We are just back from the Greenwich market. Yes, we've been there before, it was a whim. Found a gorgeous ring (bought a ring there last time tho I have to say this one is far, far, far, more pretty... pic later. The bloke who made it - Richard - has been to NZ once for his cousin's wedding (Chch) so we commiserated about how different it is now. Weirdly, it was the first ring I picked up and tried - perfect fit - Cinderella moment. Geoff was off admiring the cheese and by the time he came back it was too late. The perfect crime.
Inspired by this we found Hola Paella. The paella bit was done for the day, but they had gorgeous cheese - and wine - so we stopped a while with some wine and some cheese - and had a generally decadent and lovely time. Presently it rates as our BEST CHEESE PLATTER EVER. A high rating but one they deserve. The staff were also lovely - including the paella guy who operates two enormous dishes - he reckons he did eight today...
Prior to that we had been to another local pub that we hadn't previously visited. This one is a Young's establishment - they do a nice pint and very tasty chips. We whiled away an hour with some backgammon and idle chat.
At this point any reader should note that we don't just mooch from cafe, to bar, to cafe - although, now I review, that's not wildly far from the truth.
We had a barely satisfactory local breakfast this morning and a really upsetting latte. In order to remedy that we headed for Milkbar - the sister cafe to Flat White. Weirdly, the same guy served us today as had been at Flat White the other day - and who also had been our waiter at Polo in January (yes, the cafe in Mirimar). We chatted about all of that and had our coffees. God they are good.
On the advice of a lovely english couple (he was even wearing sandals and socks) we went off to Camden markets. It seemed like an entertaining thing to do - the highlight was watching a canal boat go through the lock, but it was also fun to toodle through some of the stalls. Geoff found a man bangle and also some new reading glasses. He brought about four pair with him, but somehow lost today's glasses. The equivalent to the $2 shop pair cost a shocking four pound fifty. Nonetheless, they are fetching...
As with the last blog the pics will be posted separately as they are mostly on the ipod and we write on the ipad and, inconceivably, they won't speak to each other - what the hell is that about?
We also found ourselves in Stratford today which turns out to be the home of the 2012 Olympics. This was completely accidental - we were only trying to get from Camden to Greenwich with minimal changes - turns out we had unwittingly ventured into zone 3 (we are only supposed to be in zones 1 and 2 according to our oyster plan), but it meant we nearly went to the stadium. We naively thought all the people were going to an open day and we would join them. Not so. There were hockey and water polo practice tournaments underway (tickets required; sold out), but we nearly go there... and will mention that repeatedly during the actual games in August (or whenever).
Last night was an absolute corker. We started and finished it at a jazz club over the road (Oliviers) - downstairs in a suitably sepulchral basement - and with the added bonus of a drunk couple having a very intense domestic which they interspersed with passionate kissing. Quite odd - and cause for considerable witness comment and speculation when they finally stumbled out. The thing about the jazz club was that we wandered in lured by the sound of the music, but found it was a sound check and no sooner had we sat down with our wine and the band buggered off. Eventually we stopped waiting for them to come back and went off in search of dinner. We had decided to go to Cafe Sol - kind of mexican-y and, as it turned out, extremely popular. We spent quite some time at the bar being educated by the staff mixing any number of insane drinks - while we enjoyed desperados beer (Geoff) and frozen margaritas (me). This was probably not the wisest course, but a very enjoyable one...
Later, sometime later, we made it back to the jazz club - yes, there was actual jazz, where I fell asleep sitting up and Geoff thoroughly enjoyed the music and eventually consented to bring me home. What a night!
Clearly we are starting to hit our straps as far as relaxing goes - we're eating and drinking more, starting to shop (only a bit, which is good), and falling off schedule all over the place. Still haven't been to the Queen's House. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not...
Looks as though "turned out" is phrase of the day - sorry about that. Have just remembered that we haven't been to see the very old tree yet. That is now the top item of business for tomorrow (bank holiday).
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