Bless Your Stomach

It was a jolly good weekend! So as not to bore folks, here's the quick recap:

Thursday: Had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner with Mara and her delightful friends and family. Fabulous food is even better when shared with Kiwis and Brits who are confused about why we are stuffing our faces. Mara's turkey was perfection.

Friday: Began the next day of overeating by meeting Mara and her cute baby and hubby for "salt beef beigels" (aka thick and juicy corned beef on a little bagel with spicy mustard) at the oldest Jewish bagel shop in the former Jewish slum area of London. Wandered around Spitalfields market and had yummy hot chocolate before splitting up with the friends. Husband and I went to the Geffrey Museum in a former alms house. The museum shows different parlor decorations from the late 1600s - late 1990s. It was fun. Then Husband and I headed all the way west to the Museum of Branding, Packaging, and Advertising. I ate an amazing cheddar and apricot chutney sandwich that I picked up from some cheese stand earlier that morning in Liverpool station. Later, we met Mara and her hubby for a scrumptious pan-Asian dinner. (Thursday was Mara's birthday! Happy birthday and thanks for inviting us to visit you and celebrate!!!!)

Saturday: Husband and I went to Borough Market and froze our asses off while eating delicious foods in the outdoor market. We then bought tickets to see Glen Gary Glenross, which thrilled me not, but Husband really wanted to see it, so I figured at worst, I'd just fall asleep during the show. Tickets were only 15 pounds, which thanks to the shitty dollar, is about $30. (Not bad for a show, though. Even if Broadway wasn't shut down here in NYC, you can't get a ticket for under $45.) We wandered around more, then met a friend for decent Indian food. Although it was cold, we decided to take a walking tour of Victorian London, but got there a few minutes late and the group had left. I noticed a sign that Sir John Soane's Museum was around the corner. Mara and I had just discussed it the previous day, so I took it as a sign. Basically, Sir Soane was an architect during the Regency era and built a totally wacked out house to house strange artifacts like an Egyptian sarcophagus in a fake basement crypt. The museum is the dude's house and they only let in 50 people at a time, so we waited outside and my nose ran a lot. It was worth the wait. We parted ways with Husband's friend after tea and scones at a nearby cafe chain. (Speaking of cafe chains, I think London has even more Starbucks locations than NYC, which doesn't seem possible.)

After the play, which was WAY better than the movie, Husband and I had a late dinner. We went to a Turkish place near our hotel (which we stayed at for free, thanks to Husband's hotel points). Our table in the teeny restaurant was jammed between two others. On my left, a woman with pink jeans that were covered with rhinestones was being told by her dinner companion about the exhilaration of jumping horses. To the right, two one man told his friend/companion about how he dined out with the head of the cooking section at Bloomsbury Publishing and this critic and that critic and blah blah blah. The dinner came with a starter and main course for 11.99 pounds. I stuffed my face with my starter, feta and spinach phylo pockets, and my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets when my main dish arrived. I didn't expect two HUGE hocks of lamb. Mr. Food Critic was very impressed. "Oh my!" he exclaimed as the meal was placed in front of me. "I doubt I'll be able to finish it all!" I remarked. He smiled. "Bless your stomach!"

A more perfect Thanksgiving weekend could not be had. Hope you all had blessed stomachs as well.