Cafe in the Crypt

Next we are off to the National Portrait Gallery. We got to see the only known contemporary portrait of William Shakespeare. Also a head made out of frozen blood...oh artists!

Shakespeare

Frozen blood head

Now for Leicester Square. Many movie premiers happen here but we did not see anyone famous on this trip.

Then we headed to Chinatown! Never have I seen so many fried ducks in the windows. I want to come back during Chinese New Year...I bet its lots of fun.

Our last stop on the tour was Soho Square. Such a pretty garden and lots of people were out enjoying the day. We had fun watching some really intense ping pong players. This was once called King's Square and was one of the most fashionable addresses in town.

Sunday we got our extra hour of sleep before we headed out to the markets. It took us forever to get there because some major underground lines were closed due to construction, but we made it as they were opening. We started at Spitalfields and made our way to Old Truman Brewery Markets. These markets were my favorite so far. So many cute things and such a fun area. Josh was only there to try another "21 Street Food in London That Change Your Life" so he was counting down the minutes until they opened. We planned on trying Mother Clucker, a country fried chicken truck. They opened 30 minutes late but the chicken was delicious! The breading was amazing BUT I wouldn't call it country fried chicken. It was probably the spiciest thing I have ever eaten...like super spicy. The fries were great...but very spicy. Josh loved the jalapeno mac and cheese. It was different, but had a good flavor.

Josh waiting for them to open

Spicy Chicken

There was another place their from "The List" that we should have tried but it might have been too much spicy chicken for one day. It's called Orange Buffalo, and its still on our list. They serve NY style buffalo wings. These 2 food trucks were by far the most popular of the bunch. Inside the Brewery Market were some great "street meat" vendors. If we didn't already have a date with Mother Clucker we would have been all over it! Food from all over the World. So cool! I will definitely be back!