London and Beyond

The Merchant Hotel - Belfast

2011-03-30T23:40:00.015+01:00

The Merchant Hotel, Belfast

2 Nights (Friday, Saturday)

Room Type: Deluxe Deco

Price: £340 (room, breakfast, dinner on one night, tax)

Overall Grade: A

3+

1. Great value. We booked a "Two Night Experience" at the hotel which included the room, a three course dinner for two (from a set menu) at The Great Room Restaurant and breakfast on both mornings. We had to prepay in advance, £170 a night, but what a great deal! The quality of the accommodations was high and dinner was extremely good. This had to be one of the best packages we have ever booked at a hotel.

The Great Room Restaurant, The Merchant Hotel, Belfast

2. Large room and bathroom. Our Deluxe Deco room, along with the bathroom, was massive! See the pictures below.

Deluxe Deco room, The Merchant Hotel, Belfast

Deluxe Deco bathroom, The Merchant Hotel, Belfast

3. Very baby friendly. Our room was already completely fitted for the Littlest Lake with a cot, changing mat, wipes and baby toiletries. The only thing we had to call down for was a high chair but that wasn't a big deal at all. At dinner in the Great Room we were able to keep the pram at the table while the little one snoozed and at breakfast they always gave us a larger than necessary table so we would have ample room to spread out.

Bathroom with baby essentials, The Merchant Hotel, Belfast

3-

1. Shower. Although beautiful and large the shower did the unfortunate thing of leaking out under the door and into the bathroom. We ended up with very wet floors after each of us took a shower.

2. Art. The art in our room was done in a style similar to Agent Provocateur or Myla, which may not be to everyone's tastes. I can only shudder at what a parent would say to their child who asks why the maid in one photo on the wall is carrying a whip on her tray or why in the other photo the man and woman are watching the other woman in her underwear. The art in the rooms was clearly not picked with children or families in mind. We also thought the life-size portraits of women (clothed) on the outside of all the bedroom doors were a little strange. I was very curious if any of the floors had men on the door - hey, it's only fair!

Hallway, The Merchant Hotel, Belfast

3. Loud doors. The bedroom doors were very loud and basically sounded like people were slamming their doors everytime they went in and out of their rooms. We were a little concerned that the Little One would be disturbed by all the banging but thankfully she slept like a true champ!

The George Hotel - Cheltenham, United Kingdom (Catch-up post from 2009)

2011-03-30T22:43:00.004+01:00

Exterior of The George Hotel, Cheltenham

The George Hotel
2 Nights (Saturday, Sunday)

Room Type: Standard Double

Price: £240 (room, tax and breakfast)

Overall Grade: B+

3+

1. Location. The hotel is within easy walking distance of the shops and restaurants of Cheltenham. It is also convenient to the bus, which we used quite a bit on our trip.

2. Food. Breakfast was included in our rate and was served in the restaurant, Monty's. We also ate at Monty's for dinner one night. Although nothing spectacular, we were pleased with all the meals we ate in the hotel.

3. Lights and electrical outlets in the room. Because we have had some terrible experiences with lighting in rooms (here and here) we were happy that the lights were bright enough to read by, in any part of the room. The large number of available electrical outlets meant we didn't have to root around behind tables or furniture to charge our mobile phones or other devices.

Standard Double room, The George Hotel, Cheltenham

3-

1. Strange location of room. Our room was located halfway up the stairs from the ground floor to what was probably labeled as the first floor. Our room sat somewhere in the middle of those two main floors and had a step up into the room, which is never a good scenario for someone slightly clumsy like Eddie.

2. Bedding. We weren't huge fans of the bed and bedding. We both found the bed slightly uncomfortable and weren't happy with the pillows. There was also a questionable furry throw blanket on the bed that I can't imagine anyone actually dared use.

3. TV on wall. As you can see in the picture above the TV was mounted to the wall, which was fine, but it was right outside the bathroom door. We had to make very wide turns when going in and out of the bathroom so as not to run into the TV.

Visiting the Cotswolds without a Car

2011-03-29T13:26:00.011+01:00

Eddie and I don't normally drive in the UK. I drove on our trip to County Kerry, Ireland but that was the last, and only, time either one of has driven on the wrong side of the road (well, wrong side to Americans). Driving in County Kerry wasn't too bad because there weren't that many cars on the road and we never went on a road that was more than two lanes. Driving in more congested areas would definitely prove more challenging to us.

Because we don't drive it makes some holidays in the UK a little harder than others. There are places that we would love to visit but haven't yet (like the Lake District and the Peak District) because we haven't invested the time and energy into figuring out how to be tourists without cars. We did, however, figure out how to get around the Cotswolds without a car and we are quite proud that we were able to see several towns using the bus, the train, and our feet. The places we picked to visit were the most convenient to visit based on the bus timetable.

Here is how we did it:

Our base was Cheltenham, which we travelled to via the train from London's Paddington Station. In Cheltenham we used the Royal Well bus station, just down the street from our hotel. The buses we used weren't the local buses that went around Cheltenham but rather the buses that went between different towns.

From Cheltenham we visited:

Bourton-on-the-Water
We took the 801 bus from Cheltenham to Bourton-on-the-Water.

Stow-on-the-Wold
Took the 801 bus from Bourton-on-the-Water and returned to Cheltenham also using the 801 bus.

Winchcombe
Took the D bus to the Cheltenham Racecourse and walked to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR). Took the train to Winchcombe station and walked from the station to the town (about a ten minute walk).

Bus route and timetables can be found here.

With a little bit of planning, a little bit of waiting and a little bit of walking, visiting the Cotswolds without a car can certainly be done. We even want to plan another trip to the Cotswolds to visit some of the towns we missed the first time around.

(We have successfully toured Cornwall via public transportation which we will post about in the future and we also explored quite a bit of Jersey using public transportation.)

Cheltenham, United Kingdom - May 23 through 25, 2009 (Catch-up post from 2009)

2011-03-27T13:40:00.026+01:00

The countryside of England is beautiful, as evident in the Cotswolds, with it's picturesque stone villages and rolling hills. We spent a long Bank holiday weekend in the Cotswolds, with a base in Cheltenham. We travelled around the different Cotswold towns using public transportation and were pleased with the amount we got to see on our short trip. The fact that we had beautiful weather helped us enjoy our trip even more!

The Neptune Fountain, Cheltenham

Montpellier Caryatids, Cheltenham

The Cotswold countryside as seen from the bus

3+

1. Good base to explore the Cotswolds. From Cheltenham we were able to visit Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold and Winchcombe, all via the bus or train.

Winchcombe

2. Food selection. Because Cheltenham is a fairly large town there was plenty to eat within walking distance of our hotel. There were the usual high street chain restaurants but we opted to try some more local restaurants including The Daffodil, Monty's (at our hotel) and Brosh (the Mezze Bar). I had really wanted to eat here but unfortunately couldn't get a booking!

3. Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR). The approximately ten mile train line is volunteer operated and runs between Cheltenham Race Course and Toddington. When we visited the 25th Anniverary Festival of Steam was on and we got to ride in a train pulled by the "Hogwarts Castle" locomotive used to pull the "Hogwarts Express" in the Harry Potter movies. We happened on the train and the festival by chance only and we were pleasantly surprised!

Hogwarts Castle locomotive, Cheltenham

The Cotswold countryside as seen from the GWR

3-

1. Train station is far from town. According to Google Maps the train station is 0.9 miles away from our hotel. That isn't too far of course to not walk but it is not exactly super convenient. When we first arrived at the train station, on our trip from London, there were no taxis on the taxi stand so we had to do some waiting around for one. In hindsight, we should have just walked.

2. Limited bus service (out of Cheltenham) on weekends. Because we were sightseeing via public transportion we were dependent on the bus and its schedule. Unfortunately, the bus timetables were pretty terrible on Sunday, really limiting what we were able to do.

3. Quality postcards/souvenirs. We had a hard time finding good, quality postcards. It was slightly our fault for waiting until the last minute to find one but you would have thought there would be an abundance of postcards in this popular town.

Dublin, Ireland - May 3 through 5, 2009 (Catch-up post from 2009)

2011-03-26T18:52:00.000Z

Bridges over the River Liffey, Dublin

This was our second trip to Ireland, the first being a fantastic trip to County Kerry in 2007. We had high hopes for Dublin but both admitted that we were a little let down.

3+

1. English speaking and short flight from London. With English being both Eddie's and my first (and only, really) language any English speaking countries are very easy to visit. And Dublin is a quick flight from London which is always convenient for short weekend trips.

