A few days in London

The first time I went to London was the first time I had ever been outside of the US.  I went to school here for my Junior Year abroad and have continued to come ever since.  The city has changed but all cities have.  It is always nice to return.

We flew from Orly to London City Airport.  Orly is understaffed and frustrating.  London City, on the other hand, is small so getting through customs took about 30 seconds.  The greatest thing we can do as citizens of the world is to go and visit other cities, learn about their cultures, see different landscapes and experience something else.  Why each country makes it so difficult to visit is beyond me.  As long as you have the necessary paperwork, countries should be happy to have you there, to enjoy, spend money and hope they send you back with a new set of eyeballs.  But instead, each country, ours included and we may be the worst, make it so awful to get through the door to the other side.  It makes zero sense.

We got into town, dropped off our bags and went to lunch at Kiln.  There is an upstairs and a downstairs.  The upstairs is a long bar with all the cooking happening behind it.  The smell of delicious Thai food is wafting out the window including the sound of tunes from the turntable.  The people who work there all seem happy to spend their days working the place.  It just has a great vibe and the food is legit.

We had Langoustines split in half with mint and lime and touches of chili flakes.  Insanely good, light and fresh.

Simple slowly grilled chicken that had been marinated with soy.  Deep-fried fish larb.  Then a spicy pork larb that was really delicious.

The clay pot glass noodles were the key.  Steamed in a clay pot and served with a soy sauce.  Mix this up with the pork and you honestly have the perfect dish.

We walked around a bit before meeting friends for dinner at Hide, a new spot across the street from Green Park.  Big on wines and flowers.  Nice seeing friends and drinking many bottles of wine before walking home for the evening.