Friday, Friday, We Got Down on Friday

Friday was the first full day I had in London. I woke up still feeling the effects of the crochitty biddy from the day before, and was a little down in the dumps and hadn't been able to find my sense of belonging just yet. We got our sorry butts out of bed around 10 a.m. (yeah, it's a hard knock life) so we could get ready to meet Katie, one of Phil's former co-workers, for lunch at KFC. There are some things about KFC you need to know...
1. There are ZERO mashed potatoes and gravy and biscuits. Zip, zilch, nada, nil, NOTHING resembling anything like them. It's really strange because you all know we Americans only step foot in KFC for those yummy goody bits. We could care less about the chicken (don't try to act like I'm alone in this principle!)
2.  Instead of mashed potatoes and gravy and biscuits, they serve chips. To us, that would be fries...but their fries are most similar to Wendy's fries. They are cut, cooked, and salted almost the same exact way.
3. They serve breakfast. Yep, you read it right...breakfast. You can get a latte and a bacon roll (picture a Pillsbury crescent roll folded up with bacon inside) for less than 2 GBP (about $3.) I haven't had it yet, but it blew my mind.

We had a really nice time with Katie, so I have officially made my first friend in the UK.

Phil thought we should walk off the big chicken lunch we had, so we took a stroll down Oxford Street. If I remember New York correctly, it was much like 5th Avenue. We took a look inside Selfridge's, which has a bit of everything, including a little cafe restaurant that was the equivalent to the Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble. Apparently, it's the norm for department stores to have a cafe rest area. Maybe America should take note.
I didn't buy anything because I was really just soaking in every bit of my surroundings; I have no doubt I'll be back, so shopping won't be a problem.

We made our way down to Walthamstow Market, one of the large street markets in London. I had never been to one before, but it was a lot like what I had seen in movies and pictures. The street was lined with tall white gazebo tents, each harboring different items for sale: fresh vegetables, pots and pans, undies, lingerie, and hosiery, books, music, clothes, fabrics, threads, and just about anything else you can imagine.
Our next stop was the mall adjacent to the street market. It was a nice little place, but honestly, it reminded me a little of the Mountain Mall in Gatlinburg; the one in front of Ripley's Aquarium at the end of the strip. It was cleaner and busier, but the environment was very reminiscent of that little hole in the wall.
By then I had walked my arse off for the second day in a row, so as you can imagine, my calf muscles were burning and my lungs were ready to give up. I finally convinced Phil that it was time to go home and chill the bleep out....especially since we had to wake up at 5 a.m. to get to our train departing for Liverpool the next morning.
We stopped at a grocery store on the way home to grab a bite for dinner. As it turns out, they had some ready-made sandwiches and deli items that turned out to be really super yummy. I had a roast chicken bacon club sandwich that was to die for. I'm always relatively skeptical of grocery or convenience store pre-packaged sandwiches, but ours were fresh and tasty. Oooohhh and for dessert, we had these eclair-type doughnuts, but instead of chocolate on top, they had strawberry jelly inside and fresh whipped cream overflowing the top. Holy pastry...heaven in my mouth. Don't worry: we're going to buy some more, so I'll post a picture next time. You'll be jealous. Count on it.
We finally called it a night....I had absolutely no idea how crazy the weekend was going to be....stay tuned.