Markets & Comedy & Taxis, oh my!

Sunday =  Fun Day, at least in London...

And even though I had all of today completely OFF from school-related, agency-tour, regimented day schedules, of course I wanted to get as much in as possible to explore one of our last real days in London. Whilst the city is absolutely stunning and filled with history, it might be a little too fashion-y, concrete-y and big for me, but I still wanted to have a good time.

We began the day back at Portobello Market, where we were yesterday, because I really enjoyed the first time around. Picture a farmers market on steroids with "hand made and authentic" jewels for Americans (and other tourists) to feast upon like vultures. Naturally, this pulled me right in. One path filled with strawberry/nutella/whipped cream crepes, dresses, souvenirs galore and other nick-knacks later, and we were headed toward Covent Garden (another market, matter-of-fact).

Covent Garden is beautiful and very cool. I stopped for lunch at Paul's Cafe, the first fully French cafe I had attended in London, and ordered a Sandwich Mistral (Sahnd-weetch Mee-strahl)--I am working on my French skills whenever possible, okay? Let me tell you: most delicious food I have eaten thus far. The baguette sandwich included spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella, and this truly delightful buttery, tangy spread and filled me right up. Afterwards, I had to get a pastry, and after debating for an hour, decided on a strawberry tart with custard. YUMMY. The cafe was relaxing, breezy and just what I needed after such a long morning of walking. And although I haven't yet noted it, the temperatures here have been in the high 80s all week, which is apparently extremely unusual for London, but I am not complaining-expect for that small bit right there... The market also housed a lot of private marketers, who sold anything from candle wax to homemade soap to footballs (soccer balls). What a blast I had walking from shop to shop, bartering and discovering great finds.

For the record, the natives' accents are getting to me and I occasionally bust out in spontaneous British accents, blustering the "aaaa"s and "ahhh"s sometimes, but it sounds okay. We had a delightful mass at Westminster Abbey--a wonderful way to get inside without doing a tour. Aside from the fiscal benefits, it is such a beautiful place. When I was in Washington, D.C. with the MU Choir my sophomore year, we had the privilege to sing at the National Cathedral, which was also a beautiful specimen. Westminster Abbey is more so; soaring ceilings, balustrades like crazy, beautiful carvings of important saints, cupids and tombstones, gilded with gold and brass and glass. I truly love cathedrals, and hope I get to see a large many more. The mass, also, was fantastic, and the priest asked us afterwards if 1) We were from the states (I found this funny, because more and more people make fun of us and pretend we're from France or somewhere obscure just to be sarcastic and "funny") and 2) We new of the National Cathedral conference, which he had just spent three weeks at for the abbey. Either way, he was very nice and the mass was great.

Following that, we attended a very interesting comedy tour, which included a lot of off-color sex jokes (that just weren't really doing it for me, no pun intended) and two random men who did, like, four-minute sketches each, and then left. The main guy "joked" for about an hour and then it was time to leave. Naturally, the Tube shuts down early on Sundays (which, blond moment, didn't even occur to me) so we were forced to take a bus or a cab. Normally, my cheap ass would vote for a bus, which we have a car for, but the cab seemed the more direct, simplistic way (plus, I am SURE that I paid for that stupid bus card at least three times over in my MU tuition dollars.....).

What a wonderful day--I think it has been my best one yet; relaxing, formulative, enjoyable and new. Which, if you really think about it, describes all of London in a nutshell. Also, as a last-minute note, I found this car in the Portobello Market today and just fell in love. Things are not just bigger in Texas, but in this case, probably in all of the world...