Life, Kids, Technology & that move to another continent
On our way back from an outdoor market today we took a detour for what we had been told were really good NY style bagels at Beigel Bake Brick Lane Bakery. Now we had to be the judge for ourselves. The line was out the door and down the street. It was worth it. They were not huge like a NY bagel but pretty dam good.
My only issue with the place was how they spell bagel.
When is school started again this September the girls extra-curricular activity routine changed a bit. They previously had gymnastics on Friday’s. The Gymnastics place could not use the same venue due to new guidelines. The requirements to do swim seemed kind of ridiculous so we stopped that on Saturdays. In the end our new routine became a Saturday morning gymnastics class with the same people at a different venue. For now we had to give up on swim.
On her first outing at the new gymnastics location M found a little bakery that sold bagels and Challah bread. The girls ate the bagels on the walk back to the bus. The venue was about 15 minute walk to and from any public transportation so to keep the girls motivated and distracted bagels were a great idea. The girls then had Challah toast and sandwitches for several days that week.
When it was my turn to take the girls I found the same bakery and following the same routine. The girls gave instructions that they bagels. After a 15 minute walk in the rain to a small bakery that was packed and the only place I could sit and have coffee while the girls were in gymnastics was outside in the rain I decided that routine was not for me. The next time i took the girls i found a Costa coffee that was closer and had plenty of inside seating that was socially distanced.
For M she continued the routine since the girls loved the bagels. I should point out that these were relatively small bagels. They were plain. And I doubt any native New Yorker would consider then any good. Sadly the girls loved them.
My routine instead was to take the girls out for breakfast. I may have written about my routine with them when we had drama class on Saturday mornings. I did the same thing then. The girls were happy enough for their pancakes sausage and eggs along with orange juice to forgo bagels when I took them.
When the new lockdown happened in early November we weren’t sure if gymnastics would be cancelled. It turns out in person gymnastics was cancelled. They did offer zoom classes around the same time in person class would have been. For the first session we moved our coffee table out of the living room and the girls had a decent amount of carpeted space to do their workout. Since we were not out and about to go to the bakery I thought to go to Sainsbury’s for a few things. They had the bagels pictured so I decided to pick up a bag. Just looking at the bag it is apparent they are not New York bagels regardless of what the label says. M correctly points out these bagels look more like the frozen lenders bagels from our childhood. Nevertheless I got a bag and took them home with some cream cheese or as they call it in the UK “soft.cheese”. The girls were super happy for the surprise.
This weekend after the girls gymnastics in the living room I told M I was going to go back to Sainsbury’s to get bagels. She said why doesnt she just make pancakes. My reply was the effort to get bagels is pretty easy compaired to making pancakes however if she wanted to make pancakes she could feel free to do so. I did not mind the walk. She agreed bagels it was. I don’t realise it was pouring out so I opted to go to the local Co-op that is significantly closer to the house. I really did not want to track all the way to Sainsbury’s in the rain. Yet again the girls were very happy and had two bagels each.
Whenever we get to visit New York again we intend to take them to our favourite big place in Forest Hills again. They remember it however I am not sure if they will appreciate remember how much better the bagels taste than they do now.
The other day I wrote about “American Food” and trying to get the girls into eating some American staples so they at least have a memory of it as we move to the UK. That topic brought up a few other things I started to wonder about. Most importantly is were can I find or even is it possible to find some foods we love and take for granted in the US? My friend A (lets call him A since he is a security minded person) is from the UK and lives in NY. He has been a huge source of information. Other friends from work who live in the UK have been other sources of info. A has said that there is at least one place i can get a decent bagel. I think he also mentioned a BBQ place too. The Expat group i joined did also discuss good Souther BBQ and what options there were.
But what about the other foods? I am not a huge Indian food fan but I know getting good food in London is no problem. Sushi, sure should be ok. Thai, I am not a huge Thai fan but I have eaten good Thai food in london already so no problem. So what local American items are going to be an issue.
Pizza for sure will be a problem. I am pretty positive i can get Pizza. The issue is how good is it? Lets face it I live in NYC. When i goto my in-laws in the Hudson Valley i am always surprised their pizza is good since its not NYC. When we go to their place in Tampa the pizza not so good. I always heard its the water but who knows. I do know that good Pizza will be a challenge.
Then there is a good old fashioned American Diner. MC and I both love them. Were the menu is a book. The portions are huge. If you order pretty much any mainstay item it will be greasy delicious. I typically get the same thing (most of the time but not always). Some sort of burger and onion rings. I just don’t think we are going to be getting that in London. I envision getting off the plane when we come to America to visit and stopping by somewhere on the way to wherever we are staying in NY. Just to get our grease fix. I may not be far from the truth on that. I hope I am wrong.
Those are the main food genre’s i can think of now. I am sure i will think of more or someone will sadly remind me of one. When i do i will add it to my list. For no particular reason and not for keeping score i plan on periodically writing pro or con posts on life in London. I guess you can consider this a potential entry in the con category however I have to get on the ground and explore first to be sure.