Lily's London Adventure: Of Food and Observation

(Picture: The Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace)

“Hmm…When WAS the Last Time We Ate?”

Kensington Garden was beautiful, but Lenny and I had to get back to the hotel to grab a quick shower and a change of clothes before heading out to meet my friend Ian for dinner. I was excited because we were going to eat French food. That soon gave way to being excited just because we were going to eat.

As I finished getting dressed, I realized that we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast had been served on the airplane at 11:00a.m., GMT. For a little math thrill (don’t get all excited FJ…it’s not real math) that works out to:

9-hour flight + 7-hour time difference + 1 Body not realizing it’s in another country = Hungry Lily

Thankfully, Ian did not disappoint with the choice of restaurant that evening. His first choice being booked, a French-Japanese fusion locale called L’Entranger, served as viable replacement. He fully admitted to Lenny and I, “My friend sold me on this place because he said on a good day, we could run into George Michael.”

Well, no George Michael this night, but some fabulous food. London is one of the epicenters of modern cuisine. This city treats its chefs like rock stars! Restaurants are big business and by about 8:00 p.m. each night, they are all packed. I can’t complain…any country that can turn out someone like Jamie “The Naked Chef” Oliver is okay by me! But I digress. For Lenny and me, it was a great culinary experience of scallops (Lenny) and charolais peppered steak (me). The best part, naturally, was the dessert. I feasted on a chocolate sampler that included a mini-soufflé, two dollops of ice cream, and a chocolate/fruit concoction. Lenny was the bravest of the three of us. He had a small sampler of crème brulee in the most unique flavors we’ve encountered: Lavender, saffron, and (hold on to your hats) wasabi.

Good food, a great red wine, fun conversation, and a taxi ride back to the hotel. What better way to close out your first day in London?

“What Else Am I Supposed to Do in a Subway?”

The next morning, we were up and raring to go. We fueled up on the hotel’s hearty English Breakfast and marched out of the hotel, ready to conquer the city. Well…we’d start the conquering after we bought our Tube Day Passes (Worth double their weight in gold, I tell you!).

It was towards the end of the morning rush hour when we hopped on the Circle Line out to Tower Hill tube station. Being a number of stops from our starting point on High Street, I took the opportunity to sit down and gather my senses. People in a confined space is a great show if you’re a people watcher. It’s also a great way to view a cross section of London society. On my 15-minute journey, I made a few observations about Londoners.

Observation #1: London is the iPod capital of the world. I’m not kidding. Everywhere I turned, those little, white headphones were weaving their way out of coat pockets and scarves. If it wasn’t an iPod, it was another form of MP3 player. I can appreciate their obsession. I’m having an affair with my iPod (joking Lenny!).

Observation #2: Those aren’t “cankles” on British women. When I used to work in the hotel call center, we always had visitors come from England to present their hotels. Well, the phone agents I worked with made the observation that many of the British ladies had what they affectionately called “Popeye Legs.” You know – calves are larger, ankles a bit squat. I did notice that this was a common physical trait. However, it wasn’t until I had to navigate the Tube stop stations did I realize that those weren’t “cankles.” Brit women walk so much (most of them in heels mind you), that they had well developed leg muscles! They could probably beat someone over the head with their own leg if they had too! More power to you ladies…don’t know how you do it!

Observation #3: Londoners have a great sense of physical balance. Okay, the tube was packed. A guy hopped on at the Gloucester stop and there were no seats and no space to hold on the hand rail. He carried a briefcase and was very well dressed. Shrugging slightly, I watched him pull out a paperback book from his trench coat pocket as the train started to move again. I watched him for FOUR stops. He stood in the middle of the car, holding a book in one hand, his briefcase in another! He didn’t budge an inch! This may not seem exciting to you, but I was forced to do a little subway surfing before he got on the train…and I was jostled around at every bump on the track!

Observation #4: Starbucks is out to take over the world! When I first traveled to London six years ago, I learned that thanks to World War II, the English had developed an affinity for instant coffee (shudder). This affinity had extended to the point that when coffee shops became all the rage, Nestle decided to capitalize on the trend and opened up “Nes Cafes.” Basically, it was all the coffee drinks you could imagine, but made with instant coffee. I saw ONE Starbucks on that trip. This time around, apparently that one Starbucks found a mate and spawned like bunnies! Like in the U.S., they’re everywhere! On the subway, I counted no less than 10 people in our car holding a Starbucks drink in one way, shape, or form. Is there ANYWHERE in this world without at least three Starbucks?

Observation #5: The “City British” know how to dress. As we all know, I LOVE LOVE LOVE clothes. I enjoy dressing up as well. But sampling of Londoners on the train, I immediately felt jealous. Everyone was decked out in fabulous suits and awesome shoes. The women were perfectly finished and the guys flaunted the pinstripes. Even on my dressiest days at work, standing next to one of these people made me look like an amateur! My mind was especially going haywire. Another simple math thrill:

1 Black suit + 1 Lavender shirt+ 1 Lavender and black tie + 1 Accent + 1 British Male = Drooling Lily

I am thankfully allowed to look…but not touch. But geeze…I told you I could live there! And lucky for Lenny, I love him dearly. That and the Tower Hill tube stop station had finally come up.

Next stop: Touristy things.