Columbia Road Flower Market - Sunday, March 29, 2009

Lara met us at the Liverpool Street Tube stop, conveniently located on the Circle and Metropolitan lines which were a breeze for us to access from the Jubilee line.  Upon passing through the exit we arrived in the very luminous hall, which Cleber cleverly reminded me was the same location for the T-Mobile video on Facebook which indeed had been filmed in this very location - he's so smart my Cleber.  

We eventually found Lara walking our directiopn sipping a drink from a local purveyor of snacks and after a bathroom break we headed out to the fresh air and partially sunny skies.  The Columbia Market is located in an area called Hackney.  We'll call it hipster central, and it was a wonderful mix of flower sellers both in pots and by stem, art galleries, baby shops, food shops, gardening shops, antique shops, small food stands, and even a live music.  It was a chilly day but teh sky remained for the most part free of too many clouds so it added to the ambiance and importance of a cup of warm liquid in hand. After wandering about, we eventually made it into a lovely corner pub where we acquired 3 stools at the bar and continued our path towards English culinary enlightement.  Cleber ordered the roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding, Lara ordered the vegetable dish and I decided on the salmon fish cake, accompanied by my favorite greens.

Lara had us try the Ginger beer while we waited which is a non-alcoholic beverage in a spiffy bottle and apparently incredible for your digestive tract.  It was a hit and we drank up all the ginger goodness.

We finished our meal and prepared to leave.  With Cleber and Lara in toilet land I was approached by a Bulgarian father and dughter pair eager to take over their seats.  one thing led to another, and she used to live in California and they as a family lived in Nigeria, as he was an architect and built the NBA building in the capital city.  

We continued down Columbia Road and circled around in order to head back to the tube, Lara led us down Brick Lane where we grabbed a cup and Chai and proceeded to enjoy the sites and sounds of east London.  Cleber and I left Lara at the tube stop, where we parted ways and we headed to Westminister.  Needless to say it was time to play serious tourist.  We arrived at Westminister and proceeded to walk along the bridge for a better vantage point to see Big Ben and the Eye.  We, and when I say we, I mean Cleber, took a ton of pictures capturing the seagulls flying across the Eye, capturing nature and industry at it's most poetic moment.

We managed to make our way from Westminister to Primrose Hill, passing through Buckinghame Palace ("It's smaller than I imagined it" Cleber Bonato), Green Park ("The daffdils are amazing" - Cleber and Lucie-Anne), Hyde Park (Met a lovely man who resembled Santa Claus and his little dog named Pickle), Regents' Park and then up to Primrose where we, and I mean Cleber, captured the sunset in a most romantic way.

Although we arrived 5 minutes early, Reshma let us in to her lovely new home, as the call for the toilet was stronger than both Cleber and I could manage and thus we arrived hoping that our early arrival would not cause panic in the kitchen where Reshma was busily creating an Indian feast for us, and Lara and her boyfriend Edward, who would arrive just in time for dinner.

The evening was splendid, we had the pleasure of meeting Edward and enjoying each other's company.  I do believe that Cleber and I are very blessed with our circle of friends and I thank you all for your love and support.  We arrived home thanks to Edward's kind offer to return us to our homestead and proceeded yet again to fall asleep with big smiles on our faces.