2. Trinity College Tour. On the day we arrived we headed first to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. We decided also to do one of the student-led tours, which turned out to be a better way to spend our money than seeing the Book of Kells. The student who led our tour was great at his job and we learned so much about the College.

Trinity College, Dublin

3. Phil Lynott statue. Eddie is a big fan of Thin Lizzy and was excited to see the life-sized statue which is located right off of the busy Grafton Street. Eddie was not dissapointed!

Phil Lynott statue, off Grafton Street, Dublin

3-

1. Expensive. Dublin is no doubt an expensive city, especially for hotels and eating. Sleeping and eating can be done on a budget of course but it still felt like we paid a lot for things that only seemed average.

2. Tacky souvenirs. It seems that everywhere you turn in Dublin there is a Carroll's shop blasting Irish music. If it is green, has a Leprauchan, a sheep, or is related to Guinness then Carrolls has got it!

3. Awful airport. We showed up to the airport with plans to grab something to eat before our Aer Lingus flight back to London but weren't prepared for the poor choice between snacks at the bookshop or a sit-down meal at the Irish pub.

Brazilian Churros - Greenwich Market

2011-03-25T22:17:00.001Z

Looking to get out of NW3, we headed to Greenwich over the weekend. Upon arrival we headed to Greenwich Market to do some shopping and to get a snack. We entered the market by the food stalls and saw several people eating what appeared to be chocolate filled churros. It turns out that's exactly what they were! The only churros we've ever had you have to dip in the chocloate yourself. While they were a bit pricey at £2.50 each, we figured we had to try give them a try.

They make them on site and have two flavors: Chocolate and Dulce de Leche. Annie got the choclate and I got a mix of the two. The dough was a bit thick but they were a welcome tastey treat for a cold (or hot) afternoon.

For where we ate dinner in Greenwich, check out Annie's post.

Morrison Hotel - Dublin, Ireland (Catch-up post from 2009)

2011-03-17T18:55:00.012Z

Morrison Hotel, on the corner, with the red awnings.

Morrison Hotel
2 Nights (Sunday, Monday)

Room Type: Standard

Price: €330 (room and tax)

Overall Grade: C+

Hotels in Dublin are expensive and the Morrison Hotel seemed like a good compromise: stylish but at a reasonable price. The exterior of the hotel is attractive and the ground floor, with the check-in desk, lobby, bar and restaurant, is light and bright and nicely decorated. However, our room and floor felt dark and dated and worn. Unfortunately, we didn't snap any pictures of the room. Maybe we didn't really want to remember it...

3+

1. Location. The hotel is right on the River Liffey and very near to the Ha'penny Bridge. Dublin isn't a big city and we could easily walk to everything from our hotel.

2. Big room. Our room was large, especially by UK/European standards. We did have the handicap accessible room so it may have been a little larger than the normal standard room.

3. Iron in room. A big pet peeve of ours is having to call down for an iron. We were glad to see one already in our room at the Morrison. It seems to us that American hotel rooms always have irons and European ones rarely ever do.

3-

1. Worn around the edges. Our room was in serious need of an upgrade. Everything, from the furniture to the walls, felt old and dingy.

2. Dark hallways. The hallways, on our floor at least, were really dark and kind of creepy. I am not sure if the lighting is kept very low for ambiance or they are just eco-conscious but we weren't fans at all. We weren't looking for full on bright lights in the hallways but a little more light to help us make our way down the hallway and into our room would have been helpful.

3. Absolutely no view. Our room had a view of a brickwall and was therefore dark most of the time. We did read that rooms on the river side and on Jervis Street are noisy so it is a tradeoff between light and noise.

Istanbul, Turkey - April 10 through 14, 2009 (catch-up post from 2009)

2011-03-16T13:52:00.004Z

Simit seller in Istanbul

We chose to visit Istanbul for the long Easter weekend as we figured the weather would be nice and the fact that it was Easter wouldn't result in many, or any, shop and restaurant closures. The weather was indeed nice, although colder than we expected on one of the days, and of course, there were no Easter shutdowns. The flight to Istanbul was not too long and we loved Turkish Airlines and the brand new Boeing 777 we took.

3+

1. The city is a unique mixture of East and West, old and new, and there are such a variety of sites to see: from mosques to bazaars to palaces and museums. We saw all the essential sites and our favourites were the incredible Basilica Cistern, the harem at Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar.

Inside the Harem at Topkapi Palace

2. The Bosphorous Cruise we took was a fun way to spend a sunny day. Plus, Eddie got to step foot in Asia for the first time! The boat made several stops on its journey but we rode all the way to the end, to Anadolu Kavagi. We had lunch there and hiked up the hill to see Yoros Castle. (Be warned though, we took our cruise on a Saturday morning and just barely made it on the boat, even though we showed up about an hour in advance. And the boat wasn't a nice, luxury, relaxing boat ride, it was crowded and noisy and we had to stand the majority of the time.)

The Bosphorus and Black Sea as seen from Yoros Castle

3. The Grand Bazaar was a lot of fun to wander around and get lost in and the shopper in me loved it. There was such a variety of things to buy, from junk to jewelry. The things I bought that I still use today are some scarfs and two super soft kitchen towels.

3-

1. There are a lot of pushy, vocal shop owners in Sultanahmet. We have never been asked so many times if we wanted to buy a rug!

2. Istanbul is a crowded, busy city. I didn't realize that we would be dodging so many people and other obstacles when walking. Cars pretty much go wherever they want as well so you aren't really safe on the sidewalk.

Crowds near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul

3. Unfortunately, I got sick on the very last night. I believe it was something I ate but can't pinpoint exactly what. It's not fair of course to knock an entire city because of this but it left an unfortunate taste (literally) in my mouth. It was not a fun trip home to London and I ended up staying home from work for two days, it was that bad.

Hotel Sari Konak - Istanbul, Turkey (catch-up post from 2009)

2011-03-16T13:44:00.000Z

Hotel Sari Konak
4 Nights (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday)

Room Type: Deluxe Double

Price: 1058 TRY (room, tax and breakfast)

Overall Grade: A

3+

Location in Sultanahmet was convenient for all the essential tourist sights. We were able to walk to almost everything we wanted to see including the Basilica Cistern, the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar.
Big, beautifully decorated room with a really comfy bed, hardwood floors and a nice sitting area. The room also included air conditioning which was great for use at night to counteract the massive duvet.
Breakfast was included in the rate and was just right for us. It wasn't anything super fancy but we are more continental breakfast people so we were happy with it. The simit was a favourite for both of us.

Deluxe Double room at Hotel Sari Konak

Rooftop terrace was shut for renovation. We were really looking forward to seeing the whole city from their rooftop terrace but unfortunately we couldn't go up to it.
Poor signal on TV. We don't normally watch much TV while on holiday but this was still kind of annoying.
The bathroom. The shower was a little lackluster for our tastes and weirdly, the toilet was really high off the ground. It sounds like a strange thing to complain about but when you get sick on holiday the height of the toilet becomes an oddly important thing.

The Old Brewery - Greenwich, London

2011-03-14T10:38:00.017Z

Eddie and I have always enjoyed visiting Greenwich for the market and open spaces but eating in Greenwich has always been a little bit of a miss. Within the past year though a new place has opened that I have been wanting to try - The Old Brewery. The Old Brewery includes a bar, cafe and a restaurant and is set in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College. Only the restaurant takes bookings and that is where we ended up for an early dinner this past weekend.

3+

Great food. I loved my mussel and cockle starter and my angus hanger steak main. There was a beautiful crust on the steak and it was cooked nicely. Eddie's roasted root vegetable soup was hearty and creamy and had some great crunchy croutons in it.
Baby changing facility in the women's bathroom. It was so nice to see that they had the fold-up changing table, even if it was in a stall (rather than just out in the open - that way you wouldn't have to wait for that specific stall to be free). The restaurant itself was also pretty pram friendly. We were able to keep the pram at the table and people could still walk by easily.
Nice, large outdoor eating area. Although it wasn't nice enough to eat outside, there were tables outside to enjoy a drink or food.

Mussel and Cockle starter

Not a destination dining venue. If you happen to be in Greenwich it is definitely a great place to try. From NW3 though it took us about an hour to get there - taking the tube and then the DLR. (A boat ride could be a nice alternative.)
Although I loved my starter I was dissapointed to find three closed, unedible mussels in the dish. To me, the kitchen should have checked the mussels and pulled out any of those that were unopen and unsafe to eat. I can overlook one closed mussel, maybe two, but three in a starter sized portion is just not right.
Decor. Eddie was more against the decor than me but it did feel very Vegas to us. Something about it just felt kind of cheesy.

