I ATE LONDON!  Really.  Perhaps I should explain.  The other day I realized that I only have about four months left to enjoy my status as an unemployed student living in England.  So I decided that even though I didn't have a specific reason to go into the center of London this weekend I was going just because I could.  I was thinking that I might do a bit of shopping on Oxford Street (mostly window shopping due to my aforementioned status) and maybe stroll through one of the parks since the weather was forcasted to be beautiful.  I had a bit of trouble getting up Saturday morning after having a 2:30 am fire alarm.  [As a sidenote, the elevator has been out of service in my building for several days.  This was a bit annoying when I had to carry my groceries up the stairs to the seventh floor, but all-in-all good exercise.  However, we have had 3 fire alarms--Friday afternoon, the 2:30 am one, and Saturday morning--and walking back up in the middle of the night...not cool!]  But this ended up working in my favor because as I was getting ready I had the radio on and heard the morning team talking about some edible map of London that would be served in Trafalgar Square.  Of course when I heard about a free event with free food my antennas perked up (I can't help it, it's in my genes!).  I did a quick internet search and discovered that there was in fact a free event Saturday afternoon in Trafalgar Square called Eat London.  In short, Eat London was a giant, edible, 3D map of the center of London!  The map was created in 14 sections with a community group helping create each.  I got to watch them bring in each section, add the finishing touches and put it all together.  When construction was complete, there was a formal welcome by several dignitaries and then a musical parade where each section was wheeled to a seperate serving tent.  And then it was time to eat!  A few of the landmarks and how they were created:

Buckingham Palace: built with blocks of Indian sweets called misti with a jellabis balcony.

Houses of Parliament: wholemeal toasted cucumber sandwiches with pinnacles of breadsticks, grapes and pitted olives.

Westminster Cathedral: chocolate cake bricks, cemented with icing and layered with caramel windows and three molded white chocolate domes.

Shakespeare's Globe: coleslaw and cheese sandwiches in brown bread, cemented with cheese spread, with a crusty roof topped with dates.

It was a really unique and fun event, and free to boot!  Check out my photos to see part of the map.  Unfortunately the crowds were so large that I wasn't able to see all sides of the map.  But, you can check out the sponsoring organization's website to see some of the buildings up close and read more:  liftfest.org.uk.  So, yes, I actually got to eat London and drink the Thames (a can of sparkling water).  I have the button to prove it!