sept10 006
Originally uploaded by TwoCrabs.

Could any London photo be any more cheesy or cliche than Abbey Road? We thought not. Which is why on Saturday, Angel of Angel and Coconut (heretofore known as Baghdad Buddha) played tourists in our own town and made a pilgrimage to Abbey Road, which is in northwest London about 30 minutes by Tube from Angel.

The area is very green, lush and residential. There is absolutely nothing else to see in this neighborhood other than throngs of tourists taking photos of one, plain intersection like the kind you see everywhere else in London. Cheesy indeed. But a must-see!

In the meantime, we keep meaning to blog stuff we see around town but keep forgetting. So here are some random thoughts from the past week:

--Angel of Angel is OBSESSED with licorice. And not just any licorice. We're talking about Strawberry Twizzlers. But they are impossible to find here. Yes they have licoriche but most of it is has strange oozy filling or tastes nothing like Twizzlers. I (Baghdad Buddha) could care less. I'm in the home of Cadburry's Chocolate, the best chocolate in the world, bar none!

--How to spot a tourist in London: Usually wearing backpacks on their chests for some paranoid fear of being robbed (like anybody gives a rats ass about your maps, water bottle and baby wipes!). Said tourist will also be wearing white "trainers", aka sneakers/tennis shoes, a fanny pack and baseball caps. Ballcaps are very rare except among the youth, and even then they are usually NY Yankee caps. Go figure. This is a good time to remind the world that YANKEES SUCK. Go NATS!

--There are no ZIP-LOCK bags anywhere in this country! The only "resealable sandwich bags" here have sticky gummy ends for keeping closed. Another thing you cannot positively find in London is RANCH DRESSING. Plain old ranch salad dressing? No luck. But if you love olive oil, white French and creamy caesar's dressing, then you're in luck because that's about all there is here.

--Every weekend, you can find a free festival in London. Today we went to the Brick Lane Market, which we are hereby referring to as the "Thieves Market" because everything sold here is obviously stolen. What else to suspect when you're approached by a guy in a trench coat who opens it to reveal a camcorder and Palm Pilot? Or the grungy-looking fellow selling a $1,000 racing bicycle?

Anyway, the point is there's plenty of free stuff to do in London. And just like DC, most of the major museums and attractions are free of charge. Next weekend is the Mayor Thames River Festival which features FIREWORKS. Woo hoo!

--Returning an item to a London store is easier than at home. No questions asked! By law British stores must give you at least 16 days to try something out and during that time, you can return it without any explanation or reason. We've already had success twice including our home phone which sucked ass. Note to all Londoners: do NOT buy Binatone Phones. There's a reason why they are cheap.

--Our favorite London beers so far include: London Pride, the Speckled Hen, and (no joke): BROADSIDE! (Inside joke for all my GMU alumni peeps.)

--Baghdad Buddha has lost two pounds since we've arrived in London! I attribute that to the fact that we walk EVERYWHERE. We sometimes walk three miles each way to reach a festival or market. Two miles seems like nothing these days!

--After three sunny weeks in London, the rain has finally arrived. It's been grey, cloudy and drizzly for the past two days, and thundering rainstorms at night. The real London weather has arrived. Boo hoo.

That's all for now. Cheers!