Now that I'm comfortable, I wander!

Last Thursday was my last day without Conrad. Jayne (Sonja's friend/sort of business partner) does the Night Market greenery at Covent Garden on Thursdays, so I hopped a train down there. As it turned out, the theme for the day was going to be "it was smaller than I expected."



Starting with Covent Garden. To be fair, I really hadn't envisioned any sort of size, but the whole thing just seemed small. The Jubilee Market reminded me of the swap meet back home, just indoors and on a smaller scale. Pashmina scarves, two for £6.99! I think there was a guy selling designer sunglasses around the corner....

There was a guy there with a booth devoted to chiles, so I stopped by to find out if he knew where I could find New Mexico chile peppers. No luck. Asked for Hatch green chile, got a blank stare. I think he was impressed that I stumped him. So now it's back to the internet to find out if they go by another name, although I doubt it. Guess I'll just have to wait until I get back home.

Jayne told me of a candy shop just around the corner that stocks all sorts of American candy. I've been jonesing for proper bubblegum since I got here, so I decided to check it out. Expecting a huge place with floor-to-ceiling shelving and a ladder on wheels and a track so you could reach the top shelf, got a dinky little shop with cheap DIY shelving. No ladder necessary. However, heaven. I got bubblegum, Dots, Reese's Pieces, Twizzlers, Pop Rocks, Lemonheads, and Creme Savers. Oh, and Jolly Ranchers. Heaven. And, randomly, the guy behind the register is from Modesto. We chatted a bit about traffic, then I headed back to the tube station.

And of course, I got sidetracked. Saw a sign for Trafalgar Square, decided to go check it out in the daytime. It was weird being there with tons of other people. Finally got to take a picture of the double-decker bus with the O2 ad that's grammatically incorrect. Hoo-ray. Headed under the Admiralty Arch and walked past St James's Park to get to Buckingham Palace. Which was smaller than I expected it to be. Bear in mind, I've only ever seen one other royal residence (in Copenhagen), and that one was huge! Buckingham just didn't do it for me. Although I did enjoy the big Queen Victoria Memorial. She looks crankier in marble.

Walked to the station at Victoria and went home.

So I guess it's safe to say that I'm now at ease with riding the tube and walking everywhere. I really need to keep a street map with me though. And I need to learn the bus system. But for now, I need to go wake up Conrad and get the day going. We're playing catch-up with tutoring since I didn't stay at Bunny's house, and thus far it's been really rough. Lots of crocodile tears and tantrums. I'm hoping it'll get better by the end of the week.

Here's the link for the latest pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45191&l=1ca68&id=560310472

I'll explain more about the wig next post.

Hope you're having fun...