Squeezing in a photo-heavy post on Borough Market in London!
Borough Market
tomatoes
cherries
lavender
brownies and cakes
eggs
paella
Lord of the Flies
exotic meats
drinks
juices
coffee
camel burger
paella
scallops
duck confit sandwich
random dancing
kids who cannot sit still
homeless children
I think I’m never going to finish blogging about our Europe trip! Will still try my best just so I have a record of the highlights for myself. It was quite cloudy the whole time we were in London until the last couple of days, so we took advantage of the very first clear day we had to take some photos!
One of the highlights of the trip was being able to catch a musical! We were initially trying to find a musical that Anya could watch but it seems the only one that allows kids in is The Lion King, which we had already seen in Singapore. Our travelling companions were very kind and offered to look after the kids so that we could have a date night without the kids.
The Book of Mormon was the show I really wanted to watch when I was in New York with Debs last year but we didn’t get around to catching it. I’m so happy we managed to get tickets to watch it in London because it’s ridiculously funny! The show is by the creators of South Park and is about two young Mormon missionaries sent to Uganda to share The Book of Mormon with unexpected results. Needless to say, it is completely rude, irreverent and so entertaining. The songs are very catchy and the lyrics are a riot!
Would love to watch it again if I get the chance but I’m pretty sure it won’t come over here because it is probably considered too vulgar for Singapore and likely to be offensive to too many different groups of people.
The Book of Mormon
photo credits: The Book of Mormon London
photo credits: The Book of Mormon London
photo credits: The Book of Mormon London
Some pictures of the pieces at the British Museum! To be perfectly honest, after having visited the American Museum of Natural History and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, it’s hard to be impressed by the British Museum and the Natural History Museum in London!
British Museum
inside
The Rosetta Stone
Statue of Ramesses II
some winged human-headed Assyrian bull
Lachish relief
Elgin marbles
Parthenon sculpture
horse head
Parthenon sculpture
some Mexican goddess
Double-headed serpent turquoise mosaic
some Mexican sculpture
Sculpture of a Huastec goddess
Hoa Hakananai’a Easter Island statue
backside
Another food post! We visited the National Gallery but we’re not allowed to take photos inside. Was devastated that Van Gogh’s Sunflowers was on loan and not available for viewing but managed to see quite a few other lovely pieces.
We had a yummy lunch at the National Cafe afterwards. The service was great and they made sure the kids were comfy and provided crayons to keep them occupied. Every dish was delicious and the chocolate dessert was so good we ordered another.
Trafalgar Square
National Gallery
the kids were given crayons and paper
munching on bread
buratta
crab cakes
burger
lamb on barley
spaghetti vongole
super yummy chocolate dessert
After Tower of London, we popped by Shakespeare’s Globe and the Tate Modern and also took some photos of St Paul’s Cathedral before going to Four Seasons Chinese Restaurant in Chinatown for their famed roast duck. It’s seriously the BEST roast duck I’ve ever had. So tender and delicious and amazing. Just thinking about the duck is making me drool. It seems that they have a branch in Bangkok! I wonder if it’s any good.
With three little kids in tow, we decided that we’d better make reservations instead of queuing so there was a fixed per head sum that we had to make a minimum order of. Most of the dishes were okay but all paled in comparison to the duck (hence there are no pictures of the other dishes). As soon as we were done eating, the infamous slices of oranges appeared on our table, silently insinuating that it was time for us to clear off and let some other customers have our table!
Four Seasons Chinese Resturant
duck of awesomeness
oranges of dismissal
This was one of the highlights for me! I love reading books about English history (I highly recommend ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring up the Bodies’ by Hilary Mantel) and the Tower of London has appeared in many of those books and it was just so amazing being able to see it and imagine all the exciting and tragic events that have taken place within its walls!
We took the free guided tour by one of the yeoman wardens (popularly known as the Beefeaters) and it was quite entertaining and helped us to appreciate the history of the place. It was also very cool being able to look at the crown jewels and the other priceless objects after the guided tour.
the iconic Tower Bridge
at Tower Bridge
lions and tigers and bears! oh my!
little guard
listening to our Beefeater guide
on the Beefeater tour
looking for some dynamite?
where the ravens are kept
the Queen’s house
with our guide
where the Crown Jewels are kept
stalking pigeons
the guards
the White Tower
staring at the garderobe (toilet)
teeny suit of armour
looking at some old drainage bit
Anya being strange
