Pub crawl tales: Jack the Ripper left a body here!

This is why he went to England.

Before we went to England, I supplied Mr. G. with guidebooks and forced him to watch travel videos. Then I asked him what was at the top of his list for the trip. His response: Pubs.

I never have to eat fish and chips again. You can see the pea mush underneath the giant fried fish.

So we experienced the pubs, which I learned are bars with typical bar food. In other words, it's beer and fried potatoes. I sampled the fish and chips, but I couldn't embrace them. They were greasy in an unfamiliar way (in other words, not like McDonald's). Also, pea mush is inexplicably popular in pubs so I now know where Nigella Lawson got her inspiration. And ... a Cajun dish is on every single menu. We were never brave enough to actually try a Cajun dish. Do they have Tony's over there?

Fortunately, Mr. G. adored the pubs. They offer so much beer on tap, a friendly atmosphere and sports on multiple television sets. He even pretended he was interested in soccer and made soccer-related conversation with the other pub patrons. Mr. G. was right at home in England.  It was very cute.

Behold: The White Hart.

So I have some pub-related advice for you: If you're ever in London near Aldgate East station, do pop into The White Hart. Jack the Ripper left a body just outside the loo window. It's very quaint.

Actually, I didn't go into the loo at The White Hart so I don't know if it even has a window. I was too busy laughing quietly while Glenn tried to talk soccer with a family from Hong Kong who spoke not a word of English other than "We come from Hong Kong." Glenn persisted, pointed at the TV screen and asked which teams were playing soccer while the family giggled politely.

It was while looking at what Glenn was pointing to on the TV that I noticed the chalkboard sign advertising the pub's association with Jack the Ripper. We were there, killing time (haha) before a Jack the Ripper walking tour.

We'd ducked in because I was out of my comfort zone of Mayfair.  Thanks to Marriott points, we were staying in a very nice section of London. We came back every night to a turned down bed and classical music playing softly in our room. If it hadn't been for those Marriott points eventually running out - and, of course, Bailey Boo back home - we might have just stayed in London.

The White Hart, where you can get a whopper next door.

Now we were in the East End, which looks rough even on episodes of "Call the Midwife" and in fact looks nothing like episodes of "Call the Midwife." Still, we were visiting the streets in which Jack the Ripper killed his victims. Was the neighborhood still dangerous? It certainly didn't look like Mayfair, which is full of fancy cars, expensive shops and a sprawling park. So I was relieved when Glenn suggested finding a pub upon realizing that we were very early for our tour.  A pub seemed safer than standing on the street just begging to get mugged.  Can you tell that I'm from a small town?

I fell in love with this church and then grew amazed that such grandeur could arise amid such poverty.

Side note: For the most part, the East End is perfectly safe these days. We were in Spitalfields, which is home to an impressive church, tons of pubs and every ethnic restaurant you can imagine. Keira Knightley used to live here. Samantha Morton still does. We were in absolutely no danger.

Spitalfields also is Jack the Ripper country. He killed six women, all residents of Spitalfields. Two of them actually were killed in Spitalfields (the rest died in Whitechapel).

The White Hart is conveniently located next to a Burger King.  It features traditional pub fare as well as Thai food.  And it has that interesting advertising gimmick.

You can't buy this kind of publicity! 

There's a chalkboard drawing of a woman in a Victorian-looking dress and an odd hat along with the explanation that Martha Turner drank her last pint at the pub. She was found three nights later behind the pub with more than 30 stab wounds.

Our tour guide knew all about Derrick Todd Lee ... and Jack the Ripper.

Fortified with this knowledge, I was rather smug when we started out Jack the Ripper tour. We met our tour guide right across from the pub and started walking to the scene of where the first body was found. I thought, "Oh, I know where we're going!" Then we walked and walked and walked. We walked right past the pub for a long ways. In fact, we walked far beyond "at the back of the pub" before he dramatically pointed to where the body of Martha Turner had been found. I looked back and couldn't even see the pub.

So much for truth in advertising.