Day 1 in London

I had a crazy time getting here (delayed flight, delayed baggage, Tube lines down), but I'm here and had a great first day on Sunday! Each day I'm going to highlight a person, place, and food for that day as a simple way of recording my experiences. Here are today's.

Person:

This guy was carving a whole roast pig in Spittlefield's open air market in The City, which is London's financial district. He was very friendly and let me come back into his cooking area to get a better shot. Just above his left tricep, you can see my buddy Pat looking on while his wierd Yank friend takes pictures of dead animals.

Place:

The Monument is a 202-foot tower designed by Christopher Wren as a tribute to the Great Fire of 1666. Supposedly, if you tipped the monument over, its top would fall on the exact spot where the fire started. Pat and I climbed all 311 steps to the top (I was dying of exhaustion by the end, and Pat was of course not even winded). This picture is of the base.

Food:

For dinner we met Pat's friends Emma and Nicola for Dim Sum at a place called Ping Pong. It was delicious! One highlight was the vegetarian dumplings just like the pork ones I used to love when I ate meat, only with vegetable filling. The Brittish have a definite affinity for covering things in puff pastry, and Dim Sum is apparently no exception. They had vegetable rolls covered with pastry that were wonderful too. I washed it all down with a pear lemonade.