Journal Pages - England & Ireland

The napkin in the corner is from the Lord's press box, and has the MCC logo. About four years ago Subash and I toured the empty Lord's stadium and marveled at the press box and how exciting it would be to be a part of it. And now here we are! 

Beer labels.

(Still in progress)

Bathrooms Abroad - Ireland

Yesterday we traveled from London, England to Dublin, Ireland by train and ferry. It was great fun, and you've got to see the fancy space pod bathroom on the train.

You pressed a button and the door whooshed around, revealing a round bathroom inside.

You had to hit different buttons to lock it, and I had nightmare visions of someone whoosh-slide opening it while I was in there with no way to stop it.

Later in Dublin we went out to a pub. It is classified as a historic landmark, so it is almost impossible to do any updates to. 

I couldn't find the toilet paper at first but then realized it was from these strange dispensers way above your head, which give out one square at a time like a tissue box.

So there you have it, folks. A new country, a new bathroom!

I'm very excited to be here in Ireland. The next two weeks promise great things!

Six Weeks Abroad

Today we have been on the road for six weeks. 

So far it has been amazing, although already our first country feels like a lifetime ago. Sometimes I think of the time left and feel overwhelmed at the prospect of so many more months ahead of us, and sometimes I think of it and feel a twinge of panic at how fast it is going by. 

In honor of six weeks on the road, here is a breakdown of what has happened so far:

 Countries Visited: 3

 Flights Missed: 1

 Beds Slept In: 7

 Cricket Grounds Visited: 9

 Times Thrown Up: 1

 Journal Pages Made: 46

 New Animal Species Seen: 11

 Times Done Laundry: 2

 Beer Drank: ????

Items Lost: travel blanket, water bottle x 2

Types of Transportation Used: Plane, Train, Subway, Automobile, Catamaran, Feet

Number of incredibly kind people who have either let us stay in their house or bought us a meal or drink or any number of other assistances given freely and with great humanity: too many to count, really, but I got up to 30 before giving up.  That isn't 30 people who have smiled at us on the street or helped us with a bag, that is 30 people who have very much gone out of their way to help us and put us up or feed us or help us watch a cricket match. It is no joke when I say that this trip would be impossible without other people, and to all of them I say THANK YOU and I promise to someday pay it forward.

It is raining today and I am snug in bed with a coffee while the washing machine makes a comforting whooshing nearby. These six weeks so far have been a great adventure, and sometimes I look over at Subash and can't believe we are here. 

So here is to the next six weeks, and the six after that, and moving ever forward! And thank you to all of the friends and family and strangers-now-friends who are making it possible. See you down the road!

Art in Birmingham

Pronounced Burmingum. Pronouncing the "ham" will get you mocked, although lovingly.

Drink of the Day

The Best Grilled Cheese Ever

Tonight we made an unexpected detour off the train home and stumbled onto a pub hiding beneath the stairs. It was called The Camden Town Brewery, and we decided to stay awhile.

We ordered two pints and sat outside in the evening chill. I swear beer looks more delicious in England. I never cared about beer at home but here it looks all frothy and golden and refreshing.

Next to the Pub was a little food stand selling grilled cheese, appropriately named The Cheese Truck, and it smelled amazing. One look at their menu was all I needed to know I had to get one of these sandwiches right now.

(Note: "rocket" is the British word for arugula)

I went for the goat cheese / honey / butter sandwich. They put it on the grill and cooked it with great care, using a flat metal iron weight of sorts on top.

It was incredible.

I could eat that every day. Every meal! 

Earlier when in Manchester I was a bit down on London, but after the last weeks here I have to take it back. It's still unforgivably expensive, but almost all of the museums are free (post on that later!), it's so easy to get around, and--if you can afford it--there is delicious food everywhere.

Not a bad way to spend an evening!

Journal Pages - London Museums

Old Spitalfields Market - London

Yesterday (Sunday) while the India cricket team was on its way out I wandered over to the Old Spitalfields Market near Liverpool Street. It is open Thursday to Sunday with different themes each day. Sunday's is a general market. Around the outskirts are a number of cheaper vendors selling shoes and clothing, and inside a big covered area is the main event, which is full of artsy creations of all kinds.

I struck out from our current home and took the subway/tube to the nearest station, found using the amazing "CityMapper" app. Once there my dysfunctional sense of direction took over and I had to ask someone for help. This has been my MO so far. London is laid out so well and the subway system is easy, so I can confidently get to the required station. On the street, especially in more touristy areas, there are extremely detailed helpful maps showing You Are Here and there is everything else. Despite these, I still end up going in the wrong direction, and usually either just do this until I can see it has happened on the next map, or just ask someone. 

With guidance from the employees at a Starbucks cart I quickly found what I thought was the market. It turned out later this was the outer ring of vendors. I didn't realize until, thinking I was finished, I wandered into this big area and found all of the more expensive artsy ones. 

