Markets and Rugby.. what's better than that?

Last full day in London.. again, I am at the telephone booth, I'm starting to see a trend. Ben and I were to  spend the day together since I was leaving the next morning.. So, we met up at the train station near London Bridge and went off towards Borough Market.This market is a food lovers haven.. fresh produce, meat, cheeses, and stands full of made to order food and coffee. Ben and I had decided earlier that we would cook dinner, so it made sense for us to buy all of our ingredients from the market. An assortment of wild mushrooms, tomatoes, a fresh cut of beef, mozzarella cheese and fresh strawberries. We walked around just looking at all of the different stands, sampling new and unique cheeses and olive oils.

Picked up all of our ingredients and decided we would go to Camden Market to look at the more artsy side of London.. This is such a cool market- full of vintage clothing, antiques, wild and wacky stores and more stands full of food from fish and chips to Asian cuisine. He had surprised me by bringing his digital SLR camera so I could take pictures with it at the markets since he knows how much I like  to. So, we walked just taking in all of the stalls- it goes on for forever.. it's amazing. At one point of the day, Ben unbuttoned his jacket to show me what he was wearing underneath- An English Rugby Polo. It being Rugby Saturday (as I know from my dear friend Ben Northern, is no joke) and the Six Nations Tournament.. England was playing France later that day. We were at a crossroads, Ben didn't know that I actually love watching Rugby.. and he felt awkward asking if we could watch it since we were supposed to spend the day doing touristy things. I believe I did quite well when I got super excited and asked "Can we plleeasse go watch Rugby today." His face lit up like it was Christmas Day- and we decided we would go to a pub and watch the game around 5, along with everyone else in London apparently. Every place was packed- standing room only and we managed to stand right in front of the bar.. that's always a convenient place. It was really surreal to watch a rugby match in an English pub with an English guy surrounded by other pint drinking Brits. Thankfully England won, I would have hated to be surrounded by that crowd if France had won. After the match, we were off to cook dinner- delicious steak with wild mushrooms, and portobello mushrooms filled with tomatoes and topped with buffalo mozzarella and a caprice salad drizzled with balsamic. I will say, on Ben's behalf- he is also an amazing cook. Which is good news, because after having to cook for the past 6 months here in Holland, my cooking is still just edible at best. I can honestly say, that this trip to London has been one of my favorite holidays I've ever had- for multiple reasons. I think the city is vibrant, cultural and a mecca of good food, musicals, pubs, and museums. I look forward to many, many more trips to London.. I left with such a deep appreciate for what it has to offer, the jovial humor of the Brits, and a date weekend for my birthday in April with Ben.