Borough Market: A Foodie's Paradise

So much time, so little content to blog! 

Wait, reverse that. I jam-packed my weekend with London-y things, so sit back, grab a cup of tea with a spot of milk, and prepare yourself for some new blog posts to read over the next few days.

I'll begin with Friday. After a busy week of interning and class, I decided to spend a little solo time exploring London. The sun was out and the temperature was skimming 50 degrees (fahrenheit, I'm not British enough to know the celsius conversion off the top of my head yet), so I was excited to finally check off the last major market on my list: Borough Market.

London's most renowned food market, Borough Market is located between the River Thames and Borough High Street in South East London. Its 130 individual stalls cover 4.5 acres of land, and the stalls are located under the arches of railway viaducts. The market has existed in this location for over 250 years!

The market is open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I think I picked a good time to go--a couple hours after it opened at noon on Friday--since I hear it's packed on Saturdays.

The market was divided into a few areas. Of course, I thoroughly explored each area...twice. And you know what that means: twice the free samples!

I began in Green Market, where I was greeted with the sight of fresh breads, homemade jams, hot pies, huge brownies... 

...and a whole lot of cheese. The smell of it permeated the market air. I must have eaten tiny samples of at least a dozen different types. There was even a lunch stand selling some sort of melted cheese concoction, although I can't say it looked all that appetizing.

I soon stumbled upon Jubilee Market, which contained--surprise surprise--more culinary goodies. Dried meats, fish, spicy pestos, piles of veggies, organic fruit smoothies, fresh tortellini, granola mixes...the list goes on and on. Just imagine a foodie's paradise.

Not quite full on all the samples, I started hunting around for my lunch choice. I was definitely intrigued when I saw a sign for Ostrich and Exotic Meats...

...but I certainly wasn't going to try it. Instead, I opted for a falafel wrap from the Arabica Food & Spice Company's stand. Delish.

Dessert (obligatory) was a slice of New York-Style Cheesecake from Ion Patisserie's stand. I spent forever picking which slice to try (Lemon? Blueberry? Pecan?), but I was told the NY-style slice was the best. I have no regrets.

Borough Market...check!

No Borough Market, thank YOU!