News from London

Sorry nothing about Cuba, Venezuela or even American politics. I finally visited the Elephant and Castle shopping centre this weekend. It is well known as the Latin American area for London with many Colombians living there. The famous La Bodeguita restaurant where I had an arepa and bandeja paisa which brought back happy memories of Colombia. There is live music Saturday nights.

Opposite is a money change shop called Inara tel 020 7277 1314. To my surprise they can give you Colombian cash on demand, something Thomas Cook couldn’t do with advance notice. I doubt if the rate of exchange is favourable, it was hard to judge as the peso has risen so much. But it is still better than changing money at the airport on arrival after a long flight.

There are food shops, nail and hairdressers and shops. One shop was hiring DVDs and selling Colombian music CDs. They had “Sin tetas no hay paraiso�? for hire (seemed pricey to me for what was clearly illegally recorded in Colombia. Sadly no subtitles in Spanish or English. Does anyone know if there are any telenovelas (soaps) for sale in Colombia with subtitles in Spanish. I’m using a soap from Spain to learn Spanish using the pause button to read what they are saying and I am finding it very useful.

It was such fun wandering around chatting to everyone in Spanish. Fortunately I had my Peruvian teacher’s mother with me to give me respectability. I could never go round a mall in Colombia or London picking up women on my own, not at fifty six.

Then on to The Mazorca my favourite Colombian restaurant in Brixton. This has changed its name to Amazonica but remains the same place with the same decor and menu. Somehow the magic had gone not helped by bad service. We were there at three in the afternoon and just wanted a coffee. Inexplicably they had run out of coffee, so that was the end of that, we walked out never to return. The Bodeguita restaurant from now on.

Gosh, four paragraphs without mentioning Cuba, well here goes. For you Cuba buffs out there “chasing che�? and “the boys from dolores�? by Patrick Symmes are very readable and thought provoking and, as a bonus, they are written by an American. One of the few allowed to visit Cuba.

By el flaco on May 30, 2007, 03:51 in Friendly Talkzone.

medefockinllin says on May 30, 2007, 06:38:

What were they selling pesos at? Best wishes.

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