As you all know my last post was announcing my surgery date, written in an airport lounge a few hours before leaving for England*. The flight was uneventful with the exception of the Indian family who owned the loudly unruly child that refused to stay in her seat during take off.
Now as much as England was a trip to visit the band Drugstore in the recording studio it was also my big trip before my surgery. The secondary purpose was devoted to my colon and liver**.
On the first day I wandered around the N1 area, found a SIM, located a pub with wi-fi and made it my base of operations. Eventually after my friend got off of work we went back to her place, I was able to wash up and change and we headed out to meet up with her friends from work. There was drinking and then headed out for Indian food afterwards. By the time I went to bed on the first night I had been awake for 38 and a half hours. Once you've been awake for 24 hours you hit a second wind, if you power through it until bed time there is no jet lag the next day.
The next day was spent with a friend that flew in from Dublin, we wandered around the city drinking.
Sunday was my the first day I was able to knock off one of my suggested meals, a couple of entries back posted a various suggestions from other people with IBD, one of which was a proper English roast. My friend from Dublin was heading back on the Sunday so while we initially tried to find a pub for breakfast, we ended up getting Sunday Roast. It was amazing, My meal was a tiny whole roast chicken, roasted potatoes, vegetables, kale and bread sauce. It was the greatest meal that I had eaten in awhile.
There is something very different about food products in the UK. I've heard Brits complain about how long it takes for food to get to them because of the EU and how it's trucked in from across Europe, but it always seems to be better quality than here. The one thing I can never get over is how much I love their dairy products. The milk is better, the cheese is better, even the yoghurt. I spent the week indulging myself with dairy products##.
The roast I had there did renew my love for kale. I've not had kale in years. I'm not sure how much the mild paranoia of food that surrounds people with IBD has affected my eating habits. Over the past couple of years my diet has become very meat based.; low fibre and very few vegetables. When we went for Indian food, I studied the menu searching for the mildest thing on the menu I fully understand the dietician's concern when I saw her last month. I tend to shy away from roughage, I've never had major issues with it, but I know so many people that do, so I tended to shy away. I still haven't fully resolved where I stand regarding vegetables. But soon t won't be an issue
When I was writing this entry I was torn about what to write, on one hand I wanted to write about every aspect of the trip. Instead I'll just leave a list of things.
Pubs (that I recall):
The Famous Cock
The Barrowboy and Banker
The Eagle
The Spread Eagle
The Shakespeare (this place was terrible)
Beers:
All of them, I drank all the beers.
*I was also drinking my weight in gin.
**Mostly the liver in retrospect
#The only place I could find proper coffee was at Starbucks*#
## and copious amounts of alcohol**#
*# The first time I tried to order from Starbucks the guy behind the counter thought I was retarded, the do not have the same selection
**# as well as my beloved chicken and stuffing sandwiches from Marks and Spencer
Now as much as England was a trip to visit the band Drugstore in the recording studio it was also my big trip before my surgery. The secondary purpose was devoted to my colon and liver**.
On the first day I wandered around the N1 area, found a SIM, located a pub with wi-fi and made it my base of operations. Eventually after my friend got off of work we went back to her place, I was able to wash up and change and we headed out to meet up with her friends from work. There was drinking and then headed out for Indian food afterwards. By the time I went to bed on the first night I had been awake for 38 and a half hours. Once you've been awake for 24 hours you hit a second wind, if you power through it until bed time there is no jet lag the next day.
The next day was spent with a friend that flew in from Dublin, we wandered around the city drinking.
Sunday was my the first day I was able to knock off one of my suggested meals, a couple of entries back posted a various suggestions from other people with IBD, one of which was a proper English roast. My friend from Dublin was heading back on the Sunday so while we initially tried to find a pub for breakfast, we ended up getting Sunday Roast. It was amazing, My meal was a tiny whole roast chicken, roasted potatoes, vegetables, kale and bread sauce. It was the greatest meal that I had eaten in awhile.
There is something very different about food products in the UK. I've heard Brits complain about how long it takes for food to get to them because of the EU and how it's trucked in from across Europe, but it always seems to be better quality than here. The one thing I can never get over is how much I love their dairy products. The milk is better, the cheese is better, even the yoghurt. I spent the week indulging myself with dairy products##.
The roast I had there did renew my love for kale. I've not had kale in years. I'm not sure how much the mild paranoia of food that surrounds people with IBD has affected my eating habits. Over the past couple of years my diet has become very meat based.; low fibre and very few vegetables. When we went for Indian food, I studied the menu searching for the mildest thing on the menu I fully understand the dietician's concern when I saw her last month. I tend to shy away from roughage, I've never had major issues with it, but I know so many people that do, so I tended to shy away. I still haven't fully resolved where I stand regarding vegetables. But soon t won't be an issue
When I was writing this entry I was torn about what to write, on one hand I wanted to write about every aspect of the trip. Instead I'll just leave a list of things.
Pubs (that I recall):
The Famous Cock
The Barrowboy and Banker
The Eagle
The Spread Eagle
The Shakespeare (this place was terrible)
Beers:
All of them, I drank all the beers.
*I was also drinking my weight in gin.
**Mostly the liver in retrospect
#The only place I could find proper coffee was at Starbucks*#
## and copious amounts of alcohol**#
*# The first time I tried to order from Starbucks the guy behind the counter thought I was retarded, the do not have the same selection
**# as well as my beloved chicken and stuffing sandwiches from Marks and Spencer
