Camden Town

Today (20 July 2009)was both wonderful and frustrating at the same time. This morning a got up, got dressed, and ready for the day and then sat down at my laptop so I could post for all you fabulous people the pictures I had promised from yesterday. The reason they weren’t posted yesterday was because the internet was being mean and Facebook kept telling me that the upload had failed. No matter how many times I tried it just wasn’t happening. I decided to wait until the morning which usually ends up working. Nope. This morning the upload took so long I had to leave my laptop on – which I haven’t done since I’ve been here – and when I got back… UPLOAD FAILED. GRRRRRRR! Not a happy camper. I tried at least four more times until I had a brain wave. Why not upload only a few at a time? So far this technique has worked but keep your fingers crossed.

Camden Town was the trip today. Basically, back when London was just London and hadn’t swallowed up all the other towns in its path yet, there was Camden Town. It’s the “alternative” part of town meaning that if you’re into dressing in black, chains, nose rings – not the studs, ladies – spiked hair with colors or anything that may turn the heads of people around you and make your parents wonder where they went wrong Camden Town is for you. Ok, not everyone is like that… there are also quite a few hippies there, too. Here you can haggle with the vendors and buy anything you want. Seriously. I’ve been told it’s like Canal Street in New York City. I have never been to Canal Street in New York City so you’ll have to take the other person’s word for it. It’s mostly clothes and bobbles but there are some really good buys there… like the three bags of loose leaf tea I bought. Ok, before you start pulling your hair out, Mom, let me explain! This tea was cheap, even by US standards and it smelled sooooo very lovely. Besides, I’m in England! If I’m gonna buy tea it should be here, right? And yes, I have way too much tea – by other people’s standards, not mine, obviously – at home but this is special tea. Tea that I can only get here. And that’s all I bought today. I swear! Well, other than food. I have to eat.

Food! Ok, so there’s this restaurant called Gilgamesh in Camden right in the heart of the market. This place is amazing! It’s Assyrian food which is amazing stuff. However, the food is only secondary to the dining experience in my opinion. On the outside of the building there on these hand carved decorations on the wall. Actually, it’s the whole wall. When you go in the building you realize that’s all the walls are – these wooded carvings. Inside the dining area you think you’re in a sultans dining room. There are comfy chairs around tables and some tables have these circular cushion seats so everyone can sit down. I’m having a hard time explaining what it looks like but you’ll be able to see what I mean when I post the pictures. I even took pictures of the bathroom. You laugh now, but it was really cool. Oh, and I make sure to make a note of it in the pictures but the entrance to the women’s bathroom is a bit PG-13/R. I mean, it’s not… well, you grown-ups with kids look at it and then decide. It was pretty so I took a picture of it. I don’t normally go around taking pictures of nude women… see that just sounds bad but just wait til you see it. I am not helping my case, am I? I’ll shut-up about the bathrooms now.

That was Camden Town, though. After that Aubrey and I went back to Wigram, did our own thing for a while, went to Sainsbury – the grocery store – and got dinner, because eating out has been taking a major tour on our wallets. The cider hasn’t helped any either. I have to say, though, I am not someone who drinks a lot. I would have the occasional drink every now and then but the comment made most people has been that I drink too slowly, even the drinks I end up liking. Since I have been in London I have developed this craving for Strong Bow cider. I am NOT turning into an alcoholic – which is what all the alcis say, isn’t it? – but I just really like the cider over here. If you have ever had Woodchuck then you think of cider as being this overly sweet girly drink most likely. If all you’ve had is Woodchuck then you would think this but REAL cider is so much better and I wish we had Strong Bow in the States. Plus, having a pint with a friend at the end of a long day is such a nice way to end the day. Now I know why Esso is so awesome on a Friday. I just enjoyed seeing everyone but it’s the beer, too, which I never got but if you substituted cider for the beer – which I am NOT suggesting we actually do because I think I might get tarred an feather so suggesting we drink anything other than light beer – I would be there every Friday and even n days that weren’t Friday.

Ok, I am going to end my alcoholic rant now – I’m not an alcoholic, just a cider-holic. Is that a word?