Trafalgar Square and the Crypt Cafe

Trafalgar Square is always a must-visit spot in London. Nelson's Column with all of the tourists cornering the lions. The National Gallery sporting art that one can see for free. The entertainers who delight the crowds for tips. The 4th Plinth where some general dude on a horse statue was supposed to be erected, but no one put up the money for the guy, so it was left bare. Now it's open for a contemporary sculpture that changes frequently. Another Trafalgar Square story involves the pigeons (or lack there of). Apparently, the square used to home to tens of thousands of the urban birds. The city got tired of cleaning all of the bird crap off of Lord Nelson and the lions just could not keep up with their grooming. Now the city feeds the pigeons early in the morning and engages falcons to keep the birds at bay the rest of the time. Brilliant!

Trafalgar Square - Not a pigeon in sight

Lions - Tourist-free for the moment

The National Gallery

The 4th Plinth

Man with fire-breathing tuba

Across the street from Trafalgar Square is the little church of St. Martin in the Fields (no field in sight now). In the basement of the church is the crypt which is now hosts the Cafe in the Crypt. And it still is a crypt. We ate over grave stones. Weird, eerie, and something that we had to do. The cafe is a cafeteria that offers soups, salads, hot entrees  and sandwiches.

St. Martin in the Fields

Cafe in the Crypt

Grilled Steak Sandwich

A variety of Fentiman's beverages abounded in London. I really liked the Rose  Lemonade

The fare is simple, but decent.

The Portman

The first night we arrived in London we ate at a pub called The Portman. Pubs can be hit or miss. The food can be dreadful and the atmosphere loud and claustrophobic.  This one was about a block and a half from our hotel (The Cumberland at Marble Arch). Because The Portman was away from the major arteries, I think we were the only tourists that evening. We also arrived fairly early (jet lag was settling in) and we were able to grab a seat before the locals came in to drown their sorrows after work.

The food was very tasty and the staff were very nice since we were not familiar with the routine of ordering at the bar. I would recommend it.

Entrance to The Portman

A right proper bar. Hubby enjoyed the G & T's.

Beer Battered Haddock with Chips and Proper Mushy Peas

The Portman Burger with Smoked Cheese

The Portman is located on Upper Berkeley Street in Marylebone. Upper Berkeley turned out to be a very good street, indeed. We returned twice more to dine at other restaurants along the block.

After our satisfying pub meal we returned to The Cumberland and slept for about 12 hours.

The Obligatory Buckingham Palace Photos

Of course we had to walk by Buckingham Palace, just because. And take the usual snaps. While the Queen was in residence, she did not bother to come out and greet us.

For the first week of our stay the weather constantly changed. Cloudy, light rain showers, windy, and then sun - all within the span of 10 minutes. Some of my photos reflect this ever-changing phenomenon.

We did not bother with attempting to see the changing of the guard. Too long of a wait and too crowded. I'm also short, so I probably could not see it anyway. As it turned out we happened upon another version later in the week where we could see most of the action without the crowd (more on this in a later post).

And without further adieu, here are the good, cliched, and unusual shots of Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial.

The Palace

Victory

Guarding

When the British Flag waves over Buckingham Palace the Queen is in residence

Stickers can be found at Buckingham Palace

The Queen has a view of the eye

Unicorn at the gate

Iron Crown

Different charms had been placed on various trees

Statue representing Agriculture

Edwardian Scream

Harrods is everywhere

Victoria was both Queen and Empress

Part of the gate system at Buckingham Palace. I love the art nouveau touch of this keyhole.

Worth a brief visit, but do not get too caught up in the spectacle.

Brixton Market - South London

The last time we were in London we hit the Portobello Market that was made even more famous in the movie Notting Hill. This time we wanted to check out some different markets and so we went by Undergound to Brixton. Very easy to get to and once we came out of the Tube Station, the Brixton Market was easy to find via signs.

The market sported Caribbean and African influences and was a combination of flea, food, crafts, and vintage. We arrived fairly early to take in the offerings.

A section of the market is called Brixton Village and is covered (but not heated). Once again the building contained a wide variety of stores, but it also had a number of small kitchens/eateries where the kitchen was housed in the storefront and folks ate outside. Each place had creatively staked out their eating spots and there was a huge variety of choices from Mexican to seafood to brunch to barbeque. And after noon on a Saturday this place heated up with (mostly younger) Londoners arriving to enjoy the good eats.

We chose The Joint which featured slow cooked pulled pork on freshly baked fig and vanilla sourdough buns.

We decided to try London BBQ

I loved the little nod to Alice in Wonderland

Storefront Operation

The Hush Puppies were served wrapped and tagged

And sauced! The insides contained bits of corn, but did not taste as cornmeally as the ones here. Still yummy, however.

We tried the Asian version of the pulled pork with Asian slaw and pickled ginger. The portions were large and hard to eat without getting messy. We had a pile of used napkins at the end. The pork was indeed slow-cooked. Not too much of a smokey flavor, but the pickled ginger was a brilliant addition. I'll need to figure out had to incorporate this into my next roast pork.

The market was a lot of fun and a great place to chow down and people watch.

Bar Boulud London

This begins my numerous pictorial posts of London and various places in the UK. In April we visited for a couple of weeks. A grand time was had by both hubby and me. While London is expensive, we managed to find a few eating establishments that weren't too exorbitant and were very tasty. We never had to wait more than 2 minutes for an Underground train. So amazing. Most of the museums are free of charge, but the churches cost money. In most of the city parks well-behaved dogs can run around unleashed. It's so much fun to see them in the park. No one wears a hat in London (men or women), so I stuck out like a sore thumb with my wide-brimmed version. The Brits could not figure me out and were a bit surprised to find out I was from the US. While not overly crowded, the shopping areas sported a ton of folks all vying for the lastest in this week's fast fashion. Thank goodness, the side streets were quiet and unhurried.

The only French place we dined at was Bar Boulud located in the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge. The last time we were in London (about five years ago), the French places we went to were abysmal. Thus, we stuck to a well-known entity and were not disappointed. I appreciated the open kitchen (which seems to be a trend here). As with most places in the UK we experienced wonderful service. We did have to re-remember to ask for the bill.

Highlights of the meal included:

In true French fashion, napkins were labeled. 

View of the open kitchen.

Sausage Lyonnaise en Croute.

Salade de Roquette with rocket (arugula), olives, and fresh mozzarella.

Tartare de Boeuf. Very traditional. Very rich. This was the smaller size.

OMG (or Mon Dieu)! The warm Madeleines were delightful.

We enjoyed very traditional French dishes well executed. The best item was dessert - a mound of fresh-from-the-oven Madeleines. So. So. Good. And we had so many that we asked to take the rest back to our hotel room to enjoy with some late-night tea.

Sugar Shack - Coming Soon

Sugar Shack - Coming Soon a photo by pjpink on Flickr.

I can't wait! Sugar Shack!