The Neighborhood Pub

On the LSE pubcrawl last week we went to a few pubs that were right in my neighborhood.  Tonight some friends and I went back to one of them after getting donar kebobs on Southwark Street.  The pub, called The Thameside Inn, is, as the name alludes, right on the Thames near southern bank of the London Bridge.  The front door is also about 15 feet from the water berth that houses the full-size replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, The Golden Hinde.  Outside and in, it is a classic English pub.  They had 10-odd beers on tap, lots of dark wood, and comfy padded booths, chandeliers, and a nice, quiet atmosphere.

On Friday night, after describing my dislike of excessive hops (the stuff that makes beer bitter) to a bartender in a pub near Covent Garden, I learned that there is a whole category of beer without too much hops, lager.  Ever since (on Saturday night and today), I have been exploring this newfound category (although as of yet, i've only tried two).   Tonight I tried Kronenbourg 1664, a yummy French lager with less fizzyness and a bit more flavor than other beers I've tried.  Apparently it is the number 1 selling french beer, and the UK's second biggest premium selling lager, what ever that means.  Regardless, when combined with the lovely atmosphere of the pub and the fun people I was with (yes, cheesy), it was quite delicious. 

The Borough Market

This friday morning I spent an hour or so meandering through the Borough Market, the oldest market in London.  The borough market is located at the base of the London Bridge.  Until the 18th century London Bridge was the only link between London and the rest of South East England and the rest of the continent. Because of the huge number of travelers flowing through Southwark (the town, and now neighborhood just south of the London Bridge) the borough quickly gained wealth and prominence, and the Borough market was formed.  The first incarnation of the market was first documented in 1014, and a market selling fresh grain, meat, fruits, and vegetables has existed in the area ever since.  In 1755 the market moved to its current location in a triangular block a few hundred meters from the bridge's southern bank.  In the early 1800's, the market was fully covered with an iron frame and glass covering, complete with twin arches and a dome.   The market continues to this day in that same building, with much the same format as markets in centuries past.  On this particular friday morning, it wasn't too busy.  Tourists mingled through the market, looking at the expensive organic vegetables, fresh fish, home baked pastries, and local cheese.  I bought a tuna steak caught the day before, and some fresh local nectarines.  In the center of the market a chef stirred a gigantic wok full of chicken curry that smelled delicious.  Overall it was charming, although the prices make it more of a looking than buying experience.

The London Eye

Last night LSE sponsored a trip to the London Eye followed by a pub crawl and tour along the south bank (ending right near my dorm, Sidney Webb!).  It was amazing.  The London Eye trip started right at dusk, and as the ferris wheel turned throughout the 40 minute rotation, it went from blue sky to sunset to night, so we got to see downtown london in three different lights.  It was beautiful, you could see the houses of parliament, Big Ben (which just refers to the bells, not the clock, as I learned during the pub crawl and south bank tour/pub crawl), the aquarium (which was all lit up in red and green), Saint Paul cathedral, and all of the other beautiful buildings that are in central london.  I will post more photos later, I have to wait to steal them off of other people's facebook pages until my camera comes in a few days.

Blueberry Withdrawl

Anyone who knows me well is very aware of my addiction/love of blueberries.  On an average summer day I will consume anywhere from 1-3 pounds of blueberries. Nate Schuur thinks this is ridiculous.  From late May until August blueberries become my meal of choice, typically either replacing or seriously supplementing all breakfast and dinner foods, and sometimes lunch as well.  Often I end the day with a bowl of blueberries as dessert.  I love blueberries.  They are my favorite food, and if I were stranded on a desert island and had to pick only one food to eat for every meal for the rest of my life I would hands down choose blueberries.  My dad often jokes that it is a medical miracle that I haven't turned blue.  That said, I am now going through blueberry withdrawal.  It has been 2 weeks to the day since I last had a blueberry.  I have scoured central london (I tried 5 different fruit stands) to find blueberries, only to find one source for my blueberry fix, but that one source was too expensive to justify the expense (until I get a bank account).  So I have gone without blueberries.  Its tragic.

