During my research, I discovered that you can get a prepaid SIM card and avoid the usurious international roaming fees demanded by my US cell phone provider (*cough* Verizon *cough*). This might not work on all cell phones (as we discovered the hard way) and some cell phones might register with the network, but still think deep in their hearts (or operating systems) that they are still in America and append +44 to any UK number when dialed via the contacts list or replied to via a text message. However, my and my daughter's iPhones converted to the O2 network quite happily, and we can call and text our local friends to our heart's delight; also there is a sufficient data plan to see us through the rest of this vacation. So, yay.
After getting our cell phones sorted, I needed to empty my bladder so I had to find a place that was not a telephone booth. The first place I found was a lovely little bistro, and I angered the cook by using his toilet and not buying lunch (I could have managed lunch, but nobody else was hungry)
Then we stumbled across the Borough Market. The place is full of food stalls and food vendors. Many were closed, and I found from my local friend, Kate, that the market days are usually Thursday-Sunday and the market is even more crowded than usual. The smells were incredible and vendors were plying us with samples, so much so we pretty much didn't need to eat an entire meal (I would have actually paid a small amount for some of the samples). Here I found a less grouchy Frenchman, selling cheese and preserved meats (the French name for these things escapes me right now). I didn't know the odd lumpy whitish shapes were actually salami of various exotic animals cured with unusual spices, but he, too plied me with samples, and I ended up coming back to the flat with 18-month aged Comte cheese, and wild boar salami. We also picked up some fresh sourdough bread. So basically, a deconstructed salami sandwich.
