Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts

Saturday, 9 October 2010

liberty of london and fortnum & mason


I spent a heavenly hour at both Liberty of London and Fortnum & Mason during our stay in London this past week.

It's a magnificent tudor-style building right off Oxford Street, just a few minutes walk from where we were staying. Looking at the windows reminded me of a funny french expression for window shopping, "lécher les vitrines," or literally, "to lick the windows." In my case, it was "lécher tout" (lick everything)!

I managed to snap a few photos while shopping...

("And the only way that I would ever let go of my couch would be if you came over here right now and tried to pry it from my dead, lifeless fingers, okay? If you can get it from my kung-fu grip then you can come and have it, okay? Otherwise, step off!")

and had to go back later for a souvenir, while Andy was taking a little rest after a long day out...

There was a table lined with glass jars full of embroidery kits and I finally dug this one out from the very bottom, even after the sales clerk had given up. One last handful to check turned out to be a good idea.

And at Fortnum & Mason, Andy and I reemerged from a temporary gourmet food coma to buy a canister of their coffee, the "PicKadilly Roast." While I was most excited by the canister, we justified our purchase by agreeing to use the coffee while in Paris. We opened the canister this morning and were true to our words.

Speaking of good coffee, we stopped by Sacred Coffee to try it out after hearing very good things about it.

And friends, last but not least for today, I think this is hilarious.

Andy was hungry so we stopped in to Banger Bros on Portobello Road and had bangers. Andy had the Great British Banger, I had the Mini Bangers. It's so funny, but seriously, it was good.

Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Borough Market in London

Oh sweet sweetness....

London's Borough Market was a feast for the senses. Made up of three smaller sections called Green Market, Middle Market, and the Jubilee Market, and each has different and unique offerings. We got there early, around 8:30, and ate breakfast at a little shop inside the Green Market. I had a egg bap (basically a big bun) and Andy had an egg and bacon sandwich.

Next to the small shop was a French food stall that sold little glass pots of yogurt-we picked one with berries in the bottom. In front, a glass case sold bricks of unpasteurized butter. Given my obsession with butter, it was tempting to keep myself from buying some...OK, try the whole block!

In search of some good caffeine, we found Monmouth Coffee just outside the main market area. We were impressed! Portlanders could compare this to Albina or a more family-friendly Stumptown.

Fresh "filter" coffee is the norm over here...

Weighing and measuring coffee beans...

So many olives...

Fresh bread...

Fresh cheese (this was comte? We tried a few)...

Black truffles...stick your nose in the jar and be overwhelmed with yumminess..
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A lot of parmesan...

This stall sold very french items, including lavender, baguettes, pate, and cans of goose fat...

Local wines...

Big vats of curry bubbling, it smelled heavenly...

We spent the whole morning exploring, tasting, and smelling. I can't wait to go back!