Yesterday we headed to Borough Market after the sky gardens. I was so excited because my whole for you page on Tik Tok has been this market. When we got off the train we were greeted by the entrance. Upon walking there were so many food options and tons of people. A couple of us went to this Thai food stand. I got the Pad Thai with chicken and let me tell you…. it wasn’t that great. I will say mine did taste the best out of everyone in the group which made me appreciate it a tad more. After eating we decided to go to the stand that had the chocolate strawberries. Let me tell you…the best chocolate strawberries I’ve ever had. The strawberries were so sweet and the chocolate was the perfect amount of sweet. I felt like I was in that one scene of ratatouille when remy puts the two foods together and sees all the colors. I can’t explain how bright red the strawberries were in person.

After lunch a group of us went to go play mini golf that was nearby from the market. It was so cool looking inside, the walls were all covered with spray paint. We first sat at the bar for sec while some got drinks. The wonderful bartender gave us free water which was so nice because that is hard to come by here. The course was semi hard, I mean it was made for adults but still hard. We played and I came in last… so sad. (Jackson I will have a rematch one of these days). It was a great day and I so want to go back.

Borough Market is flooded with vendors selling various kinds of foods, fashions, and flowers. It is the most famous market in all of London and our group of students had the opportunity to check it out yesterday! While the market is wonderful and I have no bad things to say about it, my experience there wasn’t the best. I would like to try again on another day and revisit though because I think that Borough Market really does have a lot to offer. The reason that this experience wasn’t the best for me was because I didn’t feel well and therefore I didn’t really feel like eating. The place was also very crowded with so many options for food that I just became a bit overwhelmed. I walked around for maybe twenty minutes pushing past shoulders just to find a good meal. I’m one of those people that tries to branch out and try different things and it almost always backfires on me. Why do I always end up ordering the wrong thing?! I eventually came upon a nice little Mediterranean restaurant called Gourmet Goat. Now, I love Mediterranean food. That is, I love Mediterranean at the restaurant, Cava in Fayetteville. The Mediterranean diet is very healthy and I always love how colorful the food is. I always feel refreshed when I eat at Cava. I never feel too full. However, this restaurant at Borough Market was not Cava. It did not taste like home. I ordered a kid goat kofta which is essentially a bowl of chili salsa, tzatziki, and slaw with cooked and seasoned goat on top. The goat was actually very delicious with the tzatziki and the chili salsa. However, once I ate all of that. There was nothing left but pink pickled onions which tasted nasty. The bowl was filled with that more than any other food. I wish I would have gotten something a little more traditional despite my love for Mediterranean food. I wish I would have stuck to what I know and what I know is chicken. They had options for chicken on their menu and I wish I would have ordered a chicken dish rather than a goat dish. What made matters worse was that I really wanted to try the chocolate covered strawberries that were all the rave in the market but I had already eaten my Mediterranean bowl so I felt kind of sick and my taste buds felt too unbalanced to eat anything sweet. I did have a bite of them however from some of my friends who got some. They were so delicious but it all just tasted kind of funny because of the flavor of goat in my mouth. I didn’t stay long because I really didn’t feel good. I wish I would have taken more photographs of my experience but I simply was so overwhelmed by trying to choose what to eat and trying to get through the masses of people that most of that slipped my mind. I really wish I would have been able to explore more of the non-food items sold there. I did however get a pretty picture of the sign on my way out. Overall, this experience taught me one thing–be bland, be boring, and order that burger or those chicken tenders that you love oh so much. You don’t always have to branch out at Borough Market because even the basics are bragged about there.