Lost in Translation

Location: London
Weather: It was beautiful and sunny all day!

Over the past two weeks, I have been struck many a time by how many words are different in UK english than in American.  To keep track, and I am writing a British-American dictionary for both me and all of you (so that when you come visit me, as all of you will :), you won't be completely lost).

British              American

Rocket              Arugula

Lift                    Elevator

Walking            Hiking

Crisps               Potato chips

Bangers            Sausage

Mash                Mashed potatoes

Aubergine        Eggplant

Bin                   Trash can

Loo                  Toilet

Bonnet             Hood (car)

Boot                 Trunk

Pants                Underwear

Biscuits            Cookies

Courgette         Zucchini

Surgery           Doctor's office

Flask               Water Bottle

Torch               Flash Light

Gherkin           Pickle

Give Way        Yield

Hob                 Stove

Jacket Potato   Baked potato

Jam                  Jelly

Jelly                 Jell-o

Jumper             Sweater

Knickers         Underwear

Ladder            Run in your tights

Lorry              Truck

Mate               Friend (not spouse)

Pram               Baby carriage

Queue            Line

Spanner          Wrench

Suspenders     Garter Belt

Fringe             Bangs

Coach             Long-distance bus

Caravan          RV

Tin                 Can

Closet            Wardrobe

Mere              Lake
Fell                Hill
Rigg              Ridge
Howe            Hill
Dale              Valley

Plus, there are a whole slew of words that are simply said differently.  For example, tin foil (aluminum foil) here is pronounced A-Lu-Min-I-um, syllable for syllable, among many others.  Kinda fun...

Post Hike: We made it!

Location: London
Weather: Surprisingly sunny!

We are back from our trip, and the good news is, we made it!  Even better, it was absolutely GEORGOUS.  Our total of 35 miles of walking in the lake district was chock full of electric green grass, adorable sheep, and thousands of miles of 300 year old dry stone walls crisscrossing the rolling hills and jagged peaks.  The weather was grey, but dry, and there are simply no words to describe just how wonderful the scenery was.  The bad news is that my camera was lost (or more likely stolen) while touring Dove Cottage, the Grasmere home of English poet William Wordsworth.  So, there will be no pictures for now.  But, check back soon!

I'm on my way!

Right now I am sitting in the airport restaurant, waiting for my flight to board.  We are finally on our way!  After much careful packing, I got pretty much everything I own, including bedding, towels, all of my clothing,some kitchen stuff, and all of my mom's clothing for her week with me into 4 carry-on sized suitcases and a backpack, weighing in at a total of roughly 200 pounds.  Its kind of strange to see 90% of my worldly possessions packed into four small suitcases and a backpack.  Its probably bad luck to even mention it, but what happens if they go missing?

Absolutely Scrumptious Granola

Last night I made granola so that we have tasty, homemade snacks to keep us walking along during out trek through the Lake District.  It was my first time making granola, but luckly it is really easy to make and turned out delicious!

Olive Oil Cranberry Granola
6 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups pistachios, de-shelled with as much of the husk taken off as possible
1 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cup real maple syrup (the fake stuff will taste strange)
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp plus a pinch cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

2-3 cups dried cranberries
1 cup dried apricots, chopped into smaller pieces
Any other fruit that you want to add in.

1. Preheat oven to 300* F
2. In BIG bowl (I used a giant wooden salad bowl, but if you don't have one, split everything in half) combine everything but the fruit and mix together well.  Make sure that all of the dry ingredients are well coated with the wet ingredients and that the spices are evenly distributed.
3. Spread thinly of a rimmed baking sheets (I needed two big rectangular ones and a round pizza one to fit it all), and bake for 45-50 min or until lightly browned and crispy.  Stir every ten minutes.
4. Remove from oven when done cooking and transfer immediately to a bowl.  If left in the pan, the granola will begin to stick
5. Add fruit

As long as you stick to the basic proportions between wet and dry ingredients and make sure you use old fashioned rolled oats, you can easily play around with the recipe, adding the nuts, seeds, and fruit that you want.  Enjoy!

