Friday 20th October 2023

Day two of the four day weekend, and we caught a train at the most agreeable time of ten, to trundle up to London Bridge so we could walk to Southwark and to Borough Market, so I could get some proper ingredients for some Italian cuisine.

I was after guanciale, which is impossible to get in Kent, and those who supply mail order have terrible reviews, so Borough it was.

Jools went to yoga first thing, while I showered, had breakfast, then waited for her return.

Once she came back, we got our stuff together, and me not taking a camera, just my phone, despite Southwark Cathedral being within staggering distance of the market. In fact we walked right by the entrance.

We picked up Jen, then drove to Dover Priory, nabbed a parking space outside the station, and went to the station "buffet" as Jools had yet to have breakfast. I joined her in snuffling a sausage roll.

We were off on the "classic" service to London Bridge, took about two hours, but was much cheaper than a high speed ticket, and should have been easier to get to.

And once it left Sevenoaks, it ran fast to London Bridge, so not so bad, but the old "fast" service would have stopped at Folkestone, Ashford, Tonbridge and that's about it.

So, just after midday, we arrived at the swish new London Bridge, although its impossible to find your way anywhere due to poor signage.

Anyway, we wandered off towards the river and soon found out way.

Out onto the street, over Borough High Street, down some partially hidden steps down onto Montague Street, past the cathedral and to the market, where half of Europe and most of America and a far good slice of Japan was already there.

We split up, each looking for our targets: I found guanciale, smoked mozzarella and freshly pressed olive oil.

I can't begin to tell you how packed it was around the food court, for those places which have received rave reviews in the weekend supplements. We met back up and went to find a place to have lunch.

We found a Turkish place, not crowded, looking onto the market and the people.

We ordered:

Hummus with shatta
Feta and spinach boregi
lamb kofte
chicken and pistachio shish
flat breads
wine
cider

and rounded off with a fine sweet Turkish coffee.

Man, that was damn good eatin'.

We paid, and walked back to London Bridge, in the vast undercroft tried to make sense of the departures, I realised our train was leaving in less than two minutes, we rushed up and poured ourselves on the train, which was packed.

Phew.

At each station more folks got off, so we could sit with each other again, and outside the Kent countryside rolled by, the clouds cleared and the sun came out.

Once back in Dover, Jools drove to Whitfield, to drop Jen off, then back home, getting back for four, just in time for a coffee and relaxing before the music quiz.

For the evening there was the delights of New Zealand v Argentina in the Rugby, and what a display of attacking, pressing attacking rugby it was from the All Blacks, running out 44-6 winners, so go into the final next week.