Rolling back the tape of this trip, I want to talk about my solo river walk across the Thames. On Sunday, May 28, I began my free day with some fluffy Japanese pancakes from a restaurant just a couple streets up from my accommodations. Then for the main activity of the day, I took the tube down to Westminster. It was really cool to see the iconic clock tower up close. Fun fact: Big Ben is the bell inside the clock tower not the clock itself. At this point, I crossed the Thames to the south side and just began walking. I passed the very crowded former county hall turned aquarium and Shrek’s adventure as well as the famous London Eye as I headed west along the South Bank. Past this area, the crowds thinned out. There were lots of family orientated activities along the river for the weekend. I found a multi-purpose building which caught my attention with a bookstore and luckily it held a bathroom (or toilets as they say here, across the pond) so I could comfortably continue my journey, that had no destination in mind. Right before I came across the National Theatre, I discovered tables of books for sale. I spent a little time perusing before I continued walking. I loved getting another look at the National Theatre; it is such a unique building, not necessarily conventionally beautiful but I love the design, nonetheless. Further on, I came upon the Tate Modern (which I wrote about a couple days ago), the millennium bridge, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre where I had seen A Midsummer’s Nights Dream the day before.

I continued my wandering of the Thames until I came to Borough Market. Borough Market is a large market that unlike Spitalfields Market is dedicated solely to food and drink. Spitalfields is another market in London (there are many) which we visited earlier in the trip. It had a lot of the larger food stalls located centrally and lots of stalls selling nonedible products. At Spitalfields, I had a pork sandwich on a brioche bun from a stall claiming to have the best bagels in London and a deconstructed apple crumble topped with phenomenal hot custard.

Borough Market was absolutely packed with people. It is not clearly laid out so it was difficult to navigate the sea of people. Although I knew there were probably many delicious foods throughout the market, I had one goal: the viral chocolate pot strawberries. I circled the market three times vainly attempting to navigate the waves of people. At one point, I saw people push past me with the coveted chocolate gems but was too afraid they were native Londoners or non-English speakers to ask where they had found the treasure. After much searching, I finally found the fruit that had been shared across social media! I watched as the workers grabbed a cup of pre-sliced strawberries and twirled it in the continuous stream of chocolate. Then, I grabbed a wooden spoon and skewed the top strawberry. Let me tell you, aesthetics are not the only hype to this treat. The strawberries were gloriously juicy and complemented nicely by the chocolate. Although, the one negative I will say is that I would not be digging into that chocolate by itself, a little too milky on its own for my dark chocolate loving tastebuds.

On the 31^st of May (also known as my dad’s birthday!), I went back to a much less crowded Borough Market with the rest of my theatre cohort. It was much easier to look around this time. There is a whole section seemingly dedicated to pastries and bread and dessert. I had hoped to try a sandwich shop located across an alley from the market’s set up; however, it is apparently closed on Wednesday! Overwhelmed with the many options for various cuisines and slow influx of people looking for lunch, I opted for a stand next to the alluring treats. Here, I purchased mac & cheese with fried chicken. The mac & cheese was definitely good but not leagues above the Annie’s I cook up at home. The fried chicken on the other hand was absolutely amazing. And together! I knew I had made the right choice for lunch. I had falsely believed that on my first trip to this market I had taken a lot of photographs… This is only technically true as I took many of my strawberries hoping to get the perfect shot composition.

I hope I get another chance to look around Borough Market especially to by some sweet treats. Although there is no way I am going back on a Sunday!

Circling back to Sunday, after securing my strawberries, I walked to the Shard which is a large glass building. On the way, I happened to stumble by King’s College which has a lovely courtyard. The Shard was a quick stop for me and while a less conventional tourist stop, one I had on my list for a couple years. “Why?” you may be asking. Because in The Bells of St. John, the Doctor (Matt Smith’s 11^th Doctor to be exact) drives an antigravity motorbike up the side of the 310 M building (1017 ft). I even timed my visit to this location for the day after rewatching this series 7 episode.

I did not take the tube back to Russel Square quite yet. Instead, I headed farther west out to Canary Wharf so I could enjoy a nice rive bus back to Westminster. While I was in the underground, my nose choose this time to start spouting blood. Thankfully, a kind stranger offered me gauze as we waited on the train platform. Canary Wharf was a nice area but a bit difficult to navigate. Coming from the tube, I felt like I kept getting pointed to the National Railway station or back to the tube stop I came out of. I ended up making it to the pier at a perfect time to basically just walk onto a boat. I enjoyed a relaxing ride back to Westminster before heading back the way I came for my solo date around London’s South Bank area.

I am so glad I got the opportunity to take time and do some solo exploration of London! It was such a magical time that feels like the adventure I dreamed of at thirteen years old.

