Chelsea Football Game

Back to my awesome weekend with my brother in town...

Saturday evening, we went to a Chelsea Football game! Tickets to these games typically sell for 2-3x the face value of the tickets. Thankfully, my friend from the butcher shop, Andrew, is a die-hard Chelsea fan, and offered to find us tickets at face value. The seats were amazing, almost center field and about 20 rows up.

We watched Chelsea vs. Stoke City, and Chelsea won 3-0. It was a pretty exciting game which lead to Brett and I closely following Chelsea throughout the champions league playoffs, which they unfortunately ended up losing to Madrid in the quarterfinals.

THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT FOOTBALL BEFORE THIS GAME:

1. Don't EVER call it soccer in front of a Chelsea fan... Allen learned this really quick after he accidentally said soccer, he was interrupted by our friend Andrew with a few choice words.

(Squint much?)

2. No drinking inside the arena. Due to the intense rivalry in football (soccer), stadiums only sell alcohol to fans, 10 minutes before the game and at intermission, in an attempt to keep the crowd at bay. And you can't buy 2 beers to drink throughout each half, no drinks are allowed inside the arena, therefore you have to finish them before you go in. They really limit your ability to get wasted at the game, which was a huge disappointment for me, as the main reason I attend sporting events in the States is so that I can drink outside. Baseball is so slow, I would fall asleep without a beer and some nachos to keep myself entertained.

3. Due to #1, everyone drinks at a bar beforehand, to pre-game. Now this is not unusual to any sporting event in the States, but what was interesting was that in another attempt to keep fighting at a minimal, a lot of bars will only allow Chelsea fans to enter. Additionally, the bar we went to only allowed people who knew the owner to come in. But thankfully our trusted companion, Andrew, came through for us again and we were allowed in this particular bar.

In order to better capture the intense rivalries between these football teams, let me tell you one encounter Andrew has had while being a Chelsea fan. He said that one time he was leaving a Chelsea football game, and someone had made a shiv out of the metal end of an umbrella and stabbed him in the shoulder over an argument after the game. 

4. They had some crazy chants like the one below:

Video of a goal being scored:

 

Hope everyone had a lovely day! In two weeks Brett's parent's will be here!

 

Cheers! Mary



Bro weekend- St. Paul's

My older brother, Allen, recently visited us in London. He stayed with us in London for 10 days, which fell over two weekends. This way we were able to still spend a lot of time with him on the weekends and during the evenings, however didn't have to take off work!

Friday Night:
On the first Friday he was in town, we headed to a local pub in Clapham for some delicious cask ales and the traditional fish & chips. The local pub we visited was The Sun, in Clapham Old Town.

Saturday:
Apparently our favourite things about London include the food, because on Saturday morning we enjoyed a proper English breakfast while sitting outside in Clapham. The proper English breakfast includes fried eggs, rashers (English bacon), sausage, roasted tomatoes, baked beans and toast. Pretty much a guaranteed hangover cure. Clapham has lots of great breakfast options, however one place that is the best bang for our buck (quid) is Fantasia Cafe in Old Town.

After breakfast we headed to one of the more popular markets, Borough Market to enjoy lots of delicious free samples and a few pints of proper cider. After Borough Market we decided to go to St. Paul's and climb to the 350-some meters to the top of the dome, to the whispering gallery. From Borough market, walk down the South side of the river, which takes you by the William Shakespeare Globe Theater and the Tate Modern Museum. Then cross the pedestrian bridge across the Thames, and St. Paul's will be right there. It is a very lovely walk and one that I recommend our visitors to do.

It costs £16.50 to enter St. Paul's, which included access the whispering gallery, the top of the dome and the crypt. The exterior of the dome allows for a 360 degree view of the city, perfect for a photo opportunity.

The walk to the top is not for the faint of heights, nor is it for clumsy people... Mom- you are not allowed to the top.  Brett is deathly afraid of heights, and even the walk up the metal stairs scared him. . Like for example, when we were in Florence, he didn't make it to the top of the Duomo, he turned around halfway and left me to fend for myself. Therefore, St. Paul's was very reminiscent of our Italy experience.  See below how he is practically reaching for the wall.


