Currencies, Curries, and Courses

Sorry for the alliterative title, but it is a good precis for this entry. I want to tackle a few more pragmatic concerns of my study abroad experience so far. The first is money. The Euro is doing just a bit better than the US Dollar (€1=$1.18), and the British Pound is doing a whole lot better than everyone (£1=$1.51; £1=€1.28). Because of this exasperating reality, I am keeping track of all my expenses, which is very easy-it's just a word document with everything listed that I spend money on. It has put things into perspective, for sure. Some days it's just downright alarming how much I spend-for instance, the other day I bought groceries, a sandwich and coffee at lunch, and train tickets to visit a friend in February, and together this added up to be a pretty expensive day. So keeping track of how much money I spend does help for budgeting purposes, but some days will just be expensive for whatever reason.

On Friday, I walked with a couple of friends to Borough Market on the South Bank. The walk took us about an hour because we stopped at a shop on Charing Cross Road, and then at a book stall beneath Blackfriars Bridge. The river itself is really amazing to look at. Sure, the water is brown (Boston, the Charles is crystal clear in comparison), but it is a beautiful sight. One sight was really striking-two very different boats moored beside each other: a long rusted fishing boat and a graffitied barge. It was a strange sight-I wonder if their respective owners colluded to make a statement, but it's doubtful.

an aesthetic showdown!

Borough Market itself is an epicureal dream. All kinds of fruits, cheeses, breads, spices, drinks, and for relatively low prices. Check out their website-they have inventory for everything: http://boroughmarket.org.uk/. I ate a curry with potatoes, cauliflower, peas, a few types of rice, and lamb, all in one magnificent box. We went to other vendors, split a dessert, and I bought a bottle of Samuel Smith's ale, which my dad has been telling me I have to drink (and it did not disappoint). 

curry galore

des legumes 

one of many bread vendors

I took some nasty (by which I mean pejoratively nasty...not like cool nasty) pictures of dead animals on the chopping block. But I don't think you want to see that. We walked back by St. Paul's, then took the Central line back to Holborn. 

Winchester Palace and the Shard

Southwark Bridge and St. Paul's

this view never gets old: St. Paul's from Millennium Bridge

The long walk ended with a great pint!

The next day, I met up with my friend Madeleine from home for her 21st birthday. We planned to meet at the station closest to my residence, Holborn. Of course, unbeknownst to either of us, the Central line was under construction for the day. I figured she would find her way over, but experienced a momentary panic. Of course, my paranoia was proven senseless and Madeleine appeared. We walked to the Museum Tavern, already a favorite spot of mine. Fun fact: Karl Marx worked on The Communist Manifesto in the British Museum Reading Room and would go to the Museum Tavern for drinks after a long day of work. Anyway, we had drinks and big English Breakfasts (for lunch).

as you can see, it was delicious

From there, we gamboled down Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street, and Regent Street-all of which are flocked with people on any weekend night. We then made our way to Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Big Ben and Parliament and then to Charing Cross Road (we walked the same way I went on my orientation tour, more or less). We dropped into The Round Table, the first pub I ever went to in London last summer. We had some good wine and cheese to celebrate! 

Cheers!

It was a fun weekend before classes began. On Sunday night, I felt inspired, so I cooked a curry. The task seemed a bit daunting, but it turned out to be an easy fix. I cooked the rice while I seared the lamb chops, then added chopped peppers. Once those sauteed for a few minutes, I added peas and arugula (what the Brits call "rocket"), and some Tikka sauce from a jar. Had a tall Kronenbourg with the meal. Here's the result:

Looks like things panned out!

Tonight I cooked tortellini with tomato sauce, and tried another beer, Brakspear, Oxford Gold. 

pasta alla inglesa (courtesy of Sainsbury's and Waitrose)

To go back to expenses-after conducting some first-hand research, I can say with confidence that it is much cheaper to eat in than to eat out. I know, this frightens some people, but cooking is really not that hard. Pubs and restaurants are great for a meal once or twice a week, but cooking in the flat is definitely cheaper. The curry lasted me until lunch the next day, and I still have plenty of pasta and sauce for a lunch and maybe a dinner tomorrow night. Rice is really cheap here, so that's always a quick and easy meal. But I'm glad I tried something a bit more experimental for dinner the other night. I never cook, so that goes to show it's not too difficult to do. Tomorrow night, I'm using leftover rice, vegetables, and Tikka sauce to cook Chicken Tikka Masala (what I'm told is the most popular dish in the UK!). I'll let you know how that goes. 

Classes started yesterday, so expect some reflections next time. Also, I thought with all the political developments over the past few days I would share a link to an article that appeared in The Guardian on Friday, which I think explains some important distinctions really well: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/08/charlie-hedbo-collusion-terror-jihadi-twisted-logic

Thanks for reading!