I love the energy in London Markets and wish we had more of them in America. Being able to wander around with a group and all get something unique is perfect. There is so much to see and you get to experience so many different cultures through foods and goods.  Nick, Alex, and I tried meat pies at Borough Market and mine was super enjoyable. I got a chicken and fungus pie and it tasted like a chicken pot pie but more savory, and the crust was flakey and perfect. Then, we got chocolate-covered strawberries which were so ripe and sweet. I don’t know how but every strawberry they had looked perfect. We didn’t see any performances while we were there, but it was so crowded we just found a corner and sat in it. That was my least favorite thing, the crowds and the lack of seating even though it is a mainly food market. I was interested in all of the fresh food markets but didn’t get anything as I don’t really have a place to store fresh stuff. Seeing octopus and giant fish sitting out was a little freaky. If I lived here I would totally get all of my fresh food from markets like Borough.

My favorite part of the market experience was wandering into an alley and finding a mini golf place. We decided to go in and ended up enjoying it so much! The course was so unique and actually hard but I love mini golf and I had a blast. There was a telephone booth course, an arcade game course, a giant wave and so much more. I love being able to find hidden gems while just walking around in London, it’s such a refreshing experience and not something we can do back in Arkansas where the town isn’t walkable.

(Also I tried to post photos but they wouldn’t upload, unfortunate truly)

The Borough Market was alright. I didn’t really do much while I was there, and it was really packed. So packed that I wasn’t even able to cross the street. There was nowhere to sit, and all seats that were opened were for restaurants; and no matter how bankrupt they were, they’d rather die than let me sit for 10 minutes. I ate a meat pie, and it had nothing to do with Sweeney Todd. The presentation was less than phenomenal. It started in the fridge, and then they pulled it out, and then they put it in the microwave, and finally they put it into a box. The fork was wooden and I hated that, wood does not belong in my mouth. The pie was alright, but holy shit were the strawberries I had afterwards. I have never had strawberries so ripe in my entire life. It was like making love for the first time, and they were covered in chocolate! I will never have another strawberry as good as that one (except for the ones I had today). That was kinda all that I did at the market.

MINI GOLF! I went mini golfing and it was fucking awesome! Nine amazing holes of pure passion with some of the most interesting designs that I have ever seen. One of the holes was a fully functioning pinball machine, and another one was a massive ramp into a castle. There were also little secrets you could find and hit in order to get points removed from your score. I had a blast there and it was easily my favorite part of the day. 10/10 mini golfing experience. I wish we had good mini golf courses in Arkansas because I can only hit my ball up a small, green hill so many times before I want to die. Father, if you are reading this, lets go mini golfing in DC soon.

I would add photos, but the internet won’t allow it. If you would like to see photos, please just text and ask. Thank you.

1. Went to Kew Gardens. 
2. Stole a shit ton of napkins from the Kew Gardens bar because I had an unfathomable amount of snot. 
3. We went to Diagon Alley/Leadenhall Market, for a quick walk through. There was a perfect people watching spot at a restaurant that overlooked the center of the market through an upstairs window. It might be worth it just to come back to try and get that table. 
4. We also took a quick walking tour to see the Monument of The Great Fire of London. Next door to this monument there is a restaurant called The Hydrant, and they have slushies of all kinds…must come back. 
5. We finally headed to Borough Market, and the place was popping. It was packed, you could barely move through the spaces with food comfortably let alone find a place to sit and eat. 
6. There was one thing I wanted to try while at Borough Market and it was the viral chocolate covered strawberries. 
7. Borough Market was filled with Slushie Options!! Alcoholic and non! This was the place for a fun summer treat!
8. I found a great guilty pleasure TV show on British cable called I Kissed a Boy. Think Love Island meets a Queer version of the Bachelor (Happy Pride!).

