In spite of coming down with a nasty cold and laying low in the East End for all of Thursday, I rallied today for one grand task – a trip to Borough Market, by way of a gander around the Royal Exchange building and a short climb to the top of Christopher Wren’s Monument to the start of the 1666 fire. I even have a certificate to prove that I ascended the 311 steps required to take in a spectacular view. The Monument was under renovation when I was last here, so this was another key thing to tick off the good-tourist’s list.

--- posh shopping and dining inside the Royal Exchange building --- --- murals on the inside of the exterior wall tell the story of London and the building ---
 

--- The Monument – a memorial and morale booster for rebuilding London after the Great Fire ---

--- 311 stairs to the top… ---

For anyone who appreciates food, Borough Market can only have a deer in the headlights effect. Just like my last visit, I found myself wandering slowly, like a wide-eyed zombie, inventorying each stall’s contents with profound indecisiveness. At least, I didn’t drool, or at least, I don’t think I did… I had to finally give myself an internal slap across the face to focus on the first and most pressing task at hand: lunch. After making a couple loops by the prepared food section, I settled on some cooked-fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli with a simple tomato sauce. I took a seat in the church yard alongside London’s professionals and tourists alike enjoying an informal outdoor meal of exquisite food on a spectacular autumn day while perched adjacent to London’s oldest Gothic building – Southwark Cathedral.

Sufficiently satiated, I re-entered the market for task #2: get comte cheese, some bread, perhaps some salami, and whatever else tickled my culinary fancy. My fancy included a striped aubergine for Shane and a couple peaches to have with breakfast. Naturally, it was then time for dessert of sorts and tea. I stuck up a conversation with the organic tea guy about the fabulous choices and he speculated that there were twenty vendors who are “really at the top of their game,” Upon telling him I had bought comte cheese, he recommended an Italian vendor who made a sort of spreadable salami pate that he said was lovely with melted comte over top. Unfortunately, that vendor was not there (fewer vendors on Fridays) so I had to settle for some Basque salami, which I think I had bought when here before (it’s delicious and I’m a creature of habit and what can I say.) Tea was enjoyed with a pain au chocolate, once again in the churchyard, before walking home through The City and Spitalfields with my goods in tote.

--- lunch by Borough Market and Southwark Cathedral --- --- some of the pickings at Borough Market ---