The Bahblog

Nate here!

A Lazy morning and wildlife sighting

We started our morning slowly. We got a ton of much needed sleep after our previous day of travel, and we spent the morning working on the blog and enjoying the delicious coffee at our AirBnB. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a fox jumped over the fence into our backyard!

Our host Greg told us all about the local foxes, and how difficult life is for an "Urban Fox." Urban Fox is a great band name, btw. We were soon to be off, and Greg was heading in the same direction, so we walked together to the tube. We exchanged travel stories, and how he and his husband want to return to Turkey for a trip, where his husband is from, but are worrisome of the conservative Turkish government.

St. Paul's Cathedral and crossing the Thames

We took the tube to St Paul's Cathedral from Finsbury Park. I'm quite impressed with the London Underground system. We can seemingly get anywhere we want, and the train run regularly. Basically if the New York Subway system ran more regularly, but didn't have express trains.

We got off at St Paul's, admired the beauty of the cathedral exterior, but didn't want to pay the 20 pounds to get in. We crossed the Thames via the Millennium Bridge, and took in the views.

St Paul's Cathedral in the background

We quickly made our way to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Swordplay and a tour of the Globe Theatre

We purchased tickets for an hour tour of the Globe Theatre, and had a half hour to kill. We walked around the exhibit inside before hearing the enticing call of "Who wants to see a sword demonstration?"

Our guide, a woman five months pregnant with twins, explained all about how important accurate and exciting sword fighting was in Shakespeare's plays when they were originally put on. She then walked is through different sword technologies of the time, how they fell in and out of fashion, and who wielded what (nobility vs. the army, etc).

We were then treated to multiple sword battle demonstrations with different weapons.

the kill shot

We were then allowed to hold them :-)

And just as the demo ended, our tour began! We were lead around by the charming and knowledgeable Sergio.

We learned this this is actually the third Globe Theatre. The first Globe burned down after 14 years, when they set off a cannon from the roof of the theatre for theatric effect. The second Globe was demolished during Puritan rule, after the Theatre was shut down for... being too much fun. For being against Puritanical order. The theatre we were touring was only 22 years old, putting on Shakespeare and non-Shakespeare plays alike.

While we were learning about the Globe, theater students were performing on stage. They were performing The Changeling", which I admit I had to google.

Borough Market, a view of the Tower of London, and Brew Dog Beer

Shakespeare gave us quite the appetite, so it was time for a late lunch at the Borough Market. Claire made an observation on the way there - it is customary in London to walk on the left side when passing people, just as the cars drive, but in the tourist areas, everyone passed on the right. The non-British way ruled.

The Borough Market was heckacrowded, so we did a lap and then got in line for chicken shwarma. They were delicious.

We then made our way over to the Tower of London. We crossed the London Bridge, which didn't fall down (sorry), and through an area that reminded me of New York's City Hall area to the Tower of London, passing the Brewdogs taproom along the way.

It was quite chilly, windy and threatening rain. My exhaustion hit, and I _really _didn't feel like spending $40 a person to tour this tower. I DID feel like grabbing a beer at Brewdogs. Next time, Tower of London! We doubled back to Brewdogs, and enjoyed the heat and WiFi. I grabbed a Dead Pony Pale Ale (delicious), and Claire got a guest tap Framboise that honestly tasted like artificial sweetener.

Once we finished our beers and checked our respective social media accounts, we were off to Rough Trade East on Brick Lane, a récord store in a trendy part of town. This area was touted by our Airbnb hosts as one of the coolest neighborhoods in London, going from impoverished so super trendy in the recent past.

Brick Ln, Rough Trade, Vintage shops and Vegan everything

On the walk to Brink Ln, I continued to marvel at how much London reminded me of New York City. We turned onto Brick Ln and I was immediately in love. The streets were full of middle eastern and Indian restaurants, with art and graffiti covering every inch. The closer we got to Rough Trade, the cooler everyone we passed looked. And by “cool” I mean a healthy combination of outfits that I thought looked good, and outfits that Claire and I are obviously too uncool to understand.

We got to Rough Trade, and it was basically the Mecca of cool.

Claire’s reading a book on stuff made in North Korea

After wandering around Rough Trade and enjoying the music they were playing, Claire and I moved onto the largest vintage market in London, or something like that, a few paces away. I thoroughly enjoyed wandering through all the different vintage clothing booths, not caring for nearly any of clothing. Anything I would wear was hecka expensive anyway, so it was more of a museum than anything. The people watching was also prime, as most were dresses similarly to the clothing on the racks.

We walked up and down the area and were taken about by how Vegan friendly the area was. Every place we passed advertised their vegan options, with many restaurants only serving vegan food. We had a fun time walking around House of Vegan, which had an assortment of different vendors serving vegan cheesesteaks, vegan burgers and of course, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

It was time for dinner, and we walked up and down Brick Lane a few times in search of food. It had started raining, and we were pretty darn cold. I was in the mood for Indian, but all the Indian places on the street had guys out front, trying to solicit us in. "I'll give you a special price, my friend" they'd say - an immediate red flag with regards to either the quality of the food or the prices listed on the menu - or both. They also all had Trip Advisor ratings printed on their windows, and I could more than one "Voted Best Curry in London" signs. At our peak frustration and frigidness, we turned to the best medicine - hot chocolate.

We peaked into a hot chocolate bar served that all kinds of hot chocolates. I got a chili hot chocolate while Claire got a classic. The place was bumping Jamaican influence r&b, and the hot chocolate baristas everso skillfully sliced additional chocolate info fine shavings before placing it on top of our drinks. It hit the spot, and put is in sound mind to make our dinner selection.

We ended up choosing an Indian place down the block with wonderful reviews, and when we arrived, we were delighted that there wasn't anyone outside ushering us in. I got a lamb and chickpea dish while Claire got a lentil soup - both with bread. The meal was everything I was hoping for.

From there, we called it a night, taking the London Overground to the Underground back to the AirBnB in Finsbury Park.