Surprisingly, we didn't sample any of the beer. I am not a beer drinker and Eddie gave up beer for Lent! It was kind of poor planning on our part but we still enjoyed our meal, with wine.

Visiting Greenwich will no longer include lackluster food for us. The Old Brewery is a nice addition to the area and I am looking forward to going back as the weather gets nicer. Plus, we certainly need to visit again when Eddie can enjoy some beer!

The Old Brewery
The Pepys Building (in the Discover Greenwich building, near the Cutty Sark)
The Old Royal Naval College
London SE10 9LW

Oliver's Fish & Chips - North West London

2011-03-07T10:04:00.010Z

I've been wanting to try Oliver's Fish & Chips for quite some time. I have passed by the restaurant on the bus a few times and have even received the take-away/delivery menu at home. Recently, Eddie, the little one and I decided to finally give Oliver's a try.

The restaurant on Haverstock Hill serves two purposes: take-out and an eat-in space. The front of the restaurant has the take-out section and there are about half a dozen tables in the back, waited on by servers. Downstairs there is another, larger, section of tables. On our visit there were about four tables reserved upstairs and a large party called to book in tables downstairs. So, clearly a popular place!

3+

Decor. The interior (and exterior) of this restaurant is really nice. It definitely has an old-school, vintage feel to it with metal chairs and stools and clean subway tiles. It reminds me a lot of Restoration Hardware.
Choice. The menu offers quite a bit of choice, even for vegetarians! Eddie, the vegetarian, actually had three different choices for mains, something you wouldn't expect in a fish and chips place. For the non-vegetarian there are plenty of choices beyond just the normal fried fish.
Service. Our server was super friendly and took the time to introduce three specials to us. I was surprised that they even offered specials in such a place!

Service. Yes, I know it was one of my three plusses but there were some serious errors made during the meal that made service a minus as well. First off, it took forever to get our food. From the time we ordered to the time we got our food about 20 minutes had passed and there was only one other couple waiting for food. And second, one of the servers gave away my plaice dish to another guest, meaning Eddie got his food about five minutes before me. I had to sit and wait and watch him eat his food while they made my food. We were pressed for time so it made an annoying situation even worse.
My fish. Now, I don't know if it was because my fish was prepared so hastily but my fish was so oily. I could just see a layer of oil sitting on the plaice as soon as they put the plate in front of me. Also, the fish smelled really fishy, signalling to me that it wasn't all that fresh. I could only eat about half of the dish. (To be fair, Eddie's Aubergine Parmesan was great, as were the chips we shared.)
No baby changing facilities. As new parents we are always on the lookout for baby friendly places: easy pram access and changing facilities. Pram access was limited in the restaurant but not impossible. The loos (women's at least) are certainly large enough to accommodate one of those fold-up changing tables so it was a shame to see that they didn't have one in there.

Unfortunately, the slow service didn't allow us time for dessert, something we were both looking forward to. Eddie was eyeing the Sticky Toffee Pudding, his favourite, and I was pretty excited about the Deep Fried Mars Bar. We haven't had a Fried Mars Bar since our trip to Edinburgh and I was interested to relive the experience.

Overall, not a great first experience at Oliver's. I have to admit though that I would give it another try. I would definitely order something different and go when time was not an issue. My parents would love a place like this so maybe on their next visit, when it is nice, we can sit at one of the outdoor tables.

(We are curious about the delivery service from Oliver's - how the fried things would hold up. Has anyone tried Oliver's (or any other fish and chips place) for delivery?)

Oliver's Fish and Chips
95 Haverstock Hill
London NW3 4RL

We're back!!

2011-03-03T13:40:00.009Z

Wow, what a long time it has been! We are still alive and we are still living in London but I'm afraid we have been very bad bloggers since December 2008!

So, what has happened since our last post? In 2009 we took some fabulous trips: the Cotswolds, Dublin, Istanbul, Cornwall, Prague, Budapest, Norway, Las Vegas. But, in 2010 we took a big break from traveling as we welcomed a new addition to our family, a beautiful little girl! In 2010 we also moved to North West London, a move that we are so happy with.

Since the birth of the littlest Lake we have made some trips back to America but haven't yet resumed our normal travel schedule. We have some local UK and Ireland trips planned for this year and hope to go further afield as our little one gets older.

Our blogging plan is to share all those trips we have made in the last few years because although we didn't keep up with our blog we always did our 3+/3- for every trip.

We are super excited to relive our great trips and to share all our future ones. Because all (or most of) our future trips will include the little one our reviews will most likely have some sort of baby/child element to it.

Here's to travelling and exploring in London and Beyond!!

The Thomas Cubitt - Belgravia, London

2008-12-06T08:45:00.021Z

Shortly after we moved to London Eddie ran into one of his old bosses from NYC while on the Tube. His old boss is English and had moved back to London from NYC and surprisingly happened to live about a block from where we were living at the time. In fact, from the bosses house you could see the building we lived in. What a coincidence! This boss was nice enough to invite Eddie and I over and then out to eat. With his wife and one of his daughters we went to The Thomas Cubitt, a pub near our places that we had never seen or been to. Eddie and I both liked it there so much that we later tried to take my parents there. Unfortunately, we made a mistake of going on a nice summer evening after work when everyone was much more interested in drinking than eating. The sidewalk was completely overrun with people drinking and we realized it was not meant to be the place for our dinner.

We haven't been back since but decided to give it another try with our visiting NJ friends, but this time for lunch on a rainy, cold day (which they all seem to be lately). This time we were able to get in and get what seemed to be the last, lonely table in a place completely packed and buzzing with people. Unfortunately, the table was right by the door so we had to endure the cold every time people came in or out - which over the course of the time we were there seemed like people coming in, realizing there were no tables and then leaving right away. I don't think we saw a single table leave while we were there. So, needless to say, The Thomas Cubitt is a popular place, and rightly so.

The front room is very airy and very smart, not surprising given the neighborhood it is in. They offer a great bar menu for downstairs and a fancier, pricier menu for the dining room upstairs. We can only vouch for the menu and food downstairs, in the bar.

Our choices for lunch:

Me:
Steamed Shetland rope grown mussels, braised leeks, stilton & crusty bread (₤10) - This was a really large portion and I absolutely loved it! The mussels were huge, cleaned very well and covered in leeks. I didn't taste the stilton very much but still loved this dish. The bread was nice and crusty and there were two huge chunks to soak up the sauce. A great value for money!

Eddie:
Vegetarian burger, cheddar, onion marmalade & chips (₤10.50) - this was a very nicely presented veggie burger and Eddie really liked it. He loved the onion marmalade and the bun which was covered in various seeds. The consistency and thickness of the burger was very good and he liked that it didn't fall apart "like some veggie burgers do." He loved the little bucket the chips came in but wished there more!

NJ friends:
Beer battered fish & chips, mushy peas, tartare sauce (₤12.50), Spinach & mushroom tart, lams lettuce salad (₤7) - they both seemed to really like their food, especially the fish & chips. I think the one that ordered the spinach and mushroom tart (from the Something Light section) wished she had ordered more food but they shared for the most part. They both raved over the tartare sauce but weren't sure what was so special about it!

The Thomas Cubitt is a great pub and very popular with locals and workers in the area as evidenced the few times we have been there. I have never been enticed by the menu of the dining room, mainly because the bar menu is always so good and varied. We like taking out of town guests here because of the smart location, smart decor and great food and we will definitely be returning!

Airbourne @ Astoria, London - November 27, 2008

2008-11-28T00:28:00.005Z

The set list for tonight's show:

Stand Up for Rock 'n' Roll
Hellfire
Fat City
Diamond in the Rough
What's Eatin' You
Girls in Black
Cheap Wine & Cheaper Women
Heartbreaker
Guitar Solo
Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast

Encore:
Runnin' Wild
Blackjack

More to come...

Eating in Austria

2008-11-26T13:03:00.014Z

Desserts to die for at Demel, Salzburg

Eating in Austria was a very delightful experience, especially due to all the desserts and coffee! I did more research for this trip than for our recent trip to Stockholm, Sweden and it really paid off. Wikipedia had some information about Austrian cuisine but the place I found the most useful information was the Austrian embassy website. There I found information about Austrian specialties and recipes for popular dishes.

Of the Austrian recipes I found, I was interested in trying both Tafelspitz (boiled beef with horseradish sauce) and Frittatensuppe (sliced pancake soup). Tafelspitz had a very prominent place on most menus we saw and I tried it in two different settings: a slightly fancy place (Blaue Gans, Salzburg) and a very traditional restaurant (Ottoburg, Innsbruck). Although the presentation was very different they were both really great. The one at Ottoburg came with more vegetables in the soup and creamed spinach but the differences may just be down to the different regional preparations. Tafelspitz seems like the perfect dish on a cold, snowy Austrian night and it worked well in different kinds of restaurants.

