With most of the big touristy stuff out of the way, we had to go a little more niche. By that I mean what London specific things do we like. Well, Bethany loves Doctor Who, grew up on The Beatles and I love me some Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter (Imagine me saying that like a little English boy, it’s magical). So… We did that.
But first, upon the insistence of our host we checked out The Broadway Market in Hackney. Hackney is the Brooklyn / Williamsburg of London followed closely behind by Shoreditch. Not sure what that means? Just think Hipster. Still not sure what that means? You just don’t get it. We arrived to an open pop up market with amazing food, cheeses, coffee and live music spanning three street blocks. We treated ourselves to an amazing Beef Banh Mi sandwich, a heavy sausage and egg muffin and some high class coffee. I got an Americana #nbd.
While we were there we saw a lot of cute dogs, then we got sad… We miss you Abby!!! Don’t forget us.
First, due primarily to geographical closeness, we went to Kings Cross Station where the now infamous Platform 9 3/4 resides. For those of you who do not know, the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry board their train. In the movies it’s somewhere between Platform 9 & 10. In reality it’s outside of a novelty shop down the stairs from a bar. Kind of loses some of the magic… Anyways the students walk through a magic wall, to catch a ride. Well… us muggles just get to queue up for 45 minutes and play pretend by: putting on some silly glasses, a scarf and a not so magic wand. But I rocked it well (this statement is unsubstantiated by photo). Trust me…
It was now time to harness our rock and roll roots in an attempt to get an authentic Beatles Abbey Road esque cover photo. Trouble is Abbey Road is a highly used road in a neighborhood and getting a successful photo means stopping traffic in both directions. I, the photo taker, stood in between two directions of traffic. Bethany, my muse, walked whenever she could in attempt to not bother motorists. The resulting image looks exactly like the Abbey Road cover. I promise. That is if you squint and un-focus your eyes a bit.
Sidenote: I get it that people want to re-create the photo… I do. But, that doesn’t give you the right to completely stop traffic for 45 seconds so you can get it right. Have a little respect for the people trying to get home from work… Off my soapbox I do step.
Last, but certainly not least, was the Tardis. The Tardis, for the shamefully uninformed, is the means by which The Doctor, the last Time Lord, travels through Space Time righting wrongs and saving lives. Since it’s resurgence around 2005 Bethany has become a Whovian. Not to be mistaken with the fictional residents of Whoville in “Horton Hears a Who!” A Whovian is a die hard fan of Doctor Who. So, we HAD to track down the Tardis. Luckily people reported sightings near the Earl Court Underground Station so we jumped into action. Sure enough, the illusive Tardis was there in all it’s “Pantone 2955C” glory. We got some cute pictures of my lady, grabbed a sandwich and jumped back on the Underground headed home.
With all this transportation via the Underground I asked myself “Self, how long would this have taken to construct?” Good question! Turns out the London Underground officially opened January 10th, 1863. Overtime improvements including electricity, new branches, better transports and ease of payment were added to encourage use and cut down on street congestion. I must say, it works well. Though, Peak hours did give me insight on how it must be to be in a can of sardines, minus being dead… It sure makes navigating such a large city with no car a breeze.
We got home after a long full day with a smile on our face and a full belly. Who could ask for more? Greedy people, that’s who.
Cheers,
B&B
