Epic in the East End

So on bank holidays in the US, pretty much the only thing that closes are well, the banks. But in London, everything closes. Even the newspapers are closed. The free commuter ones too! But of course that didn’t stop Biz and I for exploring and adventuring.

We started off by trying to go to the ATM. Silly, me it was out of service for the holiday. But that was ok because we were on our way to the free curry fest in the east end where Biz works. So we hopped on the tube, but not before we saw two random police officers riding horses down the street. (The horses here are huge – think Clydesdale but not)

The east end of London is mainly Bengali. And the tub station comes right out into a street market selling everything from food and candy to clothes and shoes. It was really fun to walk through the street and see a culture so different from my own. There were several shops filled with Middle Eastern dress and scarves I would have loved to go in. But the interesting thing was, that as different as the east end is from Indiana, I never felt uncomfortable or as if I was being stared at for being there. I think that really speaks to their culture.

As we walked, Biz played tour guide and showed me the highlights of the area – the Royal London Hospital (with the best trauma center in the city), The East London Mosque (the largest Mosque in the city – and it has separate doors for men and women) and the store from the 1500s where the Liberty bell was made. We finally found Curry Fest in a courtyard of some pubs and were able to try several types of curry. The first one was really hot but my favorite was the last one that had peanuts in it. There was also a dance performance (see photo) were I practiced my journalism photo skills and Biz did both photos and video for her project.

Although the curry was delicious, we were still hungry and stopped at Tesco for the sandwich, crisps (aka potato chips) and a drink for £2 meal. But here was the catch – the crisps were interesting to say the least. Mine (smoky bacon) tasted how I would imagine bacon dog treats to taste and I am fully convinced could be used as a bacon substitute, they tasted that much like bacon. Biz bought German Bratwurst Sausage crisps and they were more interesting. Every once in a while it would taste like sausage, but mostly it tasted like the smell of cold Easter sausage from Javorski’s. But it was crispy. Interesting. But Biz and I are ready to keep trying the World Cup flavors that the German crisps were a part of (This includes American Cheeseburger, English Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding and Brazil Salsa) and even try mixing them all together a la Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans.

Our final adventure of the day was the Jack the Ripper walking tour of the East End. Biz and I decided that when we move to London to work we will moonlight as walking tour guides. It will be brilliant! Our tour guide told us she has had 14 people faint on the tours because of the gruesome murder details and as she was describing the 3rd murder – she got #15 from this middle school Spanish girl. But the tour was really cool and she led us through the alleyways and by the buildings that were in the east end during the murders in 1888. (see photo) We even saw two of the murder sites. Also, she told us that the case is still open, and about 70 people continue to work on it today.