I tried frittatensuppe at a place that I will forever think about and long to be near, Demel in Salzburg (with a location in Vienna as well). We had a late, light lunch followed by coffees and cakes at Demel when we first arrived in Salzburg. The pancake soup was delicious and I was surprised to find that the pancakes kept their shape very nicely in the soup. I think it is due to the fact the pancakes are more like crepes than what American generally think of as pancakes. My favorite part of Demel though was the "chocolate bomb," a rich dome layered with chocolate cake, creme brulee and chocolate mousse, all covered with melted chocolate with some gold leaf on top (see picture above)! This was not a dessert to have everyday but hey, it was my birthday so I decided to indulge! Eddie enjoyed his dessert as well but it didn't have nearly the show stopping quality that mine did! The food and decor (pink boudoir, Agent Provocateur-like) of Demel were great and I would love to be able to stop in for a melange on a regular basis! (I have read that the Vienna branch of Demel can get very crowded with tourists but the Salzburg branch was nice and quiet when we went.)

Austria is of course known for its coffee houses and pastries, two things we really came to appreciate! In the late afternoon we loved going to the Kaffeehaus to enjoy coffee and to sample one of the many desserts that Austria had to offer. We visited fancy Konditorei such as Demel and Cafe Sacher and indulged in rich treats and we also visited very low key cafes for a melange and coffee. In both types of places the atmosphere was always very casual and the food and drinks great. We were unimpressed with the famous Sacher torte and found it to just taste like stale chocolate cake. We were hoping that we were just served a bad piece and would probably give it another try at some point. In Vienna we sampled apfelstrudel at Cafe Diglas and loved the sweet layers of apple and pastry. Eddie's favorite part of Cafe Diglas was the promotional video they played that showcased all their different desserts and how they were made. He sat mesmerized through multiple showings of the short video!

Apfelstrudel at Cafe Diglas, Vienna

Cafe Sacher, Salzburg

However, Eddie's fondest food memory of Austria is surprisingly about pizza! When we walked by Pizza Bizi, near Stephansdom in Vienna, we were stopped in our tracks by the smell and the customers buying up the biggest pizza slices ever. We ate there twice, enjoying the thin crust pizza with lots of cheese and minimal sauce. Eddie has been missing his NY pizza slices for over a year now and Pizza Bizi came very close to filling that gap. We were sad to leave Pizza Bizi behind in Vienna but were overjoyed when we sampled the pizza in Innsbruck at Solo per te. We ordered up our huge slices again (the Austrian slices are seriously close to a quarter of the entire pie!) and stood at the outside tables admiring the Alps. I personally liked the pizza in Innsbruck better because I felt the crust was much crisper but Eddie preferred Pizza Bizi. Either way Eddie was so happy to enjoy all the delicious pizza that Austria had to offer.

Of Austrian food products the cream-filled wafers from Manner in Vienna were love at first bite for the both of us. The hazelnut filled wafers are Manner's specialty but Eddie and I both actually preferred the almond filled wafers. Honestly though we have really loved every flavor we have tried so far. Fortunately, they were very well priced (compared to UK prices) and compact enough to tote many different varieties home to London.

Our trip to Austria turned out to be one of our all time favorites thanks in part to the food. Really, you can't go wrong in a country that loves to linger over coffee and cakes in the middle of any given day. Between a vegetarian and a picky eater we had very little trouble finding any food that worked for the both of us and we are so very glad for that!

Latium - Fitzrovia, London

2008-11-18T21:50:00.003Z

My birthday present from my Father in Law, FIL, was a dinner out in London during his recent visit. It took me some time to decide on a place to go but I eventually settled on Latium, an Italian restaurant just north of Oxford Circus. The menu online was very appealing to me and it had a number of vegetarian options - plus the restaurant offered a reasonably priced three course menu (₤29.50). I had no knowledge of the restaurant before I set out on all my research but everything I found online praised the food so I figured it was worth a try. It was a great choice and all around everyone enjoyed the experience.

Our choices for the evening:

Me:
crab tortelli with rocket sauce - The tortelli were nicely stuffed with a healthy amount of crab (as opposed to some crab and lots of filler) and I really liked this dish. The rocket in the dish really just consisted of rocket leaves scattered around the plate but I was still really happy with my choice.

artichoke ravioli with prawn - this dish was good but I always walk away from artichoke dishes thinking that they don't live up to a good old plain steamed artichoke with a bowl of melted butter (my favorite)! I just didn't get the flavor of artichokes in the ravioli and unfortunately the prawns were a little overdone.

tiramisu - this dessert was absolutely delicious - nice and creamy and cool! I wasn't too crazy about the coffee sauce it came with but it didn't diminish my joy for it.

Eddie:
pumpkin ravioli with butter and sage - this was Eddie's favorite of his choices. The pumpkin had a nice creamy flavor.

ricotta lemon ravioli - Eddie liked this dish but did call it "ordinary." I, however, thought it was very nicely done and liked how you could really taste the lemon in it.

neopolitan cheesecake - having just bought neopolitan ice cream from the grocery store we foolishly thought the cheesecake would be something in the same vein - tricolored vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. The thought that it would be Naples style cheesecake didn't even cross our minds until it was placed in front of Eddie. He still liked the dessert but was slightly disappointed that it wasn't tricolored...

FIL:
mussel risotto, roast monkfish, tiramisu - this starter and main were my second choices and I have to admit I was jealous of his main! It looked absolutely delicious and my FIL confirmed that it was. I tried a bite of his mussel risotto and that was very good as well. Eddie and I were surprised that he ordered the risotto because my FIL made a strong statement once that risotto was one of the few things he didn't care for. This was after he had eaten a very overcooked, gummy risotto at one of our neighborhood restaurants in NYC . He declared after the risotto at Latium that he had changed his mind about risotto and it was simply that particular restaurants version of it that he didn't care for. We are glad he had a positive experience!

Total for food and drinks: ~₤140

Our experience at Latium was very positive. I agree with everything I read online: the food was very good but the decor is a little uninspiring. The restaurant has a somewhat corporate feel to it and is slightly bland. However, the service and food makes up for all of that. We had excellent service throughout the evening and enjoyed all the little extras they brought to the table: olives, little nibbles (rice balls, ham parcels, etc.) and a bread basket that we couldn't get enough of! We greedily ate through one basket quite quickly and they were more than happy to bring us a second! With three courses each and coffee we walked out of Latium very stuffed!

Eddie and I would not hesitate to return to Latium. The seasonal menus offer quite a variety and the prices are reasonable. The restaurant is also on the quiet side, which is always appealing to us. Another positive is that the restaurant is within easy walking distance of the Oxford Circus tube station.

Elektra - Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London

2008-11-16T20:16:00.018Z

Annie and I attended our first ever opera on Saturday night at the Royal Opera House. Annie has been asking to go to the opera for quite some time and to keep with the Austrian/German theme of her birthday I had bought tickets for Richard Strauss' opera Elektra. I have always been hesitant to go to the opera for fear that it might be boring but I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised and completely entertained...oh yeah, Annie loved it too!

Revenge was the clear theme of Elektra which is based on a Greek tragedy. The royal family has been torn to pieces as the Queen, Klytaemnestra, has murdered her husband, King Agamemnon, with the help of her lover, Aegisth. The daughter of the King, Elektra, played by Susan Burke, is intent to see the death of her mother. Elektra tries to convince her sister, Chrysothemis, to help in the murder but their brother, Orest, returns from lands afar and performs the murder of his mother and basically the entire household. Elektra is so happy at the death of her mother that she dances herself to death at the end. There was plenty of drama in the one act play (1 hour, 45 minutes) and the singers did an excellent job.

The opera was sung in German but an LCD screen hung from the ceiling providing us non-German speakers with English subtitles. People always say that you can usually understand operas without knowing what is said but we would have been hard pressed to know exactly what was going on without the translations. At first it was a little difficult to follow along with the subtitles while trying to figure out who was singing but eventually you get into a rhythm with it. Annie did make a point that it would be helpful to either speak the language in which they sing or to have seen the opera before as she said she wanted to just close her eyes and listen to the music and singing.

Our seats were in the Upper Amphitheater (aka nose bleed section) but were almost dead center, giving a great view of the stage. They were excellent seats for a reasonable price of ₤27 each.

All in all it turned out to be an entertaining evening and we both really enjoyed our first opera experience. We will definitely be attending the opera again, most likely this summer when the Barber of Seville comes to London.

