London day 2

[mindstalk]

Oohhh I'm tired. So let's be quick. Or not.

Walked out, looked for breakfast, decided on hummus after I'd passed one place, figured I'd see another. I can't take the supposed Eurabiazing of Britain seriously if I can't find hummus easily. Lots of fried chicken and burgers. I ended up in a cafe, and went for roast lamb and roast potatoes, with peas, carrots, and broccoli. Sound appetizing? I thought so.

More like, "cafe" is short for "cafeteria", rather than having anything to do with coffee. All those stereotypes about English food? Yeah (photo). Gray meat in dark brown gravy, overboiled vegetables -- the other two were edible, but the broccoli was a disintegrating loss. The roast potatoes were okay, something about the skin retained interest.

Public transit is dense and comprehensive and has nice maps, though not one superimposing tube stations over a map of London. Street signs are largely AWOL. Small streets are more likely to be labeled than, say, Whitechapel. It was easier to navigate Tokyo, *in English*.

Long-distance train station was impressive but had a total absence of trash cans. Also not much trash. The first is related to bomb scares I think, or maybe actual IRA bombs.

Later I decided to see what the English made of hamburgers, and realized a bit after that I'd found an "American style" diner, with 1950s-sounding songs and such. 3000 miles and...

Found the British Library, which seems more like what I thought the British Museum was. Found the British Museum in a brochure and on the map, and it sounds more like a normal museum. I'm confused but will check it out tomorrow if I don't sleep to noon again.

The only free wi-fi I've found was in the train station and it sucked. One more advantage of a phone: checking for wi-fi without having to haul a computer out of a bag and wake it up.

Rained a lot today.

Photos:
a bus stop map. I like the circles of walking distance radii
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindstalk/4880155687/
some British Library statue
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindstalk/4880765336/
money, with and without flash. One pound on the left, then 50 20 10 5 2. Yes, 2 is the widest. Remember the dime before you laugh. Pound is the heaviest and thickets. If there's a penny I haven't seen it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindstalk/4880766058/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindstalk/4880766464/

Comments

[fanw.livejournal.com]

Ah, so you've been introduced to British cooking, then? Boil boil boil...

As for the British Museum, it is worth checking out. Remember to check in on the Elgin Marbles. Then imagine them all painted and plastering the Parthenon!

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I've been to London several times, although not within the last decade, and have several recommendations about food.

Indian and Italian are excellent bets, both have been consistently good in London. However, medium in a UK Indian restaurant = hot in a US one.

IME, English food ranged from OK to horrible

The biggest surprise for me was that Chinese food in London (and in fact, throughout the UK) ranged from mediocre to terrible - I've never been to a Chinese restaurant in the UK whose cooking was not significantly inferior to my own. Don't go.

I've also had good Lebanese food in London, but the only restaurants I remember were near Paddington Station. I'm told there's good French food in London.

Also, the British Museum is an amazing wonder, while equally well being a truly impressive testament to colonial-era artifact looting.

The Science Museum isn't to be missed, the steam engine gallery alone is worth going for.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

You can get good cheese and good apples in London. (Or could when I was there -- the year they shifted to decimal currency.)

[akashiver.livejournal.com]

The British Library givs you free wifi with a reader card.

[foibos.livejournal.com]

If you haven't already, you need to try Gourmet Burger Kitchen (http://www.gbk.co.uk/). Yum.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

http://www.gbk.co.uk/menu/burgers/

Those would be pricey burgers with those numbers in dollars, never mind pounds...

[foibos.livejournal.com]

Yes, but they really are worth it.

[atsampson.livejournal.com]

Hm. Yes, I wouldn't order that sort of meal at a cafe. A cafe's a good place to get a fried breakfast or a bacon roll, but if they offer anything else they're probably catering to pensioners and tourists. Basically, if it doesn't consist of something that's been fried and served with bread products then they probably aren't going to do a good job. (That's pretty obviously a pre-frozen Yorkshire pudding in your photo, for example, which is definitely school-dinners territory.)

If you want a decent roast meal, I'd look around for an upmarket pub, preferably one where you have some difficulty finding a table, since then you can surreptitiously observe what other people have ordered. Expect to pay a bit more than you would have done at a cafe, especially in London, but it'll be worth it.