Cold Rainy Day and Hot Soup

A proper good morning to you.
Time for an easy day. I have been doing some major walking, and I’m tired. Normally after a bit of sight seeing and a snack, I’d take a good book and find a pretty park to sit in, but today was rainy and blustery. In California we call this kind of weather “winter.”
I got a late start because I needed to wash my hair and couldn't face it last night, so I did it this morning. I also had to go out for groceries. It was hard to juggle umbrella and grocery bag on a crowded street with the wind blowing, but that is just part of the London experience.
Another part of the London experience is second hand smoke—alas. Smoking is forbidden indoors in most places now, so people smoke on the streets.
I strolled up to Bloomsbury and walked around for a while and then went to the British Museum. I went up stairs to see some things I wanted to see and found it gratifyingly uncrowded. The British Museum is a treasure trove all right. The big bulky statues, monuments, reliefs are all on the ground floor, but upstairs lay some wonderful items.
I started out in the Egyptian Rooms, and one of the things I did was visit the tomb paintings of my old pal Nebamun. Art history students will recognize the name. I also viewed the grave goods of Puabi from Ur, although I was disappointed to find the “Standard” was on loan and so not there.
From there I passed on to the Etruscan, Greek, and Roman rooms stuffed with jewelry, vases, and artifacts of various kinds. I got a really good look at the Portland Vase, the inspiration for John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” Find an image on line and then read the poem.
I made a point of looking at the well-displayed jewelry and weaponry from the Celts and Germans. I’ve always had a fondness for the Barbarian Style and would gladly pin on one of the lovely broaches.
Since I was there last, some significant new discoveries have come to light, including some major Roman British and Anglo-Saxon hoards. The exhibits on these are fascinating and also a reminder that not everything that can be found has yet to be found.
The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial exhibit is another must see. The craftsmanship is simply exquisite. The actual Sutton Hoo site is now open to the public under the auspices of the National Trust, but it’s way up in East Anglia so I won’t be going there this trip.
Well, then the rooms began to fill up with school trips and tourists, some of them walking around with the glazed look I’ve come to recognize as museum overload. I was feeling tired, and it was time for me to go.
I call cold, rainy conditions “soup weather,” so that’s what I decided to have. Some nice hot spicy chicken soup. And let’s go Asian. Vietnamese! How about some Pho?
Hey, Pil, sounds good! Did you make it?
Nope. Forgot to pack my crockpot. But I think I will try to make it some time at home and maybe cut down on the chili a bit. I obtained it from a fast food joint called Eat, which is the major competitor of Pret a Manger. Often the two places are right next to each other. Both are higher end and not cheap, which may explain why the local McDonalds is always full as well, but the food in both is organic, fresh, and very well prepared. Both do a line of salads, sandwiches, wraps, desserts, drinks. But Eat also has soups.
One plucks the container from the shelf and takes it to the counter where it is filled with hot spicy broth. Then one takes it home, opens the container, only to be smitten by the scent of chile and coriander. A quick stir to mix up the noodles, vegetables, and chicken, and we are ready to go. It was the perfect choice. I will also have some salad and some chicken satay I obtained at the grocery store while I view the Tour de France.
Can Andy Schleck hold off Contador’s challenge for the Yellow Jersey?
I hope to get a good night’s sleep and give you a more exciting day tomorrow.
Cherrio!