Innsbruck Hotel - Innsbruck, Austria

2008-11-10T10:50:00.001Z

Hotel Innsbruck

2 Nights (Thursday, Friday)

Room Type: Deluxe Room

Price: €268 (room, tax and breakfast)

Overall Grade: B

3+

Location. The hotel faces the Inn River and the Alps and is right around the corner from the main tourist area. In order to see sites like Stadtturm, Helblinghaus and the Goldenes Dachl, there is no need to even cross any streets.
Breakfast was included in the room rate and was made up of a good selection of food. We were actually quite surprised at the quality of the breakfast. The only slightly annoying thing was that melanges (my obsession on the trip) were not one of the drink options - to get a melange we would have had to pay extra. Otherwise, there was a large selection of food which was all presented nicely.
The room was very large and overall very clean. One whole wall of the room was made up of windows so there was plenty of natural light. There was plenty of storage space and even a nice, big safe built into the closet like at the Hotel Sacher, Salzburg.

Toilet situation. The toilet of this room was not in the bathroom, but rather, in it's own separate room next to the main bathroom. While we know that this is not uncommon we found it very annoying and very unhygienic! To wash your hands you have to touch multiple door handles and light switches. The other REALLY confusing bit was that the bidet was in the bathroom with the sink and shower - in a completely different room than the toilet! Not exactly sure how helpful a bidet is in that setup...
When we walked into our room for the first time we were greeted with a clean room that unfortunately smelled like smoke (we are both non-smokers). We were able to air out the room by opening all the windows and blasting the air conditioner but it was still unpleasant.
The decor. While there was nothing wrong with the decor it was definitely not to our tastes. The style was very 1980s and looked very much like the few hotels we have stayed at ski towns in Vermont.

Mildreds - Soho, London

2008-10-31T19:47:00.030Z

When Eddie and I first arrived in London last year we purchased a book called Veggie & Organic London as a way to familiarize ourselves with vegetarian eating in London. I had read about Mildreds at the time but somehow just totally forgot about it, until recently. Eddie and I were going to be around Oxford Circus and needed a place to eat and Mildreds happens to be in the area. So, we finally tried it out and we are so very glad we did!

Our choices for the evening:

Me:
pan fried cherry tomato, halloumi and wilted spinach dressed with balsamic (₤5.25) - this was a great way to start our first visit to Mildreds! The thing that surprised me most about this dish was it's size - it was very large for a starter. I almost think it was too much food but I still loved it.

trio of mushroom stroganoff with cheddar mash(₤8) - this was the special main of the evening and I thought it was great. The sauce was very creamy and it had a ton of mushrooms. The cheddar mash was slightly dry but mixing it with the cream sauce helped solve that problem.

Eddie:
yellow lentil soup with coconut milk and homemade bread(₤4.50) - this was the soup of the day and it had a real kick to it that Eddie really liked. You could really taste the coconut milk and the soup had a very nice yellow color. Like me, he also thought the portion was a little large and was full before his main even arrived!

sweet potato, aubergine and carrot burger(₤7.40) - this was the burger of the day and it was very popular in the restaurant. Eddie liked the burger and thought it was way better than the one he usually gets at Eat and Two Veg (said to be "the best mock burger in London" by the book mentioned at the beginning of the post). He loved the consistency of the burger and the "perfectly toasted bun." The only thing he didn't care much for was the basil mayo but fortunately it came in a separate container.

Total for food, drinks and service: ₤36

Mildreds is very casual, has very friendly service, lots of food choices and is great value for money. Mildreds is also very popular! They don't take reservations and I had read online that it can get very crowded. We went around 6:00, when there were only a few other tables occupied. By the time we left the place was completely full.

We were very pleased with Mildreds and can't wait to go back!

Salzburg, Austria - October 14 through October 16, 2008

2008-10-27T21:40:00.019Z

Salzburg, as seen from Hohensalzburg

After three days in Vienna we headed west to Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart (who by the way composed his first symphony near our old farmer's market in Pimlico, London) and setting to The Sound of Music. We spent two nights in Salzburg and it only added to our high opinion of Austria.

3+

The city is compact and very walkable. Our hotel was opposite the old town right on the bank of the Salzach River. We were able to easily walk to all of the attractions of Salzburg and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city on foot. We did opt for a taxi to and from the train station though as it is quite a distance but other than that there is no need for motorized transport.
Quaint town and beautiful Alpine scenery. The "main" street, Getreidegasse, had many well known current stores that you would easily find in the UK or America, ie Zara. However, each of the stores had very old fashioned metal signs hanging outside, giving the street a very charming look. That charm, coupled with the Alps in the distance and changing foliage made Salzburg a delight to visit. We imagine that a layer of snow wouldn't hurt the appeal of the place at all!
Salzburg is very easy to get to from Vienna via a 3 hour train ride. It is a pretty train ride and the train we were on was clean, quiet and comfortable.

Hohensalzburg and Old Town

As mentioned above, the train station is not in the city center. A cab or bus ride is pretty much a must unless you are travelling light or feeling energetic. The cab fare from the train station to the hotel was approximately €7.
The narrow streets of the old town can get very crowded with tourists and locals alike. Considering we were there at an off peak time we can't imagine what it would be like at the height of the summer and winter seasons!
There was a lot of construction/renovation going on while we were in town. While we realize this is necessary to maintain the city and all the sites, it is still slightly annoying to have so much of it going on while we were visiting. Dom, with scaffolding.

Hotel Sacher Salzburg - Salzburg, Austria

2008-10-24T22:31:00.016+01:00

Hotel Sacher Salzburg

2 Nights (Tuesday, Wednesday)

Room Type: Standard Room

Price: €340 (room and tax)

Overall Grade: B

Location. While not in the more touristy Old Town, the hotel is located on the Salzach River, between the Old and New Town. Because Salzburg is quite small, there is no need to be in the Old Town and the Hotel Sacher was in a nice location for enjoying all that Salzburg has to offer, Old and New.
Size and decor of room. Given that we were in the lowest level of room, the size was still quite large. There was plenty of room to walk around in and to leave our things strewn about, which tends to happen after a day of sightseeing. The hotel had recently been redone and it showed in the fabrics and furnishings. Everything was very nicely presented and well finished. We think this is the first room we have ever stayed in with a chandelier in it! (See photo below.) We especially appreciated the large safe built into one of the many closets. The size of the safe differed completely from the one we had in our Vienna hotel and we liked that it was built into the closet shelf, making it virtually impossible to remove. Some safes in hotel rooms are so small and just sit inside closets making it seem like you could just pick it up and take it. Not this one!
We loved walking into our room and finding a small plate with several different kinds of chocolates on it. The Sacher is known of course for the famous Sacher Torte so it was nice to get a little sample of their confectioneries in our room.

Standard Room, Hotel Sacher Salzburg

View from our room, Salzach River

There was no free internet in the room and the price they charge to connect is absolutely hilarious. We called down to the front desk to get an access code, thinking maybe it was free, until the front desk told us they would charge us €14.99 for three hours! That is about how much we pay for internet at home for TWO MONTHS!! The thing is we only wanted the internet to check emails and three hours at that price was just way too excessive for us.
There was no breakfast included in the rate. We had an exceptional room rate because it was the off-season but it still would have been nice to have had bed and breakfast.
The shower head and door were set up very poorly in the bathroom. The shower head clipped to a vertical rail on the long side of the tub. This isn't usually a problem but the protecting door only covered one half of the tub and the powerful shower head, when turned on, kept wanting to spray water on the end of the tub without the door. Go figure. I guess we can just add it to our list of terrible shower experiences!

Vienna, Austria - October 11 through October 14, 2008

2008-10-13T21:32:00.037+01:00

Tiled roof of Stephansdom, Vienna

In celebration of Annie's birthday we took a week off and headed to Austria. Our Austrian adventure began in Vienna, continued to Salzburg and then ended in Innsbruck. The trip turned out to be one of our favorite holidays in Europe and we would highly recommend any of the places we visited.

3+

Coffee & Sweets. Vienna is famous for its cafes and for good reason. After a day of sightseeing it is great to sit and relax with a coffee (or a melange for Annie!) and one of the many delicious desserts. More to come on the cakes/pastries in Austria in Annie's food post, but needless to say they are amazing.
Vienna is simply a beautiful city with highly decorated and grand buildings. Just wandering the streets admiring all the buildings is a pleasure in itself. There are also a number of museums and residences to visit. Stephandsom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) is one of the most popular sights with it's colored, tiled roof. Make sure to walk the entire way around the Cathedral to see the different themes of tiles. For a museum, we chose to visit The Belvedere to see the Gustav Klimt paintings and enjoy the gardens. Two other places we enjoyed visiting were The Hofburg Complex and the Neues Rathaus (City Hall). The windows of the Neues Rathaus were adorned with flower boxes, giving the Neo-Gothic building a very cheerful facade.
The people. While they may not be outwardly friendly they were always very helpful and accommodating of our terrible/non-existent German speaking ability. We found this to be true everywhere we went on our trip, not just in Vienna, and it was a definite plus.

