Well, at least I now had one tick to take home from Lockdown Eve, even if the terror alert brought an abrupt halt to the day (it didn’t).
On to Borough, as I entered a 3rd hour of walking (1:30 at retiredmartin pace).
I stopped to admire a child playing with one of the dolphins that have recently returned to the Thames, an ecological windfall from Covid.
Fewer tourists along the Embankment than I’ve ever seen, but still decent crowds pouring out of the Krispy Kreme store at London Bridge. NB the £16 umbrella I bought at London Bridge last year just got chucked in the tip after approximately 7 minutes of use.
Still never been to the Shard, much as Charlene sang in 1982; is it worth it ?
Southwark Cathedral really is an understated gem, isn’t it ?
Nothing very understated about Borough Market, whose collection of truffles, artisanal chocolate and pashmina infused gin redefine the notion of what is “essential” shopping during Lockdown 2.
So complicated is the warren of lanes that constitutes Borough that my GBG app struggled finding the Globe. I nearly gave up and succumbed to an unwise DIPA in the Rake/Harvey’s in the Market Porter/etc.
And then, there it was.
Grief. It looked familiar. I’m SURE I’ve eaten dropped something sticky over my fleece outside that distinctive wall.
New to the Guide though, so in I went. Small, unfussy, ideal for a quick beer.
All cask sold off, so a half of Gamma Ray had to do, and of course keg is an acceptable tick after the virtual GBG Tickers Conference of May 2020*.
Even it was £3.58 a half.
Lovely seating position, and more charming young people asking how I was.
“I’m really good, thanks” I said, checking myself, and quickly adding,
“I hope YOU’LL be OK” which sounds as pathetic here as it did then, but what can you say to the youth of 2020 ?
*Checking the fabulous retiredmartin archives just now, I note I did pre-emptively tick the Globe in 2017, being rather put off by the shorts.
Doesn’t that picture make you long for the return of bar flies ?
No, oh well.
retiredmartin 
“truffles, artisanal chocolate and pashmina infused gin”
So this was really a trip to pick up essentials for Mrs RM.
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Birthday presents for someone special….
(22 December, NEVER forget)
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Was that Pearl Harbor?
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At those prices I’m not sure your crawl brethren are going to be too excited to do a London crawl.
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Borough is famously expensive. Think it’s a tenner for a sausage roll in the market.
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£6 for a loaf of bread from Borough Market, that’s what I was told – not that any of the market stalls get going by 6.30am.
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We’re in the pubs at 6:30 at that latest Paul. No shopping. Learn from the Germans.
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Gamma Ray and barflies – like it!
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Always found the Globe to be a bit poncey nowadays.
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“but still decent crowds pouring out of the Krispy Kreme store at London Bridge.” –Had a good chuckle at this. A slightly sad chuckle, but a chuckle all the same. 😉
It has been referred to already, but I have to say that ‘pashmina infused gin’ line is a classic.
I was going to convert “£3.58” to dollars to make sure I understood the cost, but really, even in dollars, $3.58 for a half pint is a bit much!
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Did Krispy Kreme survive well in Michigan? After an initial hurrah they seem pretty quiet in Minnesota. Way too much sugar for me, and I like sugar. I wonder if they cut back on sugar in the UK.
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I think a similar thing happened in Michigan. Not sure how many stores they ever had at their peak, but now it seems there are only four in the entire state, three of them in the Detroit area.
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“I stopped to admire a child playing with one of the dolphins that have recently returned to the Thames, an ecological windfall from Covid.”
Are you sure they were playing? There seems to be blood all around them on the ground.
“Still never been to the Shard, much as Charlene sang in 1982”
I was thinking more of Three Dog Night’s ‘Never Been to Spain’.
“Southwark Cathedral really is an understated gem, isn’t it ?”
Wait. Is it the big gleaming thing in the photo above, or the gothic type thingy in the photo below?
“and pashmina infused gin”
Ah. That would explain the fuzzy feeling on your teeth the next if you’d had too many.
“redefine the notion of what is “essential” shopping during Lockdown 2.”
One word… bugger.
“I’m SURE I’ve eaten dropped something sticky over my fleece outside that distinctive wall.”
Pfft. That could be ANYWHERE!
(the something sticky on your fleece that is)
“and of course keg is an acceptable tick after the virtual GBG Tickers Conference of May 2020*.”
Did anyone pull a Toobin during that virtual meeting? 😉
“Even it was £3.58 a half.”
Ouch.
“and more charming young people asking how I was.”
They were concerned when they saw all the sticky stuff on your fleece. 😉
“Doesn’t that picture make you long for the return of bar flies ?”
Bar flies, no. But that one in red, 4th person along from the left now… 🙂
Cheers
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I know what you mean Russ, but that sort of comment will get you into trouble on Martin’s blog!
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Great minds think alike Paul.
(or… fools seldom differ) 🙂
Cheers!
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