As you know, I took myself on a little candy bar tour of England. It’s kind of like being in Willy Wonka land — all the choices seem outlandish and whimsical, many have slightly onomatopoeic names, and the ingredients (Aerated chocolate? Honeycombed centres?) definitely sound like they came from an oompa loompa-powered think tank.

As a reminder, these were the contenders:

The Cadbury Twisted – a Cadbury Creme Egg that comes in bar-form and is available, apparently, all year round – and the Topic bar, which is essentially like a Snickers but with hazelnuts instead of peanuts.

White Maltesers – white chocolates with crisp, light honeycombed centres – and the Cadbury Starbar, made of milk chocolate with a caramel and peanut centre. Haha – “centre.” Those Brits.

Wispa – aerated milk chocolate – and Twirl – two milk chocolate fingers – which, I admit, I chose in a hurry and didn’t realize were just plain chocolate. Automatic disqualification.

And finally, the Cadbury Double Decker – milk chocolate with a soft, chewy nougat top and crunchy cereal bottom – and the Nestle Drifter, a crispy wafer dipped in chewy caramel and covered in chocolate.

And the winner is… STARBAR… for its classic and delicious combination of milk chocolate, peanuts, and caramel, as well as its top-notch moniker. The Drifter was a close second… but “Drifter”? What is that? Congratulations, STARBAR… you’re really good.

More soon from the Eternal City…

Oompa Loompa Doompety Doo,

Tomorrow (Saturday) morning we’re off to Rome, but here’s a last glance at some of the London sights.

On Tuesday I visited the National Gallery (pictured above), where there are approximately one trillion amazing paintings. I saw a Caravaggio (always exciting), some very famous Holbeins (pretty awesome), some 15th Century Flemish stuff — which I always geek out over — and some lovely Renoirs, Seurats, and even a da Vinci. Can you tell I was a big art history nerd in college? 🙂 This is the view of Trafalgar Square from the steps of the National Gallery.

Yesterday I hopped on one of those open-top buses for a two-hour tour of the city, and while it’s obviously not very in-detail, it does give you a quick overview of your surroundings.

Here’s Westminster Abbey…

… and the Tower of London.

Look kids, Big Ben and Parliament!

This is Fleet Street.

This is the Barber Shop on Fleet Street… but I’d get a shave somewhere else if I were you.

These are the fingernails of the woman sitting in front of me on the bus tour. Although she and her manicure were not officially part of the tour, I still felt compelled to get a photo of what I felt was a significant sight. I’m guessing she doesn’t do dishes.

Here’s the London Eye…

… and the distinctly Tudor-style St. James Palace, which was built by Mr. Tudor himself, King Henry VIII.

I’ll tell you one thing England has got down pat… the picturesque. I found these guys swimming in the pond near Kensington Palace. I mean really:

And while the Enchanted Palace exhibition at Kensington Palace wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, the garden sure was nice.

We saw Les Miserables last night, which was fine but I prefer shows with pretty costumes. The Les Mis costumes are all dirt and rags, which I realize is the point, but I still like pretty costumes. Playing the part of Marius was none other than NICK. JONAS. This excited a great many 13-year-old girls in the audience. I, however, am more of a Justin Bieber gal. Mike and I grabbed a bite to eat in Chinatown before the show.

Afterwards we walked down to Buckingham Palace. We passed through these arches…

… and walked a very long way until we got to a circle with a big fountain. Apparently we were right there in front of the place but were like,

– “Where is it?”
– “I don’t know.”
– “Well do you see a PALACE anywhere?”
– “No, but it seems like it should be right here. There’s a big building there.”
– Random friendly Londoner: “Are you lost?”
– Me: “What? No.” (trying to look as though I make a habit of strolling foreign cities in the dark)
– “Oh, we’re standing right in front of it.”

As Mike noted, it just looks like a building. But it’s a palace. Shouldn’t there be sparkles in the air around it? I’m pretty sure palaces are surrounded by sparkly air. Anyway, here it is, surrounded by regular air:

You can tell that Big Momma herself was IN, because her flag was flying atop the palace. On a side note, I am now considering flying a flag over my house when I am home.

And finally, I’m going to miss the Tube, which I was so proud to have figured out, even though it’s really hot (it’s not air conditioned) and smells of cumin and B.O. I had the interesting experience of riding it at rush hour the other day, and I thought to myself, “At least when you’re on the 405 in LA, you have air conditioning, your own music, and your face isn’t stuck in some stranger’s armpit.” Then again, I realized, when you’re on the 405 at rush hour, you’re there FOR. EVER. You may be stuffed in like a sardine on the Tube, but the journey takes the same amount of time. WINNER: The Tube.

See you in Italy!

P.S. The results of the Weird British Candy Bar Contest will be posted soon…

Remember in Mary Poppins when they jump into one of Bert’s chalk drawings and spend a jolly ‘oliday with Mary? Well on Tuesday evening, Mike and I jumped into a Frances Hodgson Burnett novel and spent the night in the English countryside at the home of Mike’s boss and his family. The Mansfields’ home is converted from a barn; the inside is full of exposed wooden beams that were put in place 350 years ago. “Good bones,” you might say.

The walk up to the house is flanked with lavender. Seriously, does it get more picturesquely English?

Actually, it does. Look at these unfortunate views.

This is Grace. She used to be three but now she’s four, which is a rawther cute thing to hear in a tiny little British accent.

Grace took me to pick some raspberries from the garden. She was a bit disappointed because some of the raspberries had already “gone ovah.”

But she happily showed me some of her favorite flowers…

… and the cherries…

… and introduced me to Jessie the dog…

… and Willow the cat.

We had such a lovely evening with the Mansfields and are so grateful for their hospitality.

And in case you are wondering, my mission to sample all the Weird British Candy Bars is still underway. Here are some new ones:

Maltesers. I don’t even know how you say the name of these things. Malteezers? Maltzers? “White chocolates with crisp, light honeycombed centres.” The first one was weird… but then I ate the whole pack.

Starbar is “milk chocolate with caramel and peanut centre.” So far, Starbar is the clear winner of the Weird British Candy Bar Contest. Only, don’t eat one and then wipe melted chocolate on your white jeans. (Ahem.)

More soon from my open-top bus tour of London!

Cheers,