That was the view early yesterday morning from our hotel room window. Not exactly optimal beach weather, and in fact it got worse after I took the picture! You can see my Suzanne Vega tour t-shirt on the chair. I thought as an image it summarized our quick trip very well.
We had a late-morning breakfast -- a brunch, really -- at a place called The Breakfast Club that I'd photographed on a previous trip. They even had American-style pancakes!
Not exactly Denny's, but close. Often in England when pancakes are on the menu they're these skinny, crepe-like things, so we were happy to see these. I got caught up in the American atmosphere and ordered coffee, and the waitress asked in a not entirely pleasant way, "What kind of coffee?" And then I realized I had to specify Americano or Espresso or whatever, because we're still in Europe and plain old brewed coffee is not really a thing. What was I thinking?!
Anyway, we lingered at The Breakfast Club for a while before braving the rainy walk to the train station and catching a train straight back to West Hampstead, which is about as convenient as possible. I read "The Old Curiosity Shop" on the way.
 |
| Stickers on the back of a street sign in Brighton |
We were slightly disoriented (or "disorientated," as people say here) all day, sitting at home on a random Wednesday afternoon; between that and Sunday's time change I never felt quite normal. I was happy to go to bed and wake up this morning back on my daily routine -- although I have to be at work half an hour early today as I'm being "interviewed" by a seventh-grade class for a project.
Speaking of work, on Tuesday I had a funny experience when I saw a fifth-grade girl come into the library and slip a book into the book return. Something about her looked sheepish, so I promptly retrieved the book and it was sopping wet. I don't just mean damp, or partly wet. I mean it looked like it had spent the night in a full bathtub.
I showed my co-worker and we had a good laugh about what would possess a kid to put a wet book in the book return, on top of what could have been (but fortunately wasn't) a bunch of other books. I could have chased her down or contacted her parents about paying for it, but it was just a little paperback that I think was a donation anyway, so I decided to let the whole thing go. I deleted the book and threw it away. Moving on!
But she returned the book! [Sigh] The breakfast looks interesting. The egg looks fake. Pancakes would be a nice treat. The view from the window is heavenly despite the weather.
ReplyDeleteThat egg DOES look fake, but I swear it wasn't. I normally like my eggs over well but in this case they didn't ask!
DeleteIs that breakfast all for one person???
ReplyDeleteIt's not as big as it looks! :)
DeleteWhich coffee would you like? as the barista points to the long list, it's the bane of my life. Just coffee with milk I say. We have invented a whole new job title just for a cup of coffee.
ReplyDeleteI know! HOW HARD DOES THIS HAVE TO BE?!
DeleteDisoriented/disorientated is a pet peeve of mine. As media news reporters even
ReplyDeleteuse the latter, the battle on that word is lost. We in Australia are not asked what coffee we want, we state what coffee we want, in my case either a small long black or a double espresso. An Americano, supposedly equivalent to a long black, whether bought in the US, Canada, Europe or Britain, is not to my taste.
I think in British English "disorientated" is perfectly correct, but to my American ears it still sounds funny.
DeleteThose pancakes look yummy. And "The Breakfast Club" is a GREAT name for a place that serves American breakfast!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it?! Unfortunately it does not have a John Hughes "Brat Pack" theme inside. LOL
DeleteI'd be baffled at the coffee question! To me it's just a plain old thing, but it's a long time since I was in Europe!
ReplyDeleteI think it's because most European restaurants use an espresso machine, and they then mix the espresso shots in various ways to achieve coffee of the desired strength. Whereas in the states, we'd just have brewed coffee and add milk or whatever else on our own!
DeleteI almost got pancakes on my way to work this morning! I forgot my breakfast at home, so I swung through McDonald's. And really, I sort of got pancakes - a sausage McGriddle. They're ok I guess.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what a sausage McGriddle is but it sounds like you'd do better to keep a box of cereal in your office! :)
DeleteIt's sort of like a piece of sausage between two pancakes. But yes - keeping emergency breakfast at work would be a good call.
DeleteWell at least she returned it and shortened your final list of books you have to hound kids after to return at the end of this school year.
ReplyDeleteYes! That is indeed true and thank goodness.
DeleteI would sniff back at the waitress, "What do you mean?"
