London Commuters

At this rate, we might as well get a job in London and start commuting on the regular. We turned our India visa paperwork and surprisingly they were processed and ready for pickup as of Monday. So, we are heading back to London tomorrow to pick them up. The visa processing service is outsourced so they were unable to tell me whether the applications are actually approved.... I was worried because of the such quick turnaround that something went wrong... I guess that is a half glass empty mindset I need to get rid of! So we will see tomorrow when we open up the sealed envelope from the High Comission of India at the outsourced processing center. India is the king of outsourcing so it only makes sense...haha.

While in London we did have a great time with Steve, walking around the high streets, seeing the architecture and enjoying the food. We had some awesome pho, which, we can only compare to our mom n pop Vietnamese restaurant in Atlantic Beach. We thought that place was the bomb too, and it lacks ambiance in all definitions of the word. This place we went to had a full drink menu, was candlelit, and had the freshest ingredients and stocks that simmer for 12 hours before serving.. So good. That's one thing I've noticed here.. People may slag off the Brits for having the rep for "dull food", but in reality it goes way above ours... Everything is fresh, and you can even see the farmers name on some of the produce you buy and the supermarket. And their ingredients lists on packaged stuff is decipherable and not 3 paragraphs long. Delish. Europeans have it right when it comes to good quality produce, too. It smells and tastes better than our organics. But then again, it doesn't have to travel as far as ours does. So I guess it's all relative.

Now I'm sounding like a foodie. Here are some pictures of what I saw in the Borough Market, a wonderland of fresh breads and cakes, meats, cheeses, produce, seafood, spices, jams, etc. Paul and I were in sampling heaven and had lunch there as well. I'm forever grateful to Steve for taking us to this gem. O.m.g.

Mmmmm meringues.

Oh and the fresh stuff is so cheap......way cheaper to buy tons of fresh food and cook it rather than eating out. We have been very lucky to have some nice home cooked meals and meals with Paul's friends in Portsmouth, which has saved us a lot of money. The hard thing about traveling is finding where the decently priced food is if you cannot cook your own. 

In Iceland it was super expensive to eat out, so we would go to the supermarkets and buy the soup they sold there from the salad bar or other ready made meals. At the hostels and with our host Inga we cooked some yummy stuff in her kitchen. I'm interested to see where our other destinations will take us on our food journey.... Ya gotta eat to live! In Peru 2 years ago I lived on canned tuna, bread, and fruits when we didn't order the " Meal of the Day" where the locals eat... It will be cool to compare different cultures "meals of the day" as we venture on.. I just hope I can stomach it.

Next I will write about all the family fun we have had the past couple days..... We have been busy seeing family and friends, as well as seeing sights around Portsmouth that I haven't really been able to sit down and write. I will try to get better at this blogging thing... It actually takes some time to write, as I have foolishly forgotten. Cheers!