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| Shard! |
Every time I see the Shard I'm reminded of the time G and I were admiring the view from Primrose Hill and overheard the following conversation:
A: Is that the Shard?
B: Yes, it's the tallest building in Europe.
A: It doesn't look that big, x other skyscraper looks just as big.
B: Yes, but it's further away.
We giggled all the way home. See here for the reference.
You know you're at London Bridge station when the people handing out leaflets for nearby tourist attractions (the London Dungeon and its imitators) are sporting ghoulish white face paint with red blotches to give the appearance of some hideous disease. I particularly enjoyed the zombie who was wearing a headset for no apparent reason.
I met up with ACC and our Maltby St Market Mission was underway. First there was the small matter of finding the place. I'd looked at the map beforehand so had a rough idea of what direction we needed to go in, but it was further along Druid Street than we'd expected and an element of doubt crept in. Eventually we spotted a cheery yellow canopy in the distance which turned out to be a fruit and veg stall. We didn't let that detain us but moved straight to the St John Bakery where we got custard doughnuts - top priority. After that, I got some amazing and almost certainly underpriced beef from Jacobs Ladder biodynamic farm and some 18 month old vieux gruyere from Käseswiss although in the excitement I completely forgot to look for oatcakes.
We turned the corner and were greeted by this cheery sight.
There were lots more stalls here, including one where a man was carving ham, a Jewish deli, and a bar selling cocktails, but since it was only about 10.30, we had a coffee from Coffee, Mate? instead which is the kind of place that likes to draw a leaf in the foam of your flat white. It went down very well with the custard doughnut. Memo to self: those doughnuts are squirty! Take tissues next time.
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| I only had one, honest |
An article by Signe Johansen in last weekend's FT and a visit from my Swedish friend has reignited my desire to eat more Scandi food and I was hoping to get some smoked salmon from Hansen & Lydersen but was unable to find them. Still, I was pretty pleased with my haul.
The market had a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and there were no tourists - quite a contrast to Borough which is unbearable these days. It seemed that it wasn't necessary to get there at the crack of dawn to avoid the crowds, and in fact it might be better to go at lunchtime when one could visit the cocktail place or the wine bar, and get lunch. And the icing on the cake is that the 188 bus runs very close which takes me straight home.
This morning, to continue the spirit of adventure, I paid a visit to the Nordic Bakery just off New Cavendish Street where I got a cinnamon bun and a loaf of rye bread so I could make smørrebrød for lunch this week. The cinnamon roll looked like the one on the front of their book.
Which brings me to a new feature, Battle of the Pastries!
Nordic Bakery Cinnamon Bun v. St John Bakery Custard Doughnut:
1. Price: cinnamon bun £2.20, custard doughnut £2.00.
2. Size: the cinnamon bun was enormous and I should probably have only eaten half, but after a short pause at the half-way mark I manfully wolfed the rest down, while the custard doughnut was just the right size for one person.
3. Special feature: the custard doughnut got points for the delicious squirty filling, while the cinnamon bun had wonderful burnt crunchy bits on the outside.
Overall: a draw - both excellent examples of their genre, but probably not something to indulge in every day.
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