9-9-2011

I posted previously about the factory from the Pink Floyd album cover. Well today we got really exploring (read lost), and ended up really close. It's kind of cool that there's so much stuff to see everywhere that you can go sight seeing even when you don't know where you are. This is back along the Thames as the street performers were getting ready for the day. We found a photobooth. It was here right by the London Eye. We also found stuffed cupcakes.

Stuffed cupcakes would normally be the strangest thing I would see in a day, but not today. This is Camden Town market. It reminds me of the Troll Market in Hellboy II. They have Taxidermy, vendors with metal signs (hi, Tiff!), and collections of strange British toys. They also have fish that eat your feet, and crazy gothic kittens. This area actually used to be horse stables, but now it's home to a weird mix of every obscure subculture you could imagine (including a store that was like going back in time to a rave set in the movie Hackers), plus an antique mall, plus a flea market all at once. It makes for a very eclectic and interesting experience. The space is really cool and old feeling, and they have tons of street food. If you've even heard about my blog before, I'm sure you already know that street food is a pretty big deal to me. I managed to dodge a bullet with the punk rock leather jacket pins on Carnaby street, but finding first pressing 2Tone singles was more than I could say no to. I'm pretty sure it shocked the aging skinhead dude running the shop when a scrawny Asian kid with long hair that looks 12 started actually talking to him about obscure ska records and artists. Shocking like finding a pirate castle.

Oh, so I posted in Paris about how tourists love seeing the hiphop dance and street performers upside down. Well, this guy wins. I actually though about giving him some of my coins, but I though it was too cool that we had a variety of four totally different pound coins. I think we ended up spending them on pub food though. This may look like fish and chips, but don't let it fool you. After going out of our way to eat the most authentic local foods we could find, Nicole broke down and ordered the "vegetarian fish and chips." That's battered and deep fried haloumi cheese, and may be one of the best things we ate on our trip. Without a doubt one of the best things we ate on our trip was treacle tart. This is Harry Potter's (and my) favorite food, and within a few nights of returning home, I was literally talking in my sleep to Nicole about it. Nicole and I talk to each other a lot.