ReplyDeleteI thought coffee was coffee and Americano or Espresso were different.
I might have then said, "Cafe con leche" because that's what we drink in our house!
Americano is the closest thing to American coffee that I've found (hence the name). It's a shot of espresso mixed with hot water, which when you think about it isn't all that different from brewing coffee with lots of water in the American way.
DeleteI make blueberry pancakes and they never look like that with holes and whole unsquishy blueberries. Why do Europeans make coffee so difficult? Coffee...brew it, bring it hot and black with sugar and cream on the table.
ReplyDeleteI think it's something about the timing when they added the berries. I don't get the complicated coffee either.
DeleteNothing Quite Like Watching Little Minds Process To The Best Of Their Abilities - Welcome Home And Classic Diner Experience
ReplyDeleteBring On Friday ,
Cheers
I guess she figured, "Hey, I returned it! You didn't say to return it DRY!"
DeleteI thought the same as Mitchell - that the egg looks fake. That's a really big breakfast.
ReplyDeleteYou were nice not to chase down the girl with the soggy book...
It actually wasn't that big. The pancakes weren't quite as large as American ones I've had in the past, and I skipped the meat. (It was supposed to come with bacon!)
DeleteThat is definitely a sunnyside up egg ... my exe's favorite style of egg!
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty close to a Denny's Grand Slam breakfast except you don't have any bacon or sausage on the plate! It is a big breakfast!
Yeah, very similar to the ol' Grand Slam! I declined the bacon, but it was offered.
DeleteYou have some very dull dismal weather. No wonder the kids book was wet.
ReplyDeleteGray skies are typical at this time of year!
DeleteWhat a beautiful view out the hotel window.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to see the water, especially when that's ALL I could see.
DeleteAs I recall, that walk to the train station in Brighton is up hill all the way. That view from your window is exactly how I remember the place.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder what happened to that book to get it so wet.
If I had to guess I'd say her water bottle leaked, but I shudder to think what the rest of her bag looked like!
DeleteThe breakfast looks hardy and delicious. Did they provide maple syrup for the pancakes or is that American only?
ReplyDeleteThe distinction on coffee seems odd, especially when Starbucks is everywhere and they have an entirely unique lingo for ordering specialty coffees.
There was maple syrup on the side, but not much of it. I doubt it was authentic!
DeleteThat egg is so perfect that it looks fake! I like buying tee-shirts to commemorate bands or places. My last one was The Who. I wear it frequently.
ReplyDeleteYeah, concert shirts are fun souvenirs!
DeleteI don't understand putting an egg on top of pancakes. I make pancakes (vegan, of course) fairly often and my new favorite way is to sprinkle some cinnamon & sugar on them after they're flipped.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in New York my regular weekend breakfast was pancakes topped with an egg, so this is exactly what I'm used to!
DeleteI imagine the girl who returned that book was terrified and didn't know what to do. Those pancakes look odd to me. Like when the pancake was done on the first side, they put the blueberries on the undone side before they turned it.
ReplyDeleteI think that's exactly what happened, if I had to guess.
DeleteOur time change is this weekend. I hate it. Interesting about the coffee. Not being a coffee drinker, I wouldn't think of that. Love the view from your window but sorry about the fog!
ReplyDeleteCoffee has become ridiculously complex in a lot of places!
DeleteSometimes being kind overcomes a bad(ish) moment. I don't like pancakes but those with the fruit embedded look sort of tasty. If you have enough syrup!
ReplyDeleteAnd there was blueberry compote on the side, so that boosted the fruit (and sugar) content!
DeleteHa, well worth letting her get away with the sopping book as this says a lot about her character (in development).
ReplyDeleteYes, at least she returned it!
DeleteYears ago Aussie McDonalds (Maccas) used to serve American brewed coffee and it was the BEST. Then they went all fancy and installed McCafes with baristas and their coffee is just ho-hum. American style panckaes with bacon and maple syrup are a favourite - or is that Canadian style?
ReplyDeleteI hate those McCafes. They decided they had to compete with Starbucks but I still like McDonalds' brewed coffee. (Which we can still get in the states.)
DeleteNow I think I might just make pancakes for dinner, but without the blueberries and the egg.
ReplyDeleteDave and I often say that breakfast for dinner is one of our favorite things!
Delete