First of all, thanks so much to everyone who emailed or commented in response to my previous London post. I really appreciate hearing from folks and it also helps motivate me into doing this as I go along (that and not being willing to trust my spotty memory). At the end of my last post, I laid out my plans for Friday:
. . . off to Borough Market, the Tate Modern and then seeing the revival of John Osborne's The Entertainer with Robert Lindsay at the Old Vic, all of which are in fairly close proximity on the South Bank.
Substitute Vinopolis for Tate Modern and there you have it. And what a day! First of all, there was a decent amount of blue sky in the morning, which was delightful. I took the Tube to London Bridge, strolled past Southwark Cathedral and ducked through a passageway into a truly incredible sensory experience - Borough Market. If you come to London and are here on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, you must visit this market. You must, I say! I had gotten a little preview of it on Thursday night, because my pub tour came
through here to visit The Market Porter, but I had no idea it would be so intoxicating. Food to take home and prepare, food to eat on the spot, food to make your mouth water. Beautiful to look at, and a delight to taste and smell.Yep, this is a foodie market, plain and simple. It's Pike Place on steroids. It's old, it's vibrant, it's packed to the rafters and Oh My God, the smells! Unbelievable, indescribable. Meat, bread, cheese, wine, fruit and veg, confectionary, you name it -- The highest quality from all over Britain. Shops, restaurants and pubs everywhere around the perimeter. There are also a few flowers, very little in the way of crafts. Did I mention it's about food?
To enjoy Borough you just need an appetite and a little stamina. Or basically, be a person who eats or drinks. I got a small piece of Stilton to go with the apple I pinched from the breakfast room, and a Parma ham baguette, which I ate in the Southwark Cathedral churchyard (just me and about a million lunching office workers). After which I walked all around again, just sniffing and taking pictures.
I had planned to go on to Tate Modern, but ended up only dipping into it because I had gotten siphoned off (ha!) at Vinopolis for a little wine tasting and was feeling a bit woozy. From the market, I walked along the Thames past Shakespeare's Globe to get to the Tate, but then decided to slow down my pace. It seemed best to retreat and put my feet up for a while, so it was back to London Bridge station for a quick trip back to Earls Court. It won't be so easy on the weekend because the entire District and Circle lines will be out of commission for repairs. I will say, though, that improvements in the Underground service are noticeable and I think they really are trying to make it better, which helps make the inconvenience worthwhile. I've been on and off of trains 6-8 times a day for the last several days (my Travelcard is getting a right workout) and except for the truncated weekend routes, have had very few problems.
Coming up, The Entertainer.
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