She melts when you pour water on her?

Original post date: Friday, March 14, 2008


She melts when you pour water on her?

Alright - off we go, and once we started we didn’t stop so hold on...

Saturday March 8th - Day One (kinda)

Although it wasn’t a new day, it was still Saturday the day we arrived, it sure felt like a new one after our nap. It was much needed. We woke up and started our London experience.

We went to the famous Portobello Road market, you know the one in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (I had to be told because I actually have never seen that movie). It was really cool, we got there as all the vendors were starting to pack up but we still got to the experience. We saw some cool amber jewelry, they have green and white amber, I was not aware of that, Heather got a new green amber ring. Then our next vendor that took up the majority of our time was one that had a bunch of old typesetting blocks. Most of them were carved out of wood and used to be used in old presses to print newspapers, books, and such. It was very cool to see all of the different shapes and sizes and font styles. So we found a cool little display box and picked out our name "IVY" and the number "4" to signify how many people are in our family. Finding a good set was fun, having to dig around and holding all of the pieces you could only imagine your hands covered in ink as you were typesetting a headline in an old United Kingdom paper, "EXTRA! EXTRA!". It was very fun. From there we walked passed a crepe stand and I had to have a street vendor make me a crepe. Pouring the batter on the hot pan and using this cool wooden stick to smooth it out into a big circle, it cooked in less than a minute and she added some yummy strawberries and sugar, folded it up and gave it to me covered in powdered sugar. With the first bite my coat was covered in powdered sugar, it was great. We decided since our show started at 730p we needed to start heading over to the theatre area.

We found a bus that would take us right there, it is always fun trying to find the right bus, train or whatever by looking at a multicolored map of lines. After some deliberation, we trusted Jason on this one, we found our bus stop and waited for our double-decker bus. Of course when it arrived we immediately climbed the stairs and sat down. Sitting up that high and with the streets as narrow as they are here you feel like you are going to run everything and everyone over. It was very fun riding and looking into open windows and seeing that Londoners act just like we do in their homes. Yes it was very voyeuristic but who doesn’t do that, I am just willing to admit it.

We arrived early to our destination and were a little parched so we went to a pub called "the Shakespeare" or "the Shakeperean" I can’t remember. We sat at table 77, and at a pub you place your order at the bar and they give you something so they can pick you out of the crowd, so far it has been a wooden spoon with a number on it, and you go sit down with your drinks. We had some great conversation, a good pint (well Jason had a pint we all had half pints) and some tasty appetizers. At 715 we gathered our coats and hats and crossed the street to the theatre.

We found our seats in the front row, yes I said front row. As we waited for it to start we looked into the orchestra pit and saw the musicians playing Scrabble before the show, just shows you it is also just a job to them as well, but a very fun job. It was an amazing show! Highly recommended. During intermission Jason and I had a great conversation about the exchange rate of pounds and dollars, all stemming from a girl selling ice cream for £3, and I thought why pay $6 for an ice cream. I guess Jason is right, you can’t think about it like that or you wouldn’t spend any money over there since the exchange rate is just not good right now. After the show we went to a restaurant called "Ask", their premise was, yes we have a menu but if you want to change how anything is prepared we will do it, just ask. It was great Italian food and good wine and once again great conversation, as always with Jason and Steph. Home bound we walked, road the tube, walked and crawled into bed looking forward to another fun filled day and a car trip to a castle.

more to come...