Marianne in London: Of kangaroos and modern art

today i went over to borough market to see what they had to offer. i had heard stories from noor about giant brownies and obviously had to check it out myself. the market itself is a series of stalls underneath raised railroad tracks and is basically a million people and every kind of food that you could wish for. after getting myself an oyster card and sorting out the underground pretty seamlessly, i wound up over by london bridge and in the midst of every kind of fresh olive, cheese, or fish you could think up. walking around, i quickly found several stalls selling massive brownies and got one for myself from the third/cheapest one. as i kept walking, people had all sorts of sandwiches so i decided that the next stall i came to with sandwiches, i would get one. as i wandered down one of the aisles, the next one that i came to said "ostrich and exotic meat." perfect.

their special of the day was a kangaroo burger and i went for it, with cranberry sauce and sauteed onions. i'm not sure what it tasted like exactly. not quite like chicken. but it was definitely delicious.

with a burger and brownie in tow, i headed west down the south bank of the thames until i came to the tate modern. i think my favorite part about the british museum system might be the price--free (with the exception of special exhibits, but who really has the energy to see those anyway?) i've been there before but i was so happy to see it having taken that modernisms class last semester. alina, buchloh really served us well and you basically would've been in heaven, although i'm pretty sure you've been here before. i got to see duchamp's 3 standard stoppages, which makes so much more sense when it's in front of you than when it's up on a projector screen in a basement lecture hall, and other stuff that i could recognize or contextualize. it was really awesome being able to put what i'd learned to use. (hooray liberal arts education!)

after i saw everything there that was free, i walked across the millennium bridge to St. Paul's. i didn't go in because i didn't want to pay and plan on going to an evensong later, which gets you in for free. but there was a sign out front that there was a deacon ordination tonight at 5 or 5:30. i seriously considered sticking around for it because i thought it would be pretty cool, especially to compare it to the ones i've seen in St. Peter's and in Miami, but i had forgotten my book to kill time (it was just about 3) and am pretty sure that they weren't going to welcome shorts, a tshirt, and flip flops, even if they were welcoming the public. this fact was reinforced when i saw a woman in her 30s walking around in a pretty dress and a super fancy hat. is that still a thing in the anglican church? covering your head for mass? it was a really cool hat though and matched her dress perfectly. i was glad i had decided not to go to the service because that probably would've been awkward.

i did go around the back to the church garden and sit there and munch some more on my big brownie, then hopped on the tube and came home. tonight there's the 2nd night of a 3 night music festival in hyde park, hard rock calling. unfortunately, last night i missed the killers, the kooks, and passion pit (which tommy got me for my birthday!), but i'm hoping that i'll be able to hang around outside the ticketed area and be able to overhear ben harper, fleet foxes, and neil young tonight. which would be sweet!