Journey to the Middle East
I was a little disappointed when I realized I was staying at the London Hilton Metropole. Based on what I could glean, it wasn’t near anything interesting. I knew that wouldn’t be a major problem because there’s a tube stop nearby, but I still had hoped for something with a bit more character.
I got what I was hoping for.
On Thursday night, too fried to contemplate a tube ride and unimpressed with the idea of eating at the hotel, I drifted out into the streets to see what was up.
I ended up in the Middle East.
Edgware Road was lined with shops and restaurants. Women in hijabs walked past women in Western dress. Bearded men sat at sidewalk tables drinking Turkish coffee and smoking hookahs. I stopped at Safa Restaurant, a small Turkish/Iranian place and skipped around the menu like a kid in a rain puddle. Excellent food. I was even impressed with the Turkish wine I ordered. I was expecting it to be sweet or just plain bad, but it really was quite good. Wish I had jotted down the name ...
After dinner, I wandered the streets for a while, stopping in a market where everything was written in Arabic to buy baklava to take back to my room. I really wanted to walk into a sidewalk cafe and talk someone into showing me how to smoke one of the hookahs, but in the end I was cowardly and tired and trundled home amid the tobacco smoke, Arabic discussions and honking horns.
Posted by Bob Benz at October 29, 2006 8:14 PM