Thursday in London

 Thursday in London

Gate by the palace
Roundabout by the palace
My day today started with a run towards Buckingham Palace. It was great to see the palace from a different perspective, because when we saw changing of the guards we weren't able to get up close to it. It was also super cool to see all the people running around the palace, and to imagine that they just live here and run by the palace every day and don't even know how exciting that is. After, for breakfast, I had some scrambled eggs which didn't really taste or feel like they had real eggs in them, a mini croissant and mini pain au chocolat, bacon, and a bowl of porridge. 
Smaller gate by palace
Our next activity was a walking culinary tour, which unfortunately wasn't a food tasting tour, more of a food history tour. Our guide Sophie was super educated about all the culinary history in London, even in the area right by our hotel. We learned about the London Beer Flood, and about how coffeehouses started (and saw where the first one was). One place we visited was actually in the City of London, about a 10 minute tube ride from our hotel. It was The Royal Exchange, a big building with lots of restaurants, and one outpost of Fortnum & Mason, a really fancy tea company and department store. The inside of the Royal Exchange was gorgeous, and kind of reminded me of a better version of International Market Square in Minneapolis. 


The Royal Exchange
After this, our tour guide brought us to a food market, for us to have lunch at.
"Diagon Alley"
 On the way, she brought us past Leadenhall Market, which was apparently where they filmed Diagon Alley in the first Harry Potter movie. I have attached an image of the alley now, but after looking up a picture from the movie, I don't see much of a resemblance (I guess it looks too good in real life). At the food market (Spitalfields Market), I had a sandwich with hand-made focaccia, prosciutto, melted mozzarella, basil, lamb lettuce, and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was good to get some really fresh food, after lots of more heavily processed or fried foods.



Sticky toffee pudding
Finally, we were off to Hawksmoor to try sticky toffee pudding. I was originally worried that this would be too sweet, and when the waitress brought my plate, I was even more scared because of all the syrup the pudding was soaking in. However, it also came with a clotted cream topping. This is usually served with scones, and it is essentially a thicker and creamier butter. This was great to get rid of some of the over-sweetness of the pudding, and i ended up really enjoying it. However, I was still chugging water after finishing it, due to the overwhelming richness. 









New purse

On our walk back from Hawksmoor, we decided to stop at some stores that we hadn't seen before in the states (or in Minnesota in particular). These included Uniqlo, Mango, and TK Maxx. You may be thinking "I've seen TJ Maxx before" and yes they are owned by the same company, and TK Maxx is just the international outpost. I ended up purchasing a small purse at TK Maxx, and it says London on the tag, so maybe it was made here. There are also Scottish Terriers (dogs) on the inside of the purse, which was a nice surprise after I bought it. The hair elastic in the picture is for scale. 


After lots of walking, I was ready to lay in bed, so I did for a little bit, but then it was dinner time. I went to a doner kebab restaurant and got chicken doner with fries and some sort of sauce all mixed together in a bowl. The flavors and fries were really good, but I got some pieces of chicken with a kind of sketchy texture. For dessert, I got a sugar and butter crepe from the coffee shop below our hotel, and had an apple from the grocery store because I don't know when the last time I had a fruit was (other than the strawberries with chocolate). 
Another great day in London, and I can't believe we only have two more non-travel days left here!




Comments

  1. Juli BergmanMarch 14, 2025 at 6:08 AM

    Sounds like a long day! What is the “City of London”?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ElsaMarch 14, 2025 at 7:22 AM

      The City of London is a 1 square mile section that was originally the only part that was built of London. It's where the big new buildings and financial area are. There's also the City of Westminster which is where parliament and the big landmarks are.

      Delete
  2. TorreyMarch 14, 2025 at 7:37 AM

    Nice purse! Hard to belive you can fit multiple dogs in there. Maybe that hair elastic is extra large?

    ReplyDelete

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