What Your Mama Didn't Tell You About London
I told myself that I wasn't going to allow...myself...to eat at McDonalds or Burger King or Subway unless it was ABSOLUTELY necessary.
I didn't make it 36 hours.
But here's the thing: London SHUTS DOWN at 8 p.m. You'd think that one of the largest, most tourist-friendly cities in the world would have a booming nightlife everywhere. But no. Granted, there are areas of the city that stay awake late, but overall, shops close early. Restaurants and pubs stop serving food around 7, and pubs close universally at 11.
So here I was, wandering the streets at 9:30, craving some chinese, and not one buffet presented itself to me in my few miles' journey. And to add to my suffering, there just happened to be a McDos or Burger King or KFC (Yes, somehow KFC seems to thrive in London, however there are zero Taco Bells or Taco Johns...and now you know why Americans are fatter.) I caved. I stopped under the arches. BUT, I held strong, and ordered simply a medium Diet Coke. Pop is pop. It doesn't matter where I get it. I might as well get it for cheap. Two days in, and no American fast food for me. Plus I ended up finding a nice plate of Shawarma Chicken and rice in front of my face.
Everybody knows the huge differences between the U.S. and the U.K. They drive on the opposite side of the road (and crazily, might I add. I am seriously afraid to cross the street at some intersections.) Nobody wears jeans (completely false. ) Our "fries" are their "chips" and our "chips" are their "crisps." And it's not the fact that they're called "crisps" that bothers me; it's the flavours that really have me puzzled. Here are just the few that I can remember off the top of my head:
Thai Sweet Chili
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Cheese and Onion
Chinese Barbecue Spare Ribs
Of course, Vinegar
Slow Roasted Lamb and Mint
Lamb and mint? And I thought sweet and salty Chex Mix was bad. (By the by, turns out Ketchup chips are popular in Canada.)
I really don't have much to say yet, but I will. And I wasn't here for six hours before I had my first celebrity sighting: Renee Zellweger in the Tube. Good stuff.
I didn't make it 36 hours.
But here's the thing: London SHUTS DOWN at 8 p.m. You'd think that one of the largest, most tourist-friendly cities in the world would have a booming nightlife everywhere. But no. Granted, there are areas of the city that stay awake late, but overall, shops close early. Restaurants and pubs stop serving food around 7, and pubs close universally at 11.
So here I was, wandering the streets at 9:30, craving some chinese, and not one buffet presented itself to me in my few miles' journey. And to add to my suffering, there just happened to be a McDos or Burger King or KFC (Yes, somehow KFC seems to thrive in London, however there are zero Taco Bells or Taco Johns...and now you know why Americans are fatter.) I caved. I stopped under the arches. BUT, I held strong, and ordered simply a medium Diet Coke. Pop is pop. It doesn't matter where I get it. I might as well get it for cheap. Two days in, and no American fast food for me. Plus I ended up finding a nice plate of Shawarma Chicken and rice in front of my face.
Everybody knows the huge differences between the U.S. and the U.K. They drive on the opposite side of the road (and crazily, might I add. I am seriously afraid to cross the street at some intersections.) Nobody wears jeans (completely false. ) Our "fries" are their "chips" and our "chips" are their "crisps." And it's not the fact that they're called "crisps" that bothers me; it's the flavours that really have me puzzled. Here are just the few that I can remember off the top of my head:
Thai Sweet Chili
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Cheese and Onion
Chinese Barbecue Spare Ribs
Of course, Vinegar
Slow Roasted Lamb and Mint
Lamb and mint? And I thought sweet and salty Chex Mix was bad. (By the by, turns out Ketchup chips are popular in Canada.)
I really don't have much to say yet, but I will. And I wasn't here for six hours before I had my first celebrity sighting: Renee Zellweger in the Tube. Good stuff.
posted by Kristie at 5:20 PM
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