MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
England and Wales Trip
Day 2 - May 6 2019
After waking up at 12:30, very well rested, we walked down to the Blackfriar, a pub that specializes in pies (meat pies, not our American sweet ones) about a 30 minute walk away. We had a pint, a duck and mushroom pie, and toad in a whole (pork sausage with gravy in a Yorkshire pudding “hole” with some mashed potatoes to keep the toads company. They were both delicious with a super rich gravy. I will say though, I was hoping for the true raised crust pie but these just had a puff pastry top. The pub interior was quite a cool atmosphere.
We thought we would conquer the rest of what we wanted to see that was east of us. Another hour walk and we were by the river and the Borough market, no doubt swarming with people and vendors on a typical day, but today was a bank holiday, which means everything was closed and the streets were empty. Nothing to see here. We made our way past the tower of London and to Leadenhall market (where they filmed Diagon Alley in Harry Potter). To my disappointment, it turns out that was all CGI, so it looked nothing like that… And everything was closed :(. We meandered back, hitting Greene King pub and the Ship Tavern for some beers.
Near the hotel, we stopped for dinner at an Indian restaurant, Punjab. We ordered Murgh Makani (butter chicken-one of our faves) and something I forgot the name of but a lamb curry with fenugreek, a side of spiced rice and naan topped with garlic and chilies. This was a wonderful meal. Can’t get enough Indian in London!
We got tucked in a bit late again. It was a bit tough gauging what London is like being here on a Sunday and then a bank holiday. We are looking forward to seeing the city on a normal Friday and Saturday on the way back but so far we are not in love with the city like we fell in love with Munich, for example. We enjoyed our time, but didn’t get that “feeling.” Tomorrow, we are off to Chester, a city north west of London, near the Welsh border.