portabello road and brick lane

yesterday afternoon, molly and i walked over to portabello road to check out the markets. it was a friday near the end of the day so some vendors were particularly keen on getting rid of some stuff by lowering prices, but we resisted for the most part. after wandering through the antiques, spending a long time browsing through some old books, picking up some nectarines, and ignoring the poorly made new clothes, we came to the used clothes section. this proved to be a haven for everything from 1920s underwear to 1970s hippie outfits to modern clothes. although we escaped the clutches of one vendor who was set on selling us a school uniform blazer that was probably made for a 4 year old (i tried it on and it was so tight i had to shrug my shoulders and the sleeves ended halfway up my arm. molly's only comment was "it makes your arms look really skinny"), we were caught by a man selling broaches which molly was looking for. i also picked up a purse for L2. overall, it was a success.

molly and madeline were having dinner and then going to a show with madeline's aunt so i headed back home to meet up with team-summer-school for dinner. we were planning on going to brick lane. i am willing to guess that this is where the brick masons used to work; now, it's a thriving indian/south asian area with more restaurants you would think could possibly be supported. i had heard that when you go you should bargain with the people to get the prices down. we were going in a group of 10 people, however. this was a big deal. mike was leading the group down the street and although we already had a restaurant in mind from some of our guidebooks, they kept giving him better and better deals as we walked down the street. free naan. free naan and rice. free naan and rice and papadum. no one will pay more than L10. private room. private room with 20% off. we finally settled on a place that would give us an upstairs air conditioned room and 35% off. we had a great time and a great dinner for just L9 each, including a pretty generous tip. after dinner, we headed home on the tube.

overall, a good day.