Prince Albert Memorial

I want to start this post with a quote from Downton Abbey, Season 4, which I really think sums up the Prince Albert Memorial:

Mrs. Patmore: "Have you arranged where you are going to meet them?"

Ethan Slade: "A place called the Albert Memorial, but ah, will I know it when I see it?"

Mrs. Hughes: "You most certainly will, I can promise you that."

Warren and I went to the Prince Albert Memorial today on our walk through Hyde Park. It is massive, and very grand. 

The gold Prince Albert statue in the centre. 

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall immediately across from the memorial. 

On our walk home through Hyde park we also walked by this sculpture titled Physical Energy. 

Near the statue we saw a familiar sight...American Football! 

 I thought it was really funny that there was an ambulance set up so near the site where they were playing football. Technically, the ambulance was for the half marathon in Hyde Park today but I thought it made for a funny photo. 

British Museum

Sunday we went to the British Museum. Like most of the museums in London, admission is free. In the past we have been to the more well known artefacts so this time we went straight for the money exhibit, German World War I medals exhibit, and the Enlightenment library. 

The roof at the British Museum is well cool. 

After the museum we walked to Soho Square. 

It was a really lovely day and the park wasn't very crowded. Typically it is packed with people and there are no spaces to sit. 

Here is Warren waiting for me to finish taking photos in Soho Square. 

We walked to Nordic Bakery for lunch. 

The display at Nordic Bakery. It was tough to decide what to get. 

Don't be deceived by the pastry counter, these were not so good. 

I got the brie and lingonberry sandwich on rye bread. 

Warren got the smoked salmon sandwich on rye. Warren preferred my sandwich and I preferred his so we ended up switching partway through. Both sandwiches were delicious!

The almond roll I ordered. Really not very good.

Warren got a cinnamon roll. Nordic Bakery is well known for their cinnamon rolls. It was served warm but we still didn't care much for it. The sandwiches were much better than the pastries. 

Golden Square where we ate our lunch. Just across from the bakery. 

We walked past the famous Carnaby Street on our way back to our bus stop. 

This is Oxford Street, a huge shopping street that is always packed with people. 

This is Regent Street, another big shopping street. Warren was excited about the NFL flags. 

Portobello Market in Notting Hill

This last Saturday Warren and I went to the Portobello Market in Notting Hill. This market specialises in antiques but also has a section of fruit and veg. 

Type letters for printing. Notice how much this lady is bundled up--it was a cold day!

Antique sporting equipment. 

I absolutely want one of these wooden boxes to put eggs in, especially now that my eggs don't need to be kept in the refrigerator. 

Streets in Notting Hill are really picturesque. 

I've posted photos before from the Baker Street tube station but here is another. I love that station!

The Sherlock Holmes statue near Baker Street. 

We had dinner at Patty & Bun near Oxford Street. It is now Warren's new favourite restaurant in London. 

Warren's "Smokey Robinson" burger. All the burgers are served medium rare unless you request something different. 

My "Ari Gold" burger. Patty & Bun makes their own P&B mayonnaise which was really good on both the burgers and fries. 

The rosemary salt chips were amazing!

Part of the decor of the restaurant. 

Lost in London and Favourite Grocery Foods

Yesterday, in an effort to meet up with Warren after work I got completely lost in a busy part of town. Luckily, when you are on a main street in London you will eventually come across a large map that shows where you are and what you will come across in a five minute walk and a fifteen minute walk. So I was able to navigate back without too much effort. Just took me two hours to walk there!

Here is a photo of one of the streets in the Knightsbridge area that I had not intended to walk through. 

 The Victoria and Albert Museum that I also had not intended to walk past. *I may have just discovered google+ filters after taking this photo. Image may not represent actual colouring*

Hyde Park where I had intended to walk through. It was much less crowded yesterday than the first time we walked through.   

This may sound foolish, but I think the birds here look so strange! This is just one example. 

Someone told me this week that you need to pay to sit in the chairs the public parks. I didn't believe her until I found this sign. That is pretty pricey, too. $2.50 for under one hour!

The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain used as it was originally intended. The first time we came here it was full of little kids in their underwear running around the fountain and laying in the water as if it was a swim park. 

One new food discovery is the Ploughman's Sandwich. Super popular here, it comes on a variety of breads. It has onion chutney spread, a generous amount of cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. We have also found why the Brits are so proud of their dairy. Because the milk and cheese are amazing! Seriously, it is just milk but it is really high quality and flavorful! 

We are also crazy about ready made grocery store Indian food. It doesn't sound like it would be very good but it is just as good as take away Indian food. It is also crazy cheap! Chicken tikka masala is on special at Tesco right now and costs £1.65. Then we get naan from Sainsbury's (across the street from each other) for 80p. So the meal feeds both of us for dinner for under $5! Too bad it isn't healthy, but if it was I don't think I'd eat anything else whilst living here. 

This is a little lemon cheesecake called Gu. They are super good! Really tart and creamy. And the funny thing in London is that a lot of things come in glass containers. So we now have quite a few of these little glass containers around the house holding q-tips, candles, and hairbands.