London: Day 2

So I got a chance today to take some more pictures of the flat we're staying in before we headed off for the afternoon. Here's Eric making breakfast in the kitchen.

And this room below is the common area. Pretty plain but nice!

This is the tunnel we walk through every day to get to and from the tube. That's Eric and I walking through it.

And these are the steps that take us through a short cut to the station.

The path is this great wooded area that people are always riding and running through.

So on this day we decided to start off the morning with a trip to Camden Town where there's supposed to be cool markets and things to see. We took the tube down there and wandered around for a while. We stopped at the Camden Lock for some photos.

 The one above is of Eric on the bridge

This one above is a storefront of one of my favorite stores, All Saints and Spitalfields. Didn't buy anything but they always have cool displays and the windows are filled with old sewing machines. Below is a funny shot of Eric. I took it without him realizing it but he was standing in the same exact pose as the cowboy sign above him. I thought it was hilarious.

For lunch we walked around the corner to a Pie and Mash shop that our taxi driver recommended to us. Pie and Mash is basically what he described as poor people food from back in the day. It's a small pie filled with mince meat along side a heaping pile of mashed potatoes. These pie and mash shops typically also offer stewed eels but we skipped that part. This shop is one of the very few remaining in the area so we made sure to hunt it down. For under £5 we got 1 pie and mash as well as 'liquor' (some parsley gravy).

The shop was pretty tiny and all the seats were taken (still a popular lunch choice!) so we took our food to 'take away' and found a tiny park across the street to try it out. 

Here's Eric taking the first bite. He enjoyed it and at the whole thing. I, however, did not. I had one bite and decided to get a slice of pizza later...

Here's a quick shot we took of a Banksy original that we found along the way to the pie and mash shop. At first we were skeptical that it was real but the frame around it made us think otherwise. Maybe the frame takes away the whole point of Banksy's work but it was still cool to see!

From there it was time for the V&A. Back to the tube!

All I've wanted to see at the V&A since I took a costume history class in college was their collection of historical clothing. I was so excited to finally go until I found out that the fashion exhibit is closed until 2012!!! Just my luck. Oh well. It's the V&A! They still had great stuff to see. Like this gorilla statue made entirely of wire hangers...

 

This collection of old tins (I took this photo with my friend, Devin in mind)...

An old, intricate lock...

 

Some old dining ware...

 

Miniature portraits...

 And Jimmy Page's outfit from one of Led Zeppelin's concerts!

All that walking around worked up an appetite so we stopped to find a pub where we could share of fish and chips. We stumbled upon this awesome place that had amazing food and really friendly people; The Stanhope. 

The fish and chips were so good. We got "The Cod Father" which is fish, chips, tartar sauce, curry sauce, mushy peas and bread & butter. It was fantastic!

 

We didn't want to head back just yet and weren't sure what to do so we took the tube to a random stop and walked around...in to Big Ben. Eric got this great shot below!

After more walking and wandering, we headed back to the tube for home. In the station there was a man playing "Hello Dolly" on some instrument. I had to cut a rug. And show off my new yellow shoes!!!

They're the same shoes that Beatrice wore in Kill Bill when she killed the Crazy 88 (Bruce Lee wore them too). I'd been trying to buy them for years but they don't sell them in the States. Now they're mine! All MINE! Jazz hands!

To end the night, we cooked up some of the food we bought at Waitrose the day before, watch some SOA (awesome) and got some shut eye to prep for another amazing day ahead of us.