Tomorrow I'll post on the Chelsea football game we attended. Sorry for the lack of posts! I'll try to make them shorter and more frequent going forward. Especially with all our travel coming up, it's going to be hard to keep up!

Cheers! Mary

Guided Food Walk through Brixton- A review of Fox & Squirrel

A few weeks ago, I was invited to be a part of a guided food tour hosted by the very innovative and unique tour guide company Fox & Squirrel. The tour I participated in was called "Eating your way through Brixton", a guided food walk into one of the most culturally significant neighbourhoods in London.  As you might remember, I have previously posted about Brixton in my London Markets post. Brett and I frequent Brixton quite often to shop for our weekly groceries on the Electric Avenue, therefore, when I was approached by Fox & Squirrel to participate in this tour, I was very excited to find out more about the market and neighbourhood.

Fox & Squirrel are an independent tour guide company, with just five expert guides that focus on creating a unique and innovative view to expose the lesser known aspects of London. The guides are experts in their fields, providing a well researched knowledge of the cultural impact behind each tour, whether it be on food, photography or architecture.

The Brixton food walk includes a 7 course taster menu on some of the best street food in London. Our expert guide for the walking tour was the founder of the company, Penelope Sacorafos. In order to not give away the whole tour, I will highlight 3 of the 7 courses we experienced.

Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony:
Elsa, owner of the Ethiopian restaurant Shawl's Café, showed us the traditional way to prepare coffee. Coffee originated in Ethiopia and traditionally was prepared by the women of the tribe who wore traditional garments during each ceremony. Elsa was definitely my favourite part of this tour, watching her prepare the coffee with such grace, her beautiful poise immolated through the experience. She started with raw coffee beans which before roasting are green in colour. She used a ladle to roast the coffee beans over an open flame until they were a dark chocolate colour. The whole ceremony the smell of frankincense permeated the tent we sat in, as it is traditional to burn frankincense during these ceremonies (to me, it reminded me of church).  Once the coffee was ground and steeped in hot water, she used a makeshift filter of what looked like crumbled up seaweed to pour the coffee.

The most interesting part of this experience was that the coffee was served with a spoonful of ground ginger and popcorn on the side. And the coffee itself was the purest, smoothest coffee I have ever had. Often times, the "Ethiopia" coffee served at Starbucks is bitter and very offensive on the pallet. This is mainly due to over-roasting. Coffee when done properly should remind you of a quality piece of dark chocolate, a smooth, rich flavour without the chalky aftertaste that most supermarket coffee leaves you with.

Ethiopian Mixed Platter:
After our coffee, we headed inside to Elsa's restaurant, the Shawl's Café, for my first experience with Ethiopian cuisine. We were served the mixed platter which consisted of many varieties of vegetable and spicy meat "wats" or stews served atop "injera", a large sourdough flatbread. Utensils were not served as a part of this meal, therefore the six of us were forced to get close, quickly, as we all competed for "a piece of the pie" if you will. We used the injera as the base to scoop everything up, and the objective was to keep one hand clean and wait until the end to clean off your other hand.

 

Columbian Restaurant: Las Americas
The last part of the tour that I wanted to highlight was the Columbian restaurant/ butcher shop/ money transfer/ travel agency that we went to. This shop had all of those things combined into one. The shop is very narrow and on Saturdays the place is packed, mainly with people of Columbian decent, gathering at this shop to get a piece of their heritage. We were lucky enough to speak with one of the chefs, Danny. His parents own the restaurant and moved to London a few decades ago. We dined on Lechona (Columbian style pork belly), Empanadas, and the most amazing salsa I have ever had! We asked Danny how he made the salsa, but after he said tomatoes, onion and chillies, I lost him on all the ingredients. There must have been over 30 ingredients in this salsa. We were able to take home a few samples and Brett and I used the salsa on scrambled eggs the following week- a must try if you have never done it!

