Visiting My Favorite London Haunts

Wednesday, August 31, 2001
London

Visiting a Colleague in Islington:
I spent a really restless night and had difficulty falling asleep until well beyond 2. 30 am. I could hear the bells of St. Paul's tolling every quarter hour throughout the night and wondered why sleep kept eluding me.

My day began at 6. 30 am when I awoke and started blogging. Then, because I'd made 9. 30 am breakfast plans to meet my NYU colleague Ifeona at her digs for the year, off I went on Bus 25 to Bus 46 to Bus 38 to Roseberry Avenue and the Metropolitan Water Board Building. The entrance and the long wide atrium leading up to the apartments has immense heft and character and makes visiting the building a repeated pleasure. When I was posted in London, my colleague Karen had occupied this apartment. The doorman let me through and, before long, Ifeona and I were munching on the croissants I had carried along and the good coffee she provided. We caught up on our individual summers and plans for the new academic year and then we set off together--she to run an errand and me along Islington High Street and Upper Street to explore a part of London which which I am not too familiar.

Antiquing at Camden Passage:
Before long, I found myself right opposite the famous Camden Passage Antiques Market and, of course, unable to resist a good rummage, off I went to browse through the bric-a-brac scattered throughout the area on make-shift carts or in little stalls. I realize that I have developed a far more discerning eye than I had once possessed for, most of the time, I find my forays into such street markets yielding no desire to buy anything. Most items are in deplorable condition or atrociously over-priced. There were loads of vintage jewelry but I find that I am now able to acquire far better desirable pieces in Connecticut than in England's antiques stalls.

On the Bus to my GP:
Then, I was leaving Islington behind me and riding the bus to Holborn to go and see my GP at the Holborn Medical Center. Not having expected to stay this extra week in London, I have run out of my medication for the replacement of my thyroid hormone. Since it is imperative that I take it daily, I had no other option than to try to get my British GP to fill in my prescription. I am delighted to say that my doctor recognized me immediately and after some companionable banter, filled himself in on my medical history since last we parted and then gladly refilled my prescription with a British equivalent. Mission Quite Easily Accomplished! It was also fun to walk along the streets that I had often frequented back in the day. Increasingly I feel that I am more at home in Central London now than I am in Bandra which seems to have changed enormously each time I visit Bombay.

Browsing in a Favorite Shop--Persephone Books:
While waiting for my prescription to be filled, I nipped across Lamb's Conduit Street to one of my favorite shops--Persephone Books. Entering this lovely little place is like taking a trip back in time to the 1930s which, in fact, is the era from which books, only by women, are published in this establishment in beautifully designed paperback editions for 10 pounds each. With their blue grey binding and distinctive end papers (based largely on vintage wallpaper and fabric designs) and accompanied by a matching bookmark, these books are as thrilling to touch and feel as they are to read and I always derive oodles of joy from browsing through the titles and the volumes.

Lunching in a Favorite Restaurant--Hare and Tortoise:
Then, after my consultation with my doctor, I popped into the dispensing pharmacy to pick up my medication and was told to return after ten minutes. It gave me the opportunity to dawdle past the Coram Fields and the Foundling Museum to Brunswick Center, another favorite old haunt of mine, where I went into Waitrose to buy my stock of Ainsley Harriot powdered soups and a Black Forest Gateau (to celebrate the return home of my hosts Cynthia and Michael). Laden with my purchases, I could not resist entering one of my favorite London Oriental restaurants, Hare and Tortoise, where I ordered one of my favorite dishes--the Curry Laksa. This Singaporean speciality comes in a gigantic lacquer bowl and is a meal in itself. Glass noodles and bean sprouts form a base in a fragrant curry-like soup made with coconut milk and turmeric. Chicken, prawns, calamari and squid float around the soup and give it a distinctly fishy flavor that is delectable. Although it is a very substantial soup, I managed to do it justice and filled to bursting, I set out to pick up my medicine, realising to my delight that I am completely over my inhibitions about dining alone in a restaurant. Indeed I was able to do so without batting an eyelid and a jolly good time I had too!

Back Home for Tea with my Hosts:
I was on the bus back home to Amen Court when I got a call from Michael to inform me that he and Cynthia had just reached home. It was 3. oo pm, perfect time for a cuppa, and although I was stuffed, we did cut the Gateau and did enjoy a slice each of what the Germans calls 'schwartwaldentorte'. And how yummy it was! With lovely lemony tea, I felt fortified enough to go on to my next errand--a bus ride to the East End to say goodbye to my friend Shahnaz who was leaving later in the evening for her return to India.

Off to the East End:
But I overshot my stop, went too far on the bus, had to cross the street to catch a bus in the opposite direction, ended up too late at Shahnaz's and carried on to Russel Square to meet her daughter Azra outside the British Museum. It took us some effort to connect given that Azra was at Great Russel Street Station and I was at Tottenham Court Road, but connect we did--eventually! The stop gave me a chance to enter another one of my favorite stores--Bury Food and Wine on Bury Street where the salesman is well known to me as I used to buy my tea and biscuits exclusively from him. Of course, I simply had to buy my supplies of Border's Dark Chocolate Gingers and my Darjeeling Tea and after visiting with him for a few minutes and catching up, off I went on the bus homeward to spend the rest of the evening chatting with my friends.

Cynthia prepared a simple barbecue chicken dinner with boiled potatoes, squash and beans and with more gateau for dessert, it was a very fine, very casual meal, eaten with companionable conversation and the company of Aidan who joined us. We spent the evening watching Britcom re-runs and getting ready for my day trip tomorrow to Bury St. Edmunds which was a place that Michael recommended and where I shall be heading with my friend Bash who has volunteered to do the driving.

Today was a restful, relaxed day and an opportunity to tread in the footsteps of some of my best-loved London haunts and to relive some of the happiest memories of my life in this beloved city.