I feel like today was actually 3 days long. This morning Whitney, Jenny, Stacey and myself set off for Borough Market, a market dedicated to food… yes, I’m serious. I don’t know what took me so long to get there, but when I did it made my soul happy. Tony told us that you’ll often find famous chefs here buying things for their cooking. This place had EVERYTHING, and they were ALL giving samples for people to try. I tried all kinds of cheeses, olive oils, truffle oil, chocolate covered honeycomb, honey roasted almonds, brownies, dulce le leche, hummus, salsa, dry cured meats, and the list goes on. There were lots of people selling specialized goods like meats, cheeses, breads, and produce, but there were also lots and lots of vendors selling actual food to eat. As tempting as it was to get something from everywhere, my budget and my stomach wouldn’t allow it. First I tried a Chicken & Pistachio Kibeh, a Middle Eastern pastry thing, similar to falafel, but with chicken inside. I was drawn to it because I thought it was a hush puppy… obviously it wasn’t, but it was VERY good!
After that we came across a vendor selling “flower pot bread”. Jenny and I were extremely intrigued and bought a mini loaf to split. It was a really delicious sourdough bread with sun dried tomatoes, thyme, and cheddar in the loaf. My next treat was the freshest, most amazing orange juice I’ve ever tasted. I watched this cool contraption squeeze the oranges that made my juice. I feel like I’ve been spoiled forever knowing how good FRESH orange juice is. The next snack was a Chicken Empanada. Fantastic! It was the perfect size, flaky and full of flavor. Since I always have to end on a sweet note, I went back to one of the vendors I had already sampled from. They were this really adorable English couple selling something I never thought I’d try… Goat’s Milk Ice Cream. I can’t even describe how good it was. It’s got a texture that’s so creamy and light, it’s amazing. They had tons of flavors, and I tried 3 or 4 of them, but I decided on the Honeycomb. It was vanilla ice cream with swirls of honey and pieces of crispy honeycomb. WOW.
After the market, Jenny and Stacey went back home to meet Ashley and Sam, while Whitney and I headed towards Wimbledon. We knew we’d have to wait in a line to get onto the grounds, but we had NO IDEA it was going to be how it was. As we were walking I said, “Wow! Look at line! That’s insane… wonder what that’s for?” Not one minute later was it that I realized we were headed for the back of that line. I’ve never seen so many people waiting in line... or queuing, shall we say. After we were there for about an hour and a half, Jenny, Stacey, Ashley and Sam showed up and got in line with us. It was about another hour before we got to the ticket booths. I really have no interest in tennis. It was more of a “say I’ve been there” kind of adventure. About 2 seconds after we paid our £14 to get in the damn place, it started raining. No big deal, we’ll walk around and find a match to watch… OH no. While we were looking for a match the referees made the call to stop play and cover the courts and that they’d decide at 7:00 if they’d continue play.
Seven O’clock came and the referee “reluctantly” canceled all of the games for the rest of the day. The main match at Center Court would continue because they could keep it covered but we needed a separate ticket to see that. So just like that, we left.
Whitney and I were starving and the massive flood of people at the tube station would take forever to dissipate so we found a Thai restaurant near the station and got a late dinner. We split spring rolls and I got a beef and noodle dish that was good. We headed home (in the rain), soaked and exhausted.
Now that I’m warm and comfortable at home I made some chocolate chip cookies. I was skeptical because they were Betty Cocker instant cookies- just add water! They actually turned out well. I know it sounds like I ate a grown man’s weight in food today but I didn’t really eat that much. It was spread out over a whole day and everything from the market was pretty small. Don’t judge! :)
Now, I plan on snuggling up and watching a movie! Goodnight!
Welcome to Borough Market!
Always crowds...
Beautiful!
EW! Check out that squid! yuck.
Another part of the market
I love this "map"
Roasted nuts, chocolate raisins, honeycomb bites, white chocolate covered rasberries, and more
Sweet treats! That plate was pretty awesome too!
Chicken & Pistachio Kibeh - click the photo for description
"Flower pot bread" - see below
Sourdough bread with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh thyme, and aged cheddar
World's best orange juice!
Chicken Empanada - YUM!
Honeycomb goats milk ice cream... don't knock it till you try it!
Leaving the market
Waiting for the train to Wimbledon
Couldn't resist, gorgeous
These roses were to die for!
Indicated the back of the "Queue" (aka line)
I can't even describe how massive this line was.
Wimbledon campers
To show youe place in line....
more of the line...
FINALLY!
The brackets
Serious tennis fans watching the Center Court match on a Megascreen
The main event (I think?)
really yummy spring rolls!
cookies & milk <3
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