Upper Belvedere, Vienna

Hofburg, Vienna

Neues Rathaus, Vienna

The sights are somewhat expensive. While you can get the Vienna Card which gives discounts at sights across the city, the card doesn't seem to be much of a savings. Because the card only offers you discounts at sights (not free entry) you need to visit a large number of sights to make up the €18.50 cost. The only thing we paid entry for was the Belvedere (Upper and Lower) and that alone was €25 for the both of us.
In Rome there are the gladiators outside the Coliseum, harassing you for pictures. The Viennese equivalent are the people dressed like Mozart stationed at every tourist or semi-touristy site. While they don't hassle you quite as much as the gladiators in Rome, they are a nuisance.
There are many obstacles to contend with when crossing the street: cars in the normal car lanes, cyclists in the bicycle lanes and trams in the tram lanes. Once, we were given the green man to cross a large road and we came very, very, very close to getting run over by a tram coming around a bend. Luckily Eddie looked over in time for us to hurl ourselves out of the way! We don't know if the trams don't have to stop at red lights like the cars but this one sure didn't! We were forever paranoid about crossing any streets after that incident.

Hollmann Beletage - Vienna, Austria

2008-10-13T21:25:00.024+01:00

Hollmann Beletage

3 Nights (Saturday, Sunday and Monday)

Room Type: Residenz L

Price: €520 (room, tax and breakfast)

Overall Grade: B

3+

The hotel is well located in the Innere Stadt with a very short walk through narrow lanes to Stephansdom. We were able to walk to all the major sites (Belvedere, The Hofburg Complex, etc.) in Vienna easily from the hotel. We took the U-Bahn only once, to catch our train to Salzburg from Westbahnhof. Even getting to the hotel from the airport was super convenient, taking the Vienna Airport Lines bus to Schwedenplatz, a short walk away.
Room size & bathroom. We stayed in a Residenz L and it was a very large room with a massive bathroom. The room had a small sitting area, a desk and plenty of room to walk around in even with our suitcase out. The bathroom was very modern with a large, two person stand alone tub and a separate walk in shower.
The price of the room included useful extras such as wifi, breakfast and daily fresh fruit plates and chocolates in the room. The breakfast staff were super friendly and there was a lot of choice for food and drinks.

The bed was one of those annoying European beds where two singles are pushed together. What was confusing to us was the fact that the bed frame was a queen bed frame with two single mattresses placed into it, making it impossible to split the bed apart...unless you put one of the mattresses on the floor! It just seemed very pointless and we would have preferred to have had the correct size mattress in the bed frame.
While there was a safe in the room, it was rather small and would not accommodate our laptop. We could fit our passports and travel documentation in but had to find other places for our laptop and the valuable souvenirs we purchased.
Lack of natural light. We had a room attached to the internal courtyard which didn't have much of a view and gave very little natural light. This wasn't a huge issue as we didn't spend much time during the day in our room but it would have been nice in the mornings.

Day trip to Hever Castle, Kent - September 20, 2008

2008-09-20T20:56:00.049+01:00

Hever Castle with drawbridge over moat

Annie and I visited Hever Castle last weekend, a short train ride away from London on Southern Trains. Hever Castle was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, a fact which is prominently displayed throughout the house. The Astor family (the namesakes of our former neighborhood Astoria in NYC) purchased the Castle in the early 1900's and are largely responsible for the excellent condition of both the castle and the gardens.

Getting there:

It is probably best to visit Hever Castle by car but seeing as we don't own one, we took the train. We took the train to Hever station and from there it is about a mile walk to the castle via two methods: along a footpath or along the road. Since the weather was nice we chose to walk along the Eden Valley Walk which is a somewhat well marked path through woods and fields. While we loved the walk, it would not be a good option for un-able bodied people or people with strollers (there are a few fences that have to be climbed over). Also, if it had rained recently or was raining the walk would be a muddy, miserable mess. The other option, to walk along the country roads, isn't the most relaxing as the roads are narrow and when traffic comes along you aren't always certain you won't get hit.

Fence to climb over, Eden Valley Walk

Eden Valley Walk

The best part of Hever Castle is its size. Both the castle and the gardens are very manageable, allowing visitors to see everything without being completely exhausted at the end! The castle is the size of a largish house and walking through it could be done in about an hour's time. Unfortunately, there is no photography allowed inside but the the ₤5 guide book is actually very good. We used the guide book in place of an audio guide and felt like we learned quite a bit. There is a lot of history at Hever Castle and it shows throughout the different rooms - some rooms being very dark and heavy with a very castle feel to them and then some with a more current style (1950's).

Along the Italian Garden, Hever Castle

The gardens are really beautiful, especially the Italian Gardens with all the Mediterranean vegetables. There are two mazes in the park, one made up of Yew bushes and the other a water maze. Both mazes were extremely popular with kids, yelling and running through them. We chose only to do the dry maze as there were far too many cautionary signs for the water one and we saw too many wet people walking back from it! There is a large lake in the gardens (with rental row boats) that we contemplated walking all the way around until Annie saw the fenced off section with signs warning of fast moving water and mud! We still enjoyed the parts of the garden nearer to the Castle, admiring the landscaping and the variety of flowers. Picnicking in the gardens seemed like a very popular activity amongst families but made us wonder why you would pay to picnic there (about ₤25 for a family of four) when there are plenty of free beautiful parks/open spaces to use.

Part of the gardens at Hever Castle

Two Sisters' Pond

Overall, Hever Castle was a great day trip. It is probably best enjoyed on a dry day, especially if you are arriving via train.

Stockholm, Sweden - August 22 through August 25, 2008

2008-09-11T21:55:00.049+01:00

Stockholm, Sweden

Taking advantage of the August bank holiday weekend, Annie and I headed to Stockholm, Sweden. It was our first (and hopefully not last) trip to Scandinavia. We were both very excited for our trip as Annie is a fan of IKEA , Volvos, ABBA and Swedish design and I am a big fan of Swedish death metal. It did not disappoint! Stockholm delivered on all fronts and proved a great weekend destination. It was so different than any other city we have visited, consisting of a number of islands with beautiful streets and parks to explore. It took some time to get our bearings but with a good map (or two) we were able to figure out the main islands and the bridges. Walking shoes were a must in Stockholm as we did a ton of it!

The charming streets of Södermalm

The island of Djurgården. We took a ferry to Djurgarden in order to see the Vasa Museum and Skansen, both of which we would highly recommend to anyone visiting Stockholm. The Vasa Museum houses the preserved royal warship Vasa, a ship that sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628. In the 1950's it was discovered on the bed of the Baltic by an amateur archaeologist and was recovered, restored and put on display. The ship is quite spectacular to see and the museum has extremely good exhibits. Before exploring the museum we watched the 25 minute video that provided a good overview of the ship's history and is worth watching. Skansen, a short walk away, is the world's oldest open air museum and represents how Swedish people live in the various parts of the country, highlighting their living accommodations, dress, occupations and even the native animals. It reminded us a bit of the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, but Swedish...and better. Skansen provides an interesting view into rural Swedish life and is a great place to spend an afternoon if you have an interest in learning more about Swedish life. We read that Midsummer's celebrations and a Christmas market are held in Skansen, both of which are probably great experiences. (Top photo: The island of Djurgården, Nordiska Museet (left) and Vasamuseet (right), Bottom photo: Grass covered house, Skansen)
Annie loved all the shopping and has plenty of souvenirs to prove it! She was very pleased with all of the traditional goods made at Skansen and picked up Swedish glass ornaments for ourselves and our families. The clothing shops and home stores also drew her in and she made sure to fill up any empty space in our suitcase! I personally liked all the record stores especially Repulsive Records.
The bakeries in Stockholm are unbelievably good. We never knew the Swedish were such baking experts! The bread that was served at our hotel every morning was perfect first thing in the morning and the cinnamon buns, kanelbulle, were a great way to get a sweet fix. Our favorite Swedish treat was the sockerkringla, a sugar coated doughnut that reminded us of the malasadas we have enjoyed in Hawaii.

