blog crack

After a yummy breakfast of fluffy scrambled eggs (the G.O.P.I. imported to me the long sought after knowledge of how to make fluffy scrambled eggs, mine always come out hard and dry. If you want to know the secret, let me know) and tart kiwi fruit, we made our way out and about in actual DAYLIGHT. I was worried there for a second that I was turning into a vampire. The jet lag seems to be wearing off.

Upon the recommendation of one of the gopester's roommates, we decided to explore Crouch End (where the hilarious Shaun of the Dead was filmed). This is a really cool neighborhood surrounded by San Franciscan-like hills and has a real villagey atmosphere. Lovely. For those SF-based peoples, I would say it's very much like Noe Valley.

Here's a pic of the clock tower on the square. I think it's older than our entire country.


There's a really cool health food store, lots of people with kids, a million hair salons, cute yet over-priced boutiques and a bunch of welcoming cafes/bistros. Our goal: the World Cafe. A place we were told we could sit for hours on end and read/talk/chill; San Francisco has a huge cafe culture that has ruined me. I've been searching for days for the British equivalent of my beloved haunts and the World Cafe has fit the bill. After exploring the neighborhood and doing some shopping, we sat in the cafe for literally 5 hours and they were totally cool with it. At 10pm we made are way over to the Oboe...


where we indulged a apple pecan crumb pie and drank some tea to warm ourselves up.


We never made our way to that weird circus party. We were chillin' in Crouch End and were not up to the 1.5 hour trek to the venue. It takes an hour to get anywhere here, at least when you live in North London it does. But, it's probably for the best as here are some pictures we found on the organizers' site from previous events...



I think we may have been scarred for life had we gone to this thing...


So, we then made our way back home where I got to indulge in my love of looking at/into people's houses. Not in a voyeuristic way, but in a curious, wondering about humanity, writerly kind of way. Do you know what I mean? All the doors had stain glass designs and the smell of firewood wafted through the air and maple leaves were scattered about the ground in fluffy piles and crunched under our feet. The evening was cold but not freezing. It was quintessential autumn -- my fav season.

Living in SF for the past 7 years has deprived me of this season of seasons, and I had forgotten how much I had missed it! Sigh.

Here are some pics from our evening walk:


the neighborhood by night


a weird sign


the world's smallest car


playing in the leaves

Observations:

1. For a people famed for their politeness, Londoners don't seem to be big on the term "excuse me". No one I have encountered thus far says "excuse me/pardon me/move" when they've walked pass me or my friend to get by, rather preferring to just shove past us without even saying "sorry". It's weird. It's like it didn't even occur to them that they were bumping into us and being rude. But maybe shoving into someone's shoulder isn't considered rude here. It certainly isn't in India.

2. It's cold. San Francisco has once again ruined me. Not sure if you recall a previous post in which the friend gave me a list of items to bring for the trip, but she was right. Her house is freezing. Sometimes I think I'm better off outside. Her roommate is seriously cheap with the heat (it only gets turned on around 7pm and only for 30 - 40 minutes) and she doesn't allow us to turn on the gas furnace. (It should be noted here that I keep a space heater near me at all times in SF, and it never get below 50 degrees there, it's in the 40s here.) I am constantly wrapped up in my shawl under many layers. I'm thinking of getting a hot water bottle to keep me company. Help!

3.

which one of these doesn't fit in with the others...


Random thought of the day: what's the difference between muesli and granola?