Ridhi-culously Spectacular!

Dearest Dan,

Today was so much fun! I can tell that both you and I are falling for London! Today, I was all speedy this morning to get ready so we could head out for the day! Due to a big biking event in London, most bus stops and roads were closed. Nonetheless, thanks to your most excellent navigation skills, we moved around London seamlessly. I really liked the borough and neighborhood we are staying in. If it weren’t for East Dulwich, we wouldn’t have gotten to see the very ghetto-ized and yet diverse neighborhoods on the bus to and from downtown. We also wouldn’t have had many important conversations about race, assimilation, cultural hegemony, a culture of poverty, immigration, and so much more. Even after 10 years, I am still learning from you every time we talk about the world we live in. We saw Kentucky Halal Chicken and Tennessee Fried Chicken. We saw Cameroonian restaurants next to Bangladeshi fruit shops. And we saw it from on top of a double decker bus! 

Our views from the top of the bus!

This always made me feel as though we were going to run into a street lamp or smoosh a car in front of us!I enjoyed going, “Wheeeeee!” from up there with you!

Once at Trafalgar Square, we walked and walked and walked. We walked through the National Portrait Gallery and to the British Museum to see the famed Rosetta Stone there. Such amazing history captured on one collection of minerals! It was so packed, crowded, and hot that I overheated and soon it was time to go! I suppose that’s how they make the museums free – no air conditioning!

Exciting happenings at Trafalgar Square

Ernest Shackleton at the National Portrait Gallery!

This is where I was dilly-dallying most of the time at the museum!

I see you in the stone!

I also see a gazillion others!

The beautiful British Museum interiors

Once out and in some fresh air, this kid’s body needed food and a kald drikke (we still  <3 you Norway!) quickly! We were both on the same page and found a traditional pie and potato parlor suitable for our vegetarian tummies! Mother Mash was all it was pegged to be by Yelp! Still, hot inside, two bottles of ice-cold ginger beer and delicious pot pies with mashed potatoes and gravy were just the remedy I needed!

Platform 9 and ¾ was next! 30 minutes in a line and 20 quid to get a picture? No thanks! Instead, I let my imagination take me on Hogwarts Express and let some Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans get stuck in my teeth. Thanks for indulging me, Dan, and making this extra trip to Kings Cross for me : )

The original (not!) 

Then, we walked and walked and walked some more! With some tube interludes (peppered with some superb street performers – Vansh, we keep thinking of you!) – we wound up at Brick Lane. 

Fast, efficient, and poetic public transportation!

I was talking to Mummy when I said to her that every street name is written in English and in Bangla – it turned out it was Little Bangladesh! The smells of South Asian food guided us to the Sunday Brick Market we were in search of. We thought we were just going to take a peek at what was inside a warehouse, but it turned out we were right at the entrance of the market! Hipster, vintage, punk, hippie, wannabes – there was plenty to ogle and gawk at. And so much to relish! There were over 30 stalls of street food and both of us simultaneously wished out loud that we had an extra digestive system handy. It was a fun fun excursion, and then once again, we were lost!

Amazing choices! 

Fun street art 

Live Art

Yeah!

You have become the most excellent Google Maps reader, Dan! You navigated us through the hipster streets of Shoreditch to Liverpool Street where we met kind and waiting Ridhi and Hanna! We met Ridhi after 7 whole years and Hanna for the first time! There was much catching up to do and they had the perfect plan to support catching up – a byob Vietnamese restaurant! The food was hot, delicious, fresh, and quick! Our time together ended with a pint in a beer garden and more memories made! Like you said, serendipity has been on our side – if it wasn’t for our blog and social media, Ridhi wouldn’t have known we were in the U.K. If it wasn’t for planning to meet with them, we wouldn’t have known about the Sunday Market (thanks, Ridhi and Hanna! : ). And if we hadn’t met them – we wouldn’t be closed to equipped for our upcoming Barcelona adventures (once again, thanks Ridhi and Hanna! : ) I first met Ridhi when she was in 11^th standard! She’s now midway through her PhD. Time does play funny tricks sometimes.

Once again, we called it an early night, though with all the action going on in the bar below us (even on a lazy Sunday night at 10:30pm) and the hot hot room – I might be a squiggly monkey of a sleeper tonight! We’ll see!

See you in my dreams,

-Suparna