During my first night in London, we dined on some homemade food. It was quite a trip to the grocery store (called Sainsbury's). First, it was a huge cluster of people. The aisles weren't nearly as wide as they are in the US. And on top of that, they weren't very clearly marked. This made navigating the store extremely difficult and almost impossible. It's hard to tell whether groceries are cheaper in the US or the UK too. I'm still trying to figure out that whole conversion thing between kilograms to pounds. Also, I knew this before coming, but eggs are NOT refrigerated. Still skeptical about whether to eat those or not... However, there was plenty of chilled, non-dry milk. It's also really funny to see a number of products that have the EXACT same packaging as American products, but the label just printed a different name. A prime example of this is the bag of "Walker's" crisps that are simply and exactly "Lay's" chips. (I am sort of curious which came first?) Also, this store is NOT meant for bulk shopping. The check-out counter is a little two-foot stand. You can't pile more than five items on it without everything toppling over. And, they charge you five pence (each Pound is 100 pence, like pennies) per bag used. Their way of "going green" of course. There was a nice selection, but the entire store was like a small Trader Joe's. There are definitely no supermarkets here, or at least, I haven't seen one yet.
After much deciding, my friend and I decided to make stir-fry. We got a nice collection of vegetables, a pack of pre-diced chicken and some strange (meaning cheap) stir-fry sauce. We also got a package of rice, but really struggled with trying to cook it. All the measurements were in grams and milliliters, and my friend's flat had NO measuring cups or spoons. I can't cook like that!! So we just poured a bunch of water in a pot and boiled rice. Everything turned out pretty tasty. I mean the rice was a little soggy/mushy, but we made it work. After dinner, we went to my first pub.
Tangent: Okay, so after being at a few pubs so far, I've decided that I love them. They're great. The one's I've been to have all had kitschy wooded decors and tons of one of my other new favorite things: cider. Cider is perfect. Plenty of alcohol, good taste and goes down real smooth and easy (maybe too easy). There was one cider I didn't like (Old Rosie), but otherwise it's been delicious. The only problem with pubs is they close at 11pm, which is just too early for me. Otherwise, pubs and cider are fantastic.
The first pub I went to reminded me of a quaint old-style inn. Very small, yet very charming. All of the seven tables inside were filled with people, but we managed to snag a few bar stools along one of the windows. I got to meet some of the fellow students on one of my friends' study abroad program. Not much to say about this night outside of that. I did get drunk much quicken than usual because of being jet lagged, which was a nice way to spend the last few hours of my first day. Before heading to the train, my friends insisted on stopping by a McDonald's for Cadbury Egg McFlurry's. I didn't get anything, but I thought it was funny that I was in Europe for less than 24 hours, and I had already made my way to a Mickey D's.
To end the night, I got my weekly Tube pass (called an Oyster, I guess) for zones 1&2. In London, they divide their routes in zones. Zones 1 & 2 are the main zones that pretty much everyone uses. Zones 3, 4 and 5 extend to the far reaches of the city - including the airport. Anyway, again, the Tube was eerie clean, fast and efficient. Changing trains was a cinch because all the lines criss-cross and intersect. Completely different from Chicago, where you have to go all the way to the Loop to try and change trains. Finally, it seemed like no time before we were home (even though we basically had to go across London). The only odd thing about the Tube is you have to swipe your card or ticket as you're leaving. Since it's so easy to change trains, I guess which line you started on really changes the price, and it's the price you have to pay for good service though. My other friend's place is only like five minutes from the Tube station, so it was a quick walk back to her apartment. After a long first day, it was nice to finally lay my head down and sleep.
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