As you can tell our daily list of 10 things that happened during our day is not completed and there is a reason for that…as soon as I got to Borough Market I started to feel unwell. I thought maybe if I just eat and sit down for a little I will be revived but I was wrong. I ate 4 chips and 2 bites of Fish, and got to eat one of the strawberries that I had been counting the days until I could get, when I knew I had to get back to the hotel ASAP or Borough Market would be a place that I would never ever want to return to. Thankfully I made it back to the hotel, and well I’ll spare you the details…you’re welcome. I was down for the count, I ended up not being able to make it to the show Punchdrunk, that we had planned later that night either. And I was really looking forward to that, don’t you worry your pretty little head though I am feeling much better today and I will make up for the lost time in some way, shape, or form. And I will have to go back to Borough Market to just have the strawberries, just maybe this time I will avoid the fish and chips. 

Boroughs Market was nice. I feel I do not have much to say about this market as it was so crowded and I truly was just trying to navigate my way around the slow slow slow moving people, but I did enjoy the fun of having so many options to choose from. As a poor little woman with Celiac’s disease going to a market such as this was welcoming as my app said there were over ten stands and restaurants in there that had options for me. I chose to eat from a stand that sold curry and pad thai. I got chicken curry with spring onions, aloo (potatoes), jasmine rice, and lime. To be perfectly honest, this curry was bad. I ate about fifteen or so bites before I told myself to just stop. It tasted bad going in and I could not imagine what my tummy would have felt like if I had filled it with all that bad tasting curry. Curry is supposed to have spice to it, right? Well, this was the most bland curry I had ever been given. Watching them make it though looked so promising. All but the rice was cooked right in front of you in an iron skillet so I assumed the flavors would be pungent and tasteful, but I was sorely mistaken. I do not know why it had no flavor, perhaps for the masses of white people they are catering to I’m not sure. 

I did get the famous strawberries and chocolate which I mean how can you go wrong with that. The berries were delicious and juicy and the chocolate tasted about just like any melted chocolate you’ve ever tasted so I was happy to film my tummy with all the delectable goodness. Next to the strawberry stand there was a seafood stand that had all of their fish and squid and shrimp laid out in front of their kitchen for you to choose your meat. The squid they had dangling off the counter was ginormous! The smell, well it was smelling for sure; but that is expected. 

I did not see any performances while at Boroughs Market but that night we ventured onto the new Elizabeth line and went to see Punchdrunk: The Burnt City. I believe I entered into that experience with not the best headspace as I was running with Lily Bea and Molly to hunt for the lost wallet and was already quite anxious as I entered the black doors into the bar. I feel if I had known what I was walking into I would not have felt so unsafe and uncomfortable. interactive art while I can appreciate the idea is not my own cup of tea. Having control and autonomy in my own choices is something that I hold close to my own values and this experience threw all of that comfortability of control out the window. I entered late and followed a large group of people into the largest area of the warehouse and felt myself being confused and unsure of what I am supposed to be doing. Should I follow one actor or venture off to find new stories? I lost Molly within twenty minutes of being in the warehouse and was alone for the majority of my short stay of an hour and a half in Greece and Troy. I witnessed a virgin sacrifice. That was something. I saw naked men and women. That was also something. My American prudeness was ringing inside those walls. I have never seen another person’s naked body besides intimate partners and close friends so seeing a stranger strip and convulse while being drenched by a shower of water was just a lot coming at me at once. I can understand the beauty of this performance I truly can, but last night was just not the right day for me to experience something like that. 

When I finally saw a rainbow M&M fanny pack running through the darkness I felt like I had finally left hell and entered purgatory because holy hell, was I finally safe. Being with people I knew definitely eased the anxiety of being in there and I am glad I found the people I knew towards the end of my stay in the warehouse or else I do not know if I would have been able to find my way out. Overall yesterday was a 6/10. The day was beautiful and the moment when stressors were not present it was a great day! But I’d have to give my daily deductions to: -1 for Lily Bea having her wallet lost and knowing there was nothing we could presently do about it, -2 for Punchdrunk and how unsafe I felt, -.5 for the bland curry (Where da flavor!), and -.5 for my beautiful woman and bestie Alli Herman feeling sicky :(. But since I have spent so much time complaining in this blog post I should end it on a good note. I bought tickets for Heathers today. EEEEEK!!!!! This show was a part of shaping my love for theatre. Barrett Wilbert Weed was a young woman I could identify with when I was younger and I am so excited to see a show that she once got to give her heart to. :0