Friday after work I headed to meet my friends for dinner. We were guinea pigs for the new restaurant my friend Amy's dad is opening in London called The Delaunay. They are in trial stages before their official opening, and from my first bite of spinach stuffed oysters to my last lick of chocolate, raspberry, meringue, marshmallow, hot fudge sundae - I was saying holy jam roly poly the whole night. The highlight was actually the Reisling sauce that covered my Artic Char. Basically, I could have eaten with a spoon. I think it was mostly a made of Reisling and melted butter - so how it could it not be good? Wine and butter are two of my favorite food groups.
This is going by the French Food Pyramid, of course, not the American - In which the food groups are -
Baguettes
Wine
Butter
Cheese
Pastries
Foie Gras
Speaking of Paris - I have very exciting and bon news! I am going to Paris this weekend! Which means, only 4 days until I am home!
Oooooohh la la I am so tres excited to be back in the city of my dreams! I cannot wait to go back to my favorite boulangerie in my old neighborhood and grab a croissant, hop on a velib and bike over to the Champs de Mars and cry at the sight of the Eiffel Tower. It has been two years mes amis! Two years, too long! It's going to be a weekend magnifique!
Saturday morning I kicked off the day with a Ben's coconut cookie for breakfast!
I realize it may sound like I am eating myself silly, but the weekends are for eating whatever I want, and during the weekdays I practice what little self control I kind of have. Thus, my breakfast Saturday morning was a cookie. I got the cookie hot out of the oven! The cookie man was hesitant to give it to me - he said, "it's still warm, its not fully cooked really."
"Sir," I replied, "that's like winning the cookie lottery! Hand it over!" And so, away I munched as I headed down Kensington High Street.
I eventually wondered over to the Tate when I met my friends for an afternoon of culture. The Tate is incredible, massive, and full of the craziest stuff. Like an enormous pile of millions of hand painted ceramic sunflower seeds. I cannot wait to devour every corner of it before I leave this country. When we left, we took the Millennium Bridge over to the other side of the river. This is known to Londoners as the "wobbly bridge" after it wobbled when people first crossed it, and it had to be shut down an hour after it originally opened because people nearly fell off. I think of it as the dementor bridge because in Harry Potter the dementors fly over the bridge and all the cords start snapping and it collapses while people go flying to the river.
Quite a scary bridge come to think of it.
We went for italian Saturday night, which is fun because you get to hear English people call pasta "pass-ta". It's quite hilar-i-ous. We went to see My Week With Marilyn, where I was reminded of the splendor of European "cinemas." Forget popcorn and soda, this theatre had a full bar inside for getting sloshed before and after the movie. For people who prefer a pint of ice cream to a pint of beer (like me) - there are mini ice cream cups, and an entire bulk candy area where one can mix and match a bag of sugary sweets filled to their heart's content. It's brilliant.
I ended Saturday evening with a little bowling. Despite being complete crap at bowling, I do think it's a fun group activity - so when I was invited to a midnight bowl with some people from the cast of the Musical Ghost - I couldn't say no.
Having a sister and brother-in-law in the Broadway world has introduced me to a breed of people who are simply more fun to hang out with than any other - actors.
They're loud, they're fun, they're outgoing, they randomly burst out into song and dance for no reason, they're the best. My sister's wedding was a guest list full of the casts of various broadway shows, and so the reception was like "Marriage: The Musical" - complete with a performance by the broadway boys, the wedding party being introduced by someone from Jersey Boys singing "You're Just Too Good To Be True," and a Michael Jackson dance-off between the groomsmen. Bowling wasn't much different.
I arrived a bit late, so when I joined the party I still had my high heeled ankle booties on, but it was my turn - so I was encouraged to sneak one round in my heels, and then go grab my bowling shoes. So I trotted onto the lane, grabbed a ten-pounder, gave it a throw and down came all ten pins! Strike! When I changed into bowling shoes, it was all downhill - making me think maybe I am such crap at bowling because I am so distracted by how ugly the shoes are! Perhaps bowling in heels should be allowed for those of us who prefer to do everything in style.
The only down side about fun, late nights out in London is the not so fun, late ride cab rides home for $40. The tube closes at midnight, and so you have the option of walking, or taking a private car, which is wildly expensive and there's no way around it. So since I was an hour and half walk to my apartment, I opted for car and $40 later was home safe and sound. Now granted, the taxis here are like golden chariots compared to the ones in New York - but I'll take a non-english speaking, strange-music blaring, cabbie with an bluetooth in his ear and a car that smells of halal food for $7 over a fine English chap for $40 any day of the week.
I guess some things are just better in New York.
No comments:
Post a Comment