Today we found ourselves standing in a queue for a fresh plate of paella at Borough Market. It was completely spontaneous yet memorialized by this sign:
There was also a lady wearing a shirt marked “Queue Control” but it was so crowded I didn’t have a chance to take her photo.
We found ourselves at the famous Bomba Paella, served piping hot straight from giant, sizzling pans.
Their signature Bomba rice is soaked in a rich seafood stock, loaded with chicken, prawns, and mussels. You can also get premium toppings like wild lobster tails or Madagascan tiger prawns, which we did. It certainly wasn’t cheap at £27 but a good deal considering how much food we got.
It’s incredibly popular, but the unfortunate thing is not only were there hordes of people at the market, there was simply no place to sit down to enjoy it. We kept walking and walking and finally found a place without tons of people in front or behind you. Then try standing up, balancing your plate with one hand, and eating lobster in the tail with a bamboo fork in your other hand!
Luckily no one dropped their plate on the ground, but it took teamwork to eat this meal… and to take these photos!
We spent nearly the entire day with Joan Ishibashi, with whom we had planned a boat ride down the Thames River. Quite by accident, we met on the street (!) several blocks before our scheduled rendezvous.
We spent several hours at the Tower of London, a historic citadel and UNESCO World Heritage site on the north bank of the Thames Rivert. It was built by William the Conqueror in the 1070s, and has served as a fortress, royal palace, royal mint, and infamous prison. We also saw the Crown Jewels there.
This was my third visit to the Tower of London — my family (my parents, two sisters and two brothers) came in 1965, and my husband Carl and I came with our then 9-year-old son in 1992.
Because my grandson loves riding the Underground so much, we took the subway to Borough Market and back to the Tower Bridge where we caught the boat back to Westminster. Another great day!