Sockerkringla from Skansen Bakery

We were not thrilled with the food in Stockholm. We imagine that Swedish food is an acquired taste and in the short time we were there we didn't acquire a taste for much of it, other than for the baked goods. We were surprised though to find that 7-11 has a very strong presence in Stockholm, starting at the airport and continuing on to many of the streets. We haven't seen a 7-11 outside of America before and would have never imagined we would encounter them in Sweden!
Stockholm is pricey. The shock was not quite as bad coming from London but even so it is definitely not a value vacation destination.
We didn't have nearly enough time in Stockholm! There were more things that we would have liked to do but didn't have the time to. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see all the interesting museums, take a boat tour or visit IKEA (poor Annie!).

Awana - Chelsea, London

2008-09-06T22:44:00.036+01:00

To make up for all the time he spent at work last week Eddie surprised me with reservations at Awana, a restaurant that I have been wanting to try for quite some time. It was a great surprise and we both loved our first experience with Malaysian food - a type of food that is very well suited for vegetarians.

The menu at Awana is probably one of the largest I have seen. It has page after page of choices: set menus, chef's starters, regular starters, curries, grills, stir-fries, etc. It was hard to decide with so many choices! I liked how the last two pages were a compilation of all the vegetarian and vegan options throughout the menu. The drinks menu was just as extensive as the food menu; it took me forever to decide on a drink (I went with the Honolulu, Eddie the Malaysian beer, Anchor). Even though I had seen the menus online it was a little overwhelming flipping through all of the pages. Process of elimination is what seems to work best for me!

Our choices for the evening:

Me:
diver caught scallops satay (₤9.50) - this was a very large portion with 9 large scallops, thankfully justifying the price. I liked the starter but really preferred the scallops I made myself for dinner earlier in the week.

ayam berisi udang (₤16) - from the grill menu; grilled chicken stuffed with prawn and served with pak choy (aka bok choy). This dish was prepared and presented very well and like my starter, was a really big portion. I only wish that it came with a choice of another sauce as the sambal belacan was a little too sweet for me. I was, however, really happy with my choice.

Eddie:
sup dahl (₤5.20) - this soup had a really nice texture and it was a great choice for a chilly, rainy London night!

kari sayur bermusim (₤12.50) - Eddie really liked his curry but in the hierarchy of curries still thinks Indian and Thai are the "top dogs" with Malaysian an "honorable mention."

To share:
roti tisu (₤8.00) - this dish was extremely creative in the presentation and was really good! A crispy bread was covered in cinnamon and sugar and shaped into a large cone in a circular wire stand. Underneath the tip of the cone sat a bowl of cinnamon ice cream. The server poured melted chocolate around the ice cream cone shaped bread, allowing the chocolate to seep into the bread and drip down into the cinnamon ice cream. It was a little messy to eat but well worth the sticky fingers! Definitely a dessert for sharing as it was very large.

Total for food, drinks and service: ₤83.76

The restaurant was really lively, mostly groups of diners (at least 5+). This made for a pretty noisy night which was tolerable but not ideal for a dining couple. The decor of the restaurant was dark and heavy and almost gave me the impression that it could be used as some sort of after hours karaoke lounge. In fact, it was almost too dark in the restaurant for me, as I had trouble reading our massive menus.

In addition to all the entertainment provided by the large groups there were TVs stationed throughout the restaurant that allowed you to watch what was going on at the satay bar. This was how we came to order our dessert. We saw the chef making it right after we were seated at our table and asked one of the waiters what it was. If the TVs weren't there we would not have seen and tried this really great dessert!

Awana was a great choice by Eddie and I am glad I finally got to try it. We will definitely be back to taste more of the menu and to take advantage of one of their half price deals I have seen online. In hopes of a quieter dining experience we will go on a weeknight instead!

(An added bonus of Awana is that The Hummingbird Bakery is right down the street, allowing us to pick up goodies to take home!)

Hotel Rival - Stockholm, Sweden

2008-08-31T19:35:00.006+01:00

Hotel Rival

3 Nights (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)

Room Type: Standard room*

Price: 5,085 SEK (room, tax, breakfast Saturday and Sunday morning only)

Overall Grade: A-

3+

The design of the room was everything you would expect in a Swedish hotel room - very stylish with some very practical elements. The window (with blinds) between the shower and bed was definitely exciting, as were the heated marble floors in the bathroom. I loved the CD player with CD's to listen to, ABBA's greatest hits of course (and Cherish, an R&B girl group from Atlanta - how did that get in there?!). The one natural light source in our room was a set of double doors that opened onto a back courtyard. They offered plenty of light and we were able to leave them open at night for some fresh air. The most practical bit of the room was the iron located on a track system in the closet, a feature we would love to have in our own home. See pictures below for the fold up iron.
Breakfast on the two weekend mornings was phenomenal! We especially loved the yogurt with toppings (muesli, sunflower seeds, etc.) and the Swedish pastries. The cinnamon bun (kanelbulle) was the highlight of the breakfast for Eddie. The breads were extremely good too and were available for purchase in the bakery on the ground floor. There were of course lots of other breakfast items like salmon, eggs, bacon, etc.
The floor we stayed on, the fourth, had a free coffee machine that offered a variety of drinks. Plus there was a container of yummy cookies (aka biscuits)! We took advantage of the free drinks and cookies a few times a day. (We weren't able to get free breakfast Monday morning but we were still able to get our coffee in the morning and then bread and pastries from the bakery.)

The pillows that were on the bed were basically worthless as they sunk into a massless heap once you put your head on them. We had the same type of pillows at the Hotel du Vin in Brighton which makes us wonder, who likes pillows like that?!
The bathroom, while cool with the window into the bedroom and heated floor, was quite small, especially the sink. We made quite a mess when trying to wash our hands and faces in the small sink with the big faucet.
There was no temperature control in the room which made for slightly uncomfortable sleeping under the really heavy duvet. Luckily, we could open our doors and let the cool night air in but if you had a room overlooking the street in the front of the hotel you probably couldn't do that. A nice alternative to having temperature control in the room would be a flat sheet to use in lieu of the duvet.

*From Hotel Rival's website:

"We suggest that you reserve a superior room or de luxe room if you are planning to stay more than one night and have plenty of luggage."

We were a little concerned after reading that that the room would be tiny but that was not the case at all. It was quite a sizable room and worked well for three nights with one mid-sized suitcase. The addition of another suitcase would not have cramped the room up at all. Not sure if all their Standard rooms are the same exact size but if they are all like the one we had then no need to worry about space!

Hampstead - August 16, 2008

2008-08-30T22:06:00.011+01:00

The day before Annie's parents went back to the US we took them up to Hampstead Heath. This is a place we've always wanted to visit and explore but have never had the opportunity. It was a quick trip up the Northern line and is like a different world. We had a great time in both the neighborhood of Hampstead and walking around the Heath.

The four of us enjoyed lunch at Cafe Base (71 Hampstead High Street) which was good, but relatively standard fare. Annie, her Mom and I all got wraps/paninis, while Annie's Dad got a burger. The sauteed potatoes we got were the highlight of the meal. If we go back again, we plan on trying one of the milkshakes they had on the menu.

While walking along Hampstead High Street we were lured into Rosslyn Delicatessen by some meringue in the window. We were surprised to find tucked away in the back of the store a room filled with American products! We picked up some "essentials": a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch, original flavored Goldfish, Mike and Ikes and Nerds. Other products included Crisco, Old Bay Seasoning, Bisquick, Marshmallow Fluff, Lucky Charms, Kraft Mac & Cheese and lots more! Annie's Mom later remembered an article she read in the Washington Post that mentioned a store with American products in Hampstead. I guess we have found it!

The Rosslyn, Hampstead High Street

Hampstead Heath itself was awesome. It is like a little piece of the countryside in the middle of London. There are loads of walking paths to explore, three swimming ponds (men's, women's and mixed) and lots more. During our exploration of the Heath, we stopped for coffee and cakes at the nice cafe, The Brew House at Kenwood House. Kenwood House hosts picnic concerts and that day they were setting up for the Van Morrison concert later that night. Nearby Kenwood House there is also a sculpture by Henry Moore, which we were excited to find!

On our walk back through the Heath to the Tube we went to Parliament Hill which provides great views of London. We could even see Crystal Palace TV tower, which we can also see from our apartment! We thoroughly enjoyed our walk and will definitely be visiting the Heath (along with Rosslyn Deli to get some Ranch!) again soon.