The market was great, and basically my ideal shopping experience. There were Things Everywhere!

If I didn't have to carry everything I owned in a tiny backpack I would have bought a whole new wardrobe. And it would have included these tiny sequin shorts:

There were all kinds of interesting clothes I've never really seen before.

I wasn't sure if haggling was allowed or not, and after some investigation my understanding is that you can certainly ask, but if the person says no you should accept it and move on. Also people a more willing to give you discount on buying multiple items than just reducing the price of one.

My previous haggling experiences in India were different--you could argue back and forth a lot more. I did this with one of the sellers early on in the day and it got a little awkward, and by the end of the day I felt embarrassed that I had done it. Also while I was haggling another vendor came up and told me that he wanted "skin on skin" and that would be the way to get a discount. Because I live in an innocent fantasy world it actually took me a second to understand what he meant, hah!! "Am I supposed to shake his hand?" I thought. To the original sellers credit, he looked as uncomfortable with the comment as I was. I left after that. 

Anyway, as it went on I realized that you weren't supposed to haggle so much, and when they said a price for the most part they meant it and were sticking to it.

I had a fun time at a sunglasses stall, where some of these nuances were explained to me by the owner. My advice to anyone going would be to ask something stupidly polite like "is the price negotiable?" 

While I was at this stall a woman came over and started an argument with the vendor about a bracelet in plastic wrapping. She wanted to open it and when he said she couldn't made a big deal about it. After yelling at him about it for a while she said that she wanted to open it because maybe he was selling broken things and she had to make sure, and the vendor had enough. He put his hand over the bracelet and said "you're right, I sell broken things, you don't want this." And when she tried to argue again he basically told her that he didn't want her money, and that after she treated him that way he wouldn't sell to her if she was the last person on earth. 

He told me after that some people treated him like he was their slave, and he would rather lose the sale to teach the lesson that they couldn't treat the vendors like shit. 

It was a little scary---what if I had somehow been that person??--but a good lesson. I think the main issue was not even what the woman said but how she said it. She really did talk to him like he was her servant. 

It's hard to always be doing something new and not know the rules. I had a fun day but it was also tiring to try to not to mess up. After watching that exchange I felt embarrassed about how much I had argued with the previous guy. As I've said before, when traveling you have to be okay with standing out and making mistakes, but sometimes this gets old.

Even worse, once I got to the inner artsy market I was taking pictures of these delightful little creature creations and the stall owner came over suspiciously to ask why I was taking pictures. I guess when you are selling your creativity you have to be careful that people aren't just going to steal your ideas, and even though it wasn't that big of a deal I was totally mortified and wanted to disappear. 

Anyway, I am making this sound worse than it is, probably. I slowly got over it and was careful to only take pictures from farther out, and not zoomed in on any one item. There have been many cases of big chain stores like Urban Outfitters and Target stealing design ideas from independent artists, and the artist almost always loses, so I understand the concern. 

The inside market was amazing, and full of incredible displays put together carefully and with love. This one stall selling jewelry had a trees everywhere, with necklaces hanging from them.

According to the website, a lot of the vendors are recently graduated art students. I ended up in a t shirt stall with another woman who was trying on shirts. The price was discounted if you bought two, and, with the vendors permission, we went in on it together and each got a shirt. Mine is a cat, of course!

After all of this I needed to sit, so I went to a place within the compound called "Crepe Affair" and had a lemon/butter/sugar crepe with vanilla ice cream.

I drew some pictures for a while and then finally left to head back to the subway/tube station and then meet Subash at the cricket ground.

I really had a great time. The market was awesome, and a fun way to spend the day. This place has different events throughout the month also, like a "Brewer's Market" beer market and a "Paw Pageant" coming up on Aug 25 described as "a host of doggy dudes donning couture designer fashion."

The market is obviously well loved and cared for by its vendors. Even the brochure map is fun:

It turns out this is just one of many many markets in London. 

Cricket ended early so today Subash and I are home sleeping in. I am going to work on some journal pages next. It's good to have some time behind a closed door regenerating. I have to build my reserves back up for the next adventure, where I will inevitably make some mistakes or commit a cultural faux-pas without knowing it. It's all worth it, though! I have no regrets.

Except that I didn't buy those sequin shorts. 

Cappuccinos Around the World

On this trip so far, when our budget allows, I've been drinking cappuccinos. Something about the foamy milk makes me feel fancy and rich. 

I also love how they are all a little different from each other. 

Truthfully I don't know what the difference is between this and a latte or americano or the rest. I keep meaning to look it up and forgetting, but it doesn't seem that important. 

Whatever the case, each time I get one it feels like a present.

Bathrooms Abroad - London

What does the bathroom at the London train station / underground look like?

We'll never know because they charge you 30 pence to get in and I refuse.