Hi from London!
I have arrived safely and am staying with my new friends Ben and Fiona in East London. We have been out and about seeing the sights and have been blessed with good weather. My favourite outing so far has been breakfast at the Columbia Road flower markets in Bethnal Green, which is full of history, colour and characters.
The East End of London is home to Cockney Rhyming Slang, which is a variation on the English language that was possibly invented to make it difficult for outsiders to understand what the locals are saying. Let me say that I was a little confused when Ben suggested when I arrived that we “take a ball down a cobbled street past the Tower of London and go up the apples and pears to have a butchers at Tower Bridge. We can then drive the jam along the frog to catch up with my china Russell for a Rosie, which should be a good bubble”
I was so confused! What on earth did he say??
Apparently, this is how the rhyming slang can be worked out: “take a ball (ball of chalk – walk) down a cobbled street past the Tower of London and go up the apples and pears (stairs) to have a butchers (butchers hook – look) at Tower Bridge. We can then drive the jam (jam jar – car) along the frog (frog and toad – road) to catch up with my china (china plate – mate) Russell for a Rosie (Rosie Lee – tea), which should be a good bubble (bubble bath – laugh)”
And I have also found out that the Cockney rhyming slang for sock is ‘Almond Rock’!
I hope that you like the photos. I will send more when I visit Athens and the Greek Islands in a few weeks.
Bye for now!
(ps: I might look a little lumpy because I have fallen in love with British ‘Polo’ mints and have stored some away to keep me supplied through my upcoming Greek adventure)
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