Market Weekend

I now live in London. I now live in London. I have to keep reminding myself this. I keep thinking this is a temporary work vacation. Except this could be a couple of years and I no longer have a home in the US. Well… except my dad’s place, but let’s be honest, there are just way too many kids to have a room there.  

I spent my first week working about 15 hours a day. Fun. Exactly the way I wanted to spend my first week in my new city. I had to make up for the fact that I was busy moving the week before. And it’s a crazy time right now. So I didn’t do much last week except being chained to my laptop and blackberry, and sleeping.

When the weekend arrived, I was ready to sleep, relax a bit, and go exploring. I succeeded in all 3. I do need to find a place to live, but I figured I needed to get acclimated first. Get over jet lag. Decide on where I should live first. That type of stuff.

On Saturday I met up with KC, an old coworker of mine. She’s a newbie to London as well. I decided we will be friends. We spent the late morning/early afternoon wondering around Borough Market, which is near London Bridge. If you are looking for food, this is the place to go. They have a ton of fresh food for the choosing. Veggies, fruit, fish, spices, pretty much anything you can think of to prepare a meal. Now I don’t cook. We established this in #20. Luckily KC cooks and offered to feed me for my entire stay in London. Although she doesn’t know this yet. Of course there were also stalls with food to munch on for lunch. I grabbed a Pimm’s drink and a falafel to wash it down. It was pretty yummy. We then hit up Selfridge’s and had some cider to celebrate a good day.

On Sunday I was a bit more adventurous and decided to go to Old Spiltalfields Market. The adventure was taking the tube to the market. Apparently there’s a lot of construction on the weekend. EVERYWHERE. It took me about 2 hours to get there. No joke. I have no friends and had no plans, so I didn’t stress. This market is not food, although there is a lot in the nearby Brick Lane. This market is all about fashion. I wandered around and resisted buying anything. I figured I’d better find an apartment first before I purchase a lot of clothes. However, I do need some spring items since I didn’t pack properly when the shippers came before I left. There may be a return trip in the near future.

 

There are many markets in London and I plan to explore every single one of them.