Lazy and Love

Still getting over this sickness!!! I slept until at least 1 PM Thursday and was lazy all day. I sat at the pub down the street from us for probably 3 hours on my laptop. I really didn't feel like doing much and didn't think I should since I slept for that long.

Our Global Experiences coordinator emailed us that she was in town for her friend's birthday so she wanted to meet Chelsea and I at some point. She called me Thursday morning to see if we could meet up that night. She got to the flat around 10 PM and hung out for a while, asking us questions about the flat and our internships. She never actually gets to meet the participants so it was really cool for her to meet us (and easy too since there's only 2 of us!!).

Friday we had class. In our first class we started learning about Brick Lane, a long street that today runs through the heart of Banglatown, London's Bangladeshi-Sylheti community. Its been home to many different ethnic groups over the years. Today its a community that is in constant opposition-Bangladeshi's who want to change the area and Brits who want to preserve the Georgian, old-world look and feel of things. Next week we're going to the market to check things out (although I saw it today-see below). Rachel told me that since I liked Portobello Market so much, I should check out Spitalfields on Sunday, which runs into Brick Lane. My independent study professor said the same thing so that's what I checked out today (more on that below).

After class we came home, ate lunch and relaxed. Chelsea, Eya, and I met Chelsea's parents at Westminster Abbey for the Evensong which is a mass that is almost entirely sung by the choir. It was really nice, especially seeing the Abbey, because during the day you have to pay to visit, so we got to hear two choirs and see the inside for free! After the mass we went to Prezzo for dinner in Trafalgar's Square. Yet another great Italian restaurant, will definitely be going back there, especially for their mozzarella en carozza since Enzo's is no longer!!!! Later on we went to the Clerkenwell House, a bar/lounge right around the corner from our flat which is really nicely decorated and was okay to hang out in.

Saturday I slept until noon and decided to check out the area East and Southeast of our flat. I walked down Clerkenwell Road and it was absolutely empty. The weekends are really dead around us, shops are closed (except Starbucks of course!) and people are generally not around (not really sure where they are to be honest). The more down the road I went there were actually people walking around but still not a lot of shops or restaurants opened. I headed South towards St. Paul's and found a little street with a bunch of shops, like Links of London (jewelry), Jigsaw London (clothing), and Jones Bootmaker. All of those were closed too. I walked down to St. Paul's and there was a wedding there!!! At least I thought the wedding took place there until I overheard someone say that they don't have weddings there unless you're somebody important, they're probably just taking pictures there. Well that lady ruined it!!! It was still nice to see, all the English ladies with hats and headpieces. I walked down to where there are shops open, cafes and such, and went into Costa Coffee to have a mocha and a piece of carrot cake. The mocha was delicious and sooooooo pretty, as you can see above. As I was sitting there though I started to not feel very well; I felt a fever coming on so I decided to head home to lay in bed for the rest of the day.

Today I woke up and felt much better, I had no problem getting up at a decent hour which was good because I was heading to Spitalfields!!!! I got out of the house before 11 AM and took the tube to Liverpool Street. I made my way to Petticoat Lane Market, the first market you come to in the area. There are so many stalls set up on the streets there, many with clothing, shoes, and home goods. I found a really cute dress there, can't wait to wear it!!! From there I came to Brushfield Street where the Former Spitalfields Market stands now (between Brushfield and Lamb Streets). In there, there are a lot of stalls with up-and-coming designers' goods, t-shirts, dresses, coats, accessories. I found the best stuff in there. I went outside to get some money from the cash machine (ATM) and the que (the line) was outrageous!!! They always are actually which is so bizarre to me but it never fails. I think I waited almost 20 minutes to get some money. From Former Spitalfields I went up Fournier Street, which is what my independent study professor recommended, to check out the architecture and the building at the end of the street that was a church, then a temple, and now a mosque (because of the different ethnic groups inhabiting the Brick Lane area). I turned left onto Brick Lane and saw all of the different curry houses that line it, one after the other. Eventually I came to the Old Truman Brewery where the Spitalfields Sunday UpMarket takes place. Inside the brewery there are stalls of new and vintage goods and a slew of international foods. I had some sweet and sour chicken with vegetables and noodles-very, very good. I like the Former market better; I liked the goods there better. From there I walked up the rest of Brick Lane which reminded me A LOT of Englishtown. In the beginning it was people selling old clothes mainly, lined on either side of the street. But eventually it got into stalls where people were selling pretty much everything-batteries, shampoo, bedding. That part really reminded me of Englishtown. Towards the end there is a bagel shop (they spell it beigel) the Brick Lane Beigel Bake, which is supposed to be the last Jewish run shop in the area. There was a long line and I wanted to try one so I waited and got a mini plain with butter. I walked outside to the end and turned back only to see the Beigel Bake two doors down from the bagel shop I went into!!!! I was faked out. :P The bagel was still good though. From there I headed home with my purchases. I like this market the best so far, I will definitely be making a trip or two back at least to get the right bagel!

Work tomorrow which hopefully means some window speak :)