British Films

In my very first post I described the three books that I am reading to mentally prepare for my year in London.  Though I am still chugging away at the two denser books, I have begun augmenting my escapism with British themed movies.

Love Actually (2003)
Love Actually is one of my all time favorite movies.  It follows 5 interlocking storylines about love at christmas time.  It features Hugh Grant as an especially yummy prime minister.  If only the prime minister was A. This young, B. This good looking, and C. single (and not sleezy and oozing politician).  I wonder if I will get to meet the Prime Minister.


Notting Hill (1999)
Because he was so good in Love Actually, I decided to stick with the Hugh Grant theme by continuing my escapiastic tour with Notting Hill.  In this film, Hugh Grant owns a travel book shop, and falls in love with an American movie star.  Wonderful.

Brideshed Revisited (2008)

Brideshed revisited is a rather serious, and kind of haunting story about Captain Charles Ryder, a captain in the British Army during WW2 and artist who is stationed at Brideshed Castel, once the family home of his college friend/(lover?), Sebastian Flyte.  The movie follows his recollection of the time he spent at Brideshed, and with both Sebastian and his sister Julia, with whom he ultimate falls in love.  Its a good movie, and also a book.  Read it.  Watch it.  Love it.

Location: Charlotte, VT

Weather: Sunny (as always), 70*

Tomorrow at 7:12 I leave for Chicago, the first destination on a whirlwind trip that will ultimately end at LSE just in time for the first day of school.  To celebrate my last day in Vermont I spent the last two hours trying to figure out how to draw arcs on photoshop (surprisingly tricky, even though I consider myself pretty well versed in photoshop) so that I could make all of you a map to illustrate exactly where I am going.  Its not all that pretty because I had to steal the original country map off of the internet, but hopefully it will at least help you picture the journey.  After Chicago mom and I are flying to London where Karen will join us.  After a few days in London, the three of us are taking the train to go hiking in Cumbria, in the beautiful lake district.  The itinerary is as follows:

Our Whirlwind Adventure

Thursday, 9/10, 7:12 AM: Depart Burlington for Chicago, arrive 11:30

Thursday 9/10-Tuesday 9/15: Chicago, visiting Nan and Gramps (Mom's parents)

Thursday 9/17, 11:30 AM: Depart Burlington (with Mom) for London, arrive 9/18, 7:10 AM

Friday 9/18-Monday 9/21: LONDON!!!!!  Karen will join us on Saturday.

Monday 9/21, 10:30 AM: Depart London for Windermere for our hiking trip!  Arrive approximately 3 hours later via train.  Stay in Windermere for the night

Tuesday 9/22: Hike from Windermere to Grasmere, approximately 10.5 miles.  Spend the night in Grasmere

Wednesday 9/23: Day hiking and other touristy things in Grasmere.  Spend a second night there- this is where Beatrix Potter's house is!

Thursday 9/24: Hike from Grasmere to Coniston, approximately 12 miles.  Spend the night in Coniston

Friday 9/25: Hike Coniston to Windermere, approximately 9.5 miles. Spend the night in Windermere

Saturday 9/26: Depart Windermere for London at 11:59, arrive in London at 3:00 via train.  

Sunday 9/27: Day with Mom and Karen in London

Monday 9/28: Mom and Karen Leave London, LSE Orientation begins!!!!!

This hike is true "princess camping."  Historically the trails that we will be hiking on were the main routes between towns and villages in the district.  For hundreds and hundreds of years people have crossed the fields, climbed the fells (what they call their mountains), and walked along the same dryrock walls that we will cross, climb, and follow.  Because until about 100 years ago people either traveled on horse, or more often, by foot, each major town is only about a day's walk or less apart.  Thus, though we will be roughing it by day, each night will be spend in a bed and breakfast  eating in the local town's pub, and taking hot showers to wash away the grime and mud (from all the rain that is so common in the end of September in England).  Even better, the walking tour company that organized our trip for us, Contours Walking Holidays, will take care of transporting out luggage from B&B to B&B.  Its truly the life of luxury.