American Wherewithal in London

[Tommy Angelo]

I had my snazzy new sports jacket on with spiffy new dress slacks and a nice shirt with a collar and real shoes and everything. Wasn't even wearing a baseball cap. But I knew they wouldn't let me play poker in London without waiting for 24 hours after registering, so it was kinda silly to spend ten days all over England and then go to a casino on the night before departure. I just wanted to look around, but I couldn't get past the first wave of security.

The highlights of this trip are lovely. The people were the best part, but there were some mystical moments as well. Standing on Darwin's grave in Westminster Abbey was oddly moving because it seems like if I was ever going to put any stock whatsoever in afterlife homages or connections, it should be while above the remains of the one mind which more than any other dispelled the afterlife.

And getting stoned and Stonehenge seemed perfectly appropriate.

And the food. It's quite a trick, the way all the food has the flavor removed. Even bacon.

And the way the English so dutifully line up, or as they call it, queue. At the Tate Museum, at the cafeteria, I got in line, thinking I was at the end of it, then moments later, after sensing some glances more penetrating than usual, I realized that the line extended to the left, and I was not at the end after all. So I moved to the back of the line, thereby ending up several places farther back than if I had lined up properly at first. This could be called a misqueue.

And listening to Meet the Beatles on vinyl at a house party. Smashing.

More later probably.

Tommy

[PokerBabe(aka)]

And now, Tommy, what on earth will you do with the "real clothes"? /forums/images/icons/smile.gif Glad you had a groovy trip....Babe

[HDPM]

"then moments later, after sensing some glances more penetrating than usual, I realized that the line extended to the left"

Don't you love how you were left to figure out you cut in line? Slightly different from the reception you might get in an American line.

"And the food. It's quite a trick, the way all the food has the flavor removed. Even bacon"

Here's a good trick to pull on the English. Get several hungover Americans eating breakfast together at a B&B in the countryside. (I imagine it would work in the city too.) After loading up plates with bacon, eggs and cold toast, ask the waiter for some Tabasco sauce. When the waiter indicates tabasco is kept in the bar, ask politely that some be produced in addition to the omnipresent brown sauce. When the tabasco arrives and the Americans begin dousing the flavorless food with it, watch the English people out of the corner of your eye. I think they would react the same to Klingons eating bugs and live animals or whatever. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

[andyfox]

Used to be my favorite poker writer, including everybody, now he's just my favorite writer, period.

"More later probably"--Forget the probably crap. Just do it.

Luv,
Andy

[Jessica]

Sorry you found the food over here "flavourless".

Next time I recommend you try a curry in Brick Lane, a Chinese in Soho, a Lebanese on the Edgware Road, a Turkish on Upper Street, Jamaican patties in Notting Hill, salt beef bagels in Finsbury Park or an Ethiopian in Tufnell Park.

You can also eat Greek, Bengali, Brazilian, Mexican, Thai, Polish (in South Kensington), Moroccan, Vietnamese and just about any other nationality you choose to mention.

Traditional English bacon and eggs might not be to everyone's taste, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a wider choice of tasty ethnic dishes in any other city on the planet.

/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif

[David Steele]

"Standing on Darwin's grave in Westminster Abbey was oddly moving..."

interesting, a highlight for me on a recent trip to Australia was seeing
the Galapagos land tortise Harriet in a zoo there. Harriet is 171 years old
and was captured by Darwin himself on the Voyage of the Beagle.

D.

[Boris]

A bit defensive aren't we?

[Jessica]

no, just trying to make the point that London has a lot more to offer than flavourless bacon + eggs. It has 1000's of wonderful restaurants. /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

[KJS]

Not a single mention of how bloody early the pubs close??? Very surprising indeed.

KJS

[baggins]

"but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a wider choice of tasty ethnic dishes in any other city on the planet."

you've never been any of the major US cities, like LA, San Francisco, NY, Seattle, Miami, Minneapolis, Dallas, San Diego, Chicago, etc. then, have you? those are the cities i can speak for as far as wide ranging cuisine.

i think the point is that, you can get globally 'ethnic' food anywhere, especially in the SFB area where Tommy is from. but the ethnically English food is bland, and that's the disappointment.

Ahh but I have been to several of the cities you mention (SF, NY and Chicago) and I'm telling you now they don't have as wide a choice of foods as London - and I'm not just saying that to be pigheaded.

As for "ethnically English food" -we eat Indian, Italian and Chinese in the main. But you could always try this place before passing judgement on traditional English food: http://www.londonrestaurantreview.co.uk/displayuserrecord.cfm?EntryID=709

[MMMMMM]

Actually, bland food is probably better for your health anyways, generally speaking. Too much salt and sugar are of course no good for you, and highly spiced or acidic foods are hard on the stomach. Pickled foods and raw fish may contribute to stomach cancer, etc. So it's nice to know that in London there are places one can buy good, healthy, non-deleterious bland food, and still have a wide range of delicious ethnic dishes to choose from. Since the English are known as the Beefeaters, I find it hard to imagine that they could ruin a good roast beef--but I haven't been there and so don't know.

Removing the flavor from bacon does sound like quite a trick indeed, but since bacon is so bad for you, maybe it's not such a bad trick either.