Saturday
January 17-London

Today was a very laid back day. For the first time in two weeks I got to sleep in until nine. I generally don't even consider that late for a Saturday. I started out my morning at Covent Garden. I wandered into a Whittard tea store and bought six boxes of tea. (They aren't all for me.) Since Jubilee Market was still being set up, I took the Tube to Notting Hill and went to Portobello Road, where there is a market every Saturday. I resisted the temptation to look at too many (over-priced) antiques, and made it to the food area. There were some beautiful fruits and vegetables, including avocados, but I settled for a pain aux chocolat. Soon enough, I ended up where all of the clothes were being sold. For the most part, they could be put into three categories. One, the cheesy T-shirts only tourists buy. You know, the "My sister/brother/friend/etc. went to London and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" variety. Another kind of clothing is the kind that it would be very generous to call "vintage". That's being very polite. The last grouping are the shirts and skirts which you can find the exact same one of in all of the other booths with the same type of clothing. They are all trendy, brightly colored shirts and skirts that I would never wear, mostly because the largest size wouldn't fit anyone over the age of 12.

The exception to these three types of clothes are the items made by students. These clothes are actually interesting and worth buying, but generally out of my price range. So I bought a vegetable spring roll and made my way to Ladbroke Grove to go to Covent Garden. I realized when I was nearly there and had passed Knightsbridge, where Harrod's is, that I had wanted to go there. But I decided to continue to Covent Garden and check out the market. Saturday is Arts & Crafts at Jubilee Market, and there were plenty of Arts & Crafts to look at. There are also a number of street performers at Covent Garden. It's a prestigious place to perform, so to be able to perform there, you have to apply. So there are really good acts. Once, when I went there, there were opera singers. When I went today, there was a man juggling, a man whose clothes were made to look like he was walking into a strong wind, and a woman all in silver on a pedestal like a statue. I walked around, taking it all in, and then stopped at the hotel to drop off my tea. I went to Knightsbridge and Harrod's. It was super crowded, and smelled like perfume where I was, so I didn't stay long. I did take the Egyptian escalator to Ladies on the first floor. I would like to take this opportunity to make the comment that just because people know your name is no reason to charge an arm & a leg for Very Ugly Shoes.

I made my way out and since I didn't know exactly where I was in relation to the main street, I walked all the way around the store. It's a very, very large store. I walked down the street to Hyde Park station, looking at a number of rather expensive stores on the way. My mission was to find a Clark's store, but I was unsuccessful.

I came back to the hotel and used one of the payphones (it's questionable as to how clean they are) to call Soraya. She's a Cornell alumna, and I had no idea she was in London, but there you are. She and Brent came by and we went to a place called Bistro 1. It was full, and we got put on a waiting list. Meanwhile, we decided to go up to Covent Garden, where we watched a street performer. He was posing people, and then he did a handstand on them. Then he did this thing where he tried to catch a stack of bricks on a brick. He was pretty good at it, too. When he was done, we wandered around until it was time to eat. Bistro 1 serves Mediterranean food at really good prices. For £7.90, you can get two courses and for £8.90, three. A very reasonable deal. I ate calamari & lamb shish kebab, with crème caramel for dessert. It was very good, as was the conversation.

We walked down on the Embankment, following Brent's lead. I took pictures of Big Ben & the London Eye, and the OXO Tower & the Tate Modern all lit up. We walked around the Temple area, but couldn't go in. Only later did I realize it was one of the places on my list-it's one of the places that is in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. (A good book, by the way.) I'm currently looking at my Michelin guidebook for details.
The Order of the Knights Templars was founded in 1118. Their purpose was to protect pilgirms on their way to Jerusalem. They began building their church in 1185. In 1312, they were supressed and their property assigned to the Hospitallers. And, in true Henry VIII fashion, he dispossessed them. The land was given to lawyers, and the church to the crown. The church itself is round, like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. One more reason to see it-it's not full of spires, towers, and flying buttresses.

The rest of the night was spent reading sensationalist British newspapers, and watching quality British TV. Fantastic.

from top left: Portobello Road Market, Harrod's Department Store, the inside of Temple Church, and the London Eye and the Aquarium at night.