What I loved so much about this tour was the knowledge Penelope had on the restaurants and shop owners in Brixton. While developing this tour, she interviewed many shop owners throughout the Brixton area to identify the most culturally significant chefs, owners and restaurants in the Brixton area to highlight on her tour. The places we visited were not trendy. They did not have a rustic chic ambiance with mason jars as wine glasses to draw you in from the outside. These restaurants were modest in appearance, but with the most profound cultural influence and delicious food. 

After visiting these restaurants, I couldn't help but think what a shame it is that most people these days would choose a restaurant with the perfect ambiance- exposed brick, chalkboards and low lighting, without any knowledge of the chef's background, over a restaurant with a modest appearance but with a chef who is an expert in their cuisine. These restaurants are using the recipes passed down from generation to generation, traditional restaurants that are lost on the foodie population looking for items like kale or lamb shank to identify the hot restaurant of the moment.

The last food for thought that I will leave with you today is that physiologist say that you will get more satisfaction out of an experience, such a tour, concert or play, than you would any tangible item, like a hat or a new outfit. One of the people on the tour told us that in regards to why they were on the tour, indicating that this was their Christmas gift to each other, and that sharing this experience together would be more enjoyable and memorable than any one particular tangible item. I hope to use this piece of advice in the future, as I definitely believe that is true.

-Mary

London Markets

London is very well know for it's multitude of markets that are open year round. Everything from art to flowers to organic foods, there is a market for each one. As expats and newcomers to London, our weekends often include visiting a new market.

For this post, I have detailed the different markets around the city that we have visited. I am hoping to do one on the various museums as well.

MARKETS

Noting Hill : This is by far the most popular tourist market in the city. Most well known for the movie that was named after it with Hugh Grant, it is a very large market with various shops, tons of street food and often times live music and street performers. It's everything you could want out of a market. Definitely a must see, be aware of serious crowds.

Borough Market : This is a fancy and very touristy market with artisanal cheeses, high quality cured meats such as iberico pate negra and fresh pastries.  Located off the London Bridge stop, this market is a perfect way to start a day of touring the city, just be sure to bring your umbrella as it will most likely rain at some point during the day. Borough Market is close to the Tower and London Bridges, St. Paul's Cathedral and many museums. Start your day off here and make your way through town.

Camden Stables Market : This market is in the birthplace of rock and roll and by the looks of it probably the hipster movement as well. Bands such as Pink Floyd and Jimmy hendrix have played in this area of London, the center of London's music scene. The market was old horse stables that were converted into various shops. You can buy anything from a high quality English wool blanket or a new S&M toy, and on your way back to the tube you would have a selection of 100 tattoo parlors to choose from to commemorate your time in London.

Columbia Road Flower Market:  This is a really fun market for a casual weekend in London. It is off the Shoreditch stop on the tube, which is a short trip outside the city center. The market is pretty self explanatory, it is a flower market with around 50 vendors selling all kind of flowers, from tropical to tulips to house plants. We went home with three small blue/green succulents and a flowering cactus to decorate our flat. A lot of tourist books suggests this market to visit, but I wouldn't recommend this market unless you have ample amount of time in London, as it is not very big and there isn't a lot of other things around.

Brixton Market : This is the posh market in Brixton, where you can shop for unique items and grab a proper breakfast or an afternoon drink with friends. This cute market is about a 30 minute tube ride from the city center but is definitely a locals area as the market is tucked away off the beaten path. This is definitely one of my favorite markets, but that might be swayed by the lack of crowds.

Electric Avenue : So this is the gritty area in Brixton, only one block separated by the market I discussed above. This is where many locals go to purchase fresh produce and meats. It is mainly Asian and African cuisine butcher and produce shops. Brett and I frequent this market for the cheap produce, chicken and fresh fish. However, you have to know what you are in the market for as not all the items are of the highest quality, and this market is not for the faint of heart as there are a lot of things we wouldn't see in our everyday grocery stores- whole eel...

If you are looking to visit any of these markets, please let me know if you have any questions! I'd be happy to help you plan your visit in London.

Or if you have any other recommendations on markets in London, I would love to hear them.

Cheers!
Mary