View from Parliament Hill, Hampstead

The Gate - Hammersmith, London

2008-08-21T22:14:00.032+01:00

Street entrance to The Gate

Eddie passed the third and final level of the CFA (woo hoo!) and to celebrate we had dinner at The Gate. This was our third time to The Gate and as always, it was a pleasure. The Gate is a very reliable vegetarian restaurant that always has really interesting options. It is somewhat strangely located, tucked away behind a brick wall and a courtyard on a mostly residential street. It is on the first floor (2nd floor - American style) of a building shared with The Christian Community. It isn't a big restaurant but it has a very open feeling with very high ceilings and one very, very large window overlooking the courtyard. The inside is somewhat reminiscent (on a smaller scale) of Greens Restaurant in San Francisco minus the beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Courtyard of The Gate

Our choices for the evening:

Me:
Carciofini (₤6.75) - artichoke hearts stuffed with wild mushroom duxelle, fried in a beer batter and served on a puy lentil salad. Served with lemon and garlic aioli. Based on all the ingredients I thought I would love this dish but really, it was just alright.

Carciofini

Rotolo (₤13.50) - this dish was good, but somewhat heavy for a summer evening. Like my starter, I wasn't super thrilled about it. I think in both instances there were a few too elements to the dish. Nonetheless, I wasn't unhappy with my choices.

Eddie:
Halloumi Kibi (₤6.25) - the couscous salad (on the edge of the plate in picture above) that was served with the halloumi kebab was so incredibly good. It had a nice lemony flavor to it and I loved the pomegranate seeds as well. Oh yeah, Eddie liked his choice a lot!

Tortilla (₤12.75) - Eddie went back and forth on several of the main dishes and ultimately chose this one. He was pleased with his choice and really liked it!

To share:
Cointreau and chocolate cheesecake (₤6.00) - Eddie liked this a lot more than I did. Although I loved the consistency of the cheesecake I wasn't a huge fan of the very strong Cointreau.

Total for food, drinks and service: ₤58.56

The Gate isn't the easiest restaurant to find/get to on foot because of the busy roads and strange intersections right outside the Hammersmith tube station but once you master the subway it is very easy. If you exit the mall that houses the District and Piccadilly lines then go out the door by the Tesco and take the subway. Follow any signs to the Hammersmith Apollo and then you should be able to find the restaurant right around the corner.

We like The Gate and are always tempted by many options on the ever changing menu. As much as we like it The Gate can't replace our beloved Candle 79 - our favorite veggie restaurant in NYC - but it will do for our time spent living in London!

(On a side note I own one of The Gate's cookbooks: Easy Vegetarian Cookbook. I bought it after I saw that it had the recipe for Wild Mushrooms in Chipotle Sour Cream, a dish I loved after our last visit to The Gate. There are some other really nice dishes in the book as well.)

Atami - Westminster, London

2008-08-14T22:58:00.018+01:00

My parents recently visited and while here Eddie and I took them to Atami, a restaurant that Eddie and I have enjoyed a few times before. Atami is a quiet restaurant located in a quiet neighborhood but it is always a pleasure to visit. The atmosphere of the restaurant is very nice, the service is always attentive and the food is very good.

The menu at Atami is really extensive and has so much to offer, from single pieces of tempura and sushi to main dishes of seafood and meat. It can be a little overwhelming flipping through the menu trying to decide what to get so it was nice to eat there with more people as it gave us the chance to try out different dishes! I am so hooked on one of the mains (grilled jumbo prawn) that I never want to order anything different even though I am curious. Because my parents are omnivores like me I was able to try out some of the other main dishes!

So, here is a list of all the food we ate:

Me:
Grilled jumbo prawn (₤17.50) - I always order this! Grilled prawn meat removed from the shell, chopped into bite sized pieces and served inside the shell. My only complaint is that the dish isn't that big and doesn't included anything besides the prawn meat.

Eddie:
A selection of vegetable tempura, cucumber and avocado rolls. Eddie enjoyed all his food but did complain about the size of the tempura pieces - too big! You do pay per piece and it is nice to get a lot for your money but the large size does make for some tricky eating, especially if you aren't completely proficient with chopsticks.

My dad:
Monthly special - onglet of Chilean Wagyu beef (₤25) - this was served with chips made out of daikon radish which were especially good! My dad pretty much likes anything so he of course loved this dish but was slightly disappointed that it wasn't as good as the Kobe beef he ate while living in Japan many, many years ago.

My mom:
Corn fed chicken (₤14.50) - this is one dish I have wanted to try so I was glad she chose it. It was absolutely delicious and was quite a large portion compared to my grilled jumbo prawn. The chicken was cooked so perfectly and the dish included my favorite enoki mushrooms. My mom seemed very happy with her choice.
Dobin mushi (₤4.75) - I had this soup the first time we went to Atami and I thought it was good but not great. This time I thought it was great! It was the never ending pot of soup that lasted the whole meal while being shared between three of us.

To share:
Rock shrimp tempura (₤8.50) - this was the first dish we had and my parents were raving about it after the first bite. The mizuna leaf salad provides a nice bite to the slightly creamy dressing on the shrimp. I could probably eat this dish all by myself!
Cha soba chilled green tea noodles (₤6.50) - this dish was somewhat hard to share but we still managed to split it up four ways. It was a little bland for my tastes but it wasn't bad. Not sure I would it order again.

In addition to all the food above we also had two desserts: the chocolate fondant and some fruit cocktail custard that I can't really recall. We had a lot of food that night! I believe the total bill was around ₤150 (includes tip) but am not positive as my parents treated Eddie and I. (This also included a bottle of warm sake that seemed to never end and various other drinks.)

My parents were very impressed with everything about Atami: the decor, the atmosphere, the service and especially the food! They liked the fact that there were hardly any other diners (at one point we were the only ones) as there was no noise to shout over and it was overall more relaxed.

One of the concerns I had had about Atami in the past was the all important value for money factor. As much as I like my grilled jumbo prawn main dish I always thought ₤17.50 was a little expensive for the amount of food you got. After this visit though I saw that some main dishes were a better value for money which I was pleased to learn.

Eddie and I will definitely return to Atami in the future, with and without guests!

Swan Lake, Royal Opera House, London - 9 August 2008

2008-08-09T19:26:00.022+01:00

Eddie and I have an understanding that if I attend metal concerts with him, he will attend the symphony with me. Getting him to go to the ballet or opera has been somewhat more of a battle. When I saw that the Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe of China was performing Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House I figured he would be more interested in that than the traditional ballet. I was right and we recently attended the afternoon performance. It was a truly impressive performance with beautiful sets and costumes.

The first few acts were slow moving and I was a little worried that the whole performance would follow suit but it got much better as the acts went on. There were of course lots of acrobatic moves, with and without the use of props. There were quite a few jugglers throughout the performance, making juggling with 6 balls look super easy. My favorite act/piece was the gym wheel act when several performers rolled around the stage in what looked like giant hula hoops. They had such control and command over the wheels and it was really a delight to watch. I think the most disturbing piece was when one of the women spun around from a noose, which was hanging from a man's waist, while he was hanging from the ceiling. I think I could have done without seeing that one! Eddie enjoyed the unicyclists that danced with ballerinas on and off the unicycles and the snake contortionist. The four frogs that dance on their hands in time to the music were absolutely adorable and the four men in tutus always made the crowd laugh.

Of course the two main stars of the show, Wu Zhengdan (Swan-princess) and Wei Baohua (Prince), were amazing to watch with Wu's elegance and Wei's strength. They built up quite a bit to the part where Wu dances on pointe on top of Wei's head and when it actually happened it was quite a sight to see. Wu did two moves on Wei's head: a turn on one leg and then a sort of back bend while on the other leg (sorry for the lack of technical terms!). I am curious to know who had the idea to dance on top of someone's head!

The whole performance runs about two and half hours long with one interval with the first "half" of the show longer than the second. We sat in the Upper Amphitheatre Right section and had a good view with the exception of one of the early acts where performers climb onto long poles and jump back and forth between them. The valance/cornice of the stage's curtains was covering our view of the top of the poles.

The Royal Opera House is a beautiful venue with an old world feel inside the performance hall: red velvet seats, shaded sconces, beautiful gold ceiling and wooden floors. There are modern touches though with air conditioning vents underneath the seats and a huge glass atrium that links all the floors outside the performance hall. The venue is right in the middle of Covent Garden so it is easy to reach on the tube or bus and there are plenty of eating options nearby.

We felt the performance of Swan Lake was extremely creative and well worth the ₤28 ticket price. It would have been nice to see/hear a live orchestra play the music but the performers were entertaining enough. Although we didn't see a lot of children this performance seemed like something a child would truly find fascinating. We know we did!

Hotel du Vin & Bistro - Brighton

2008-08-03T21:06:00.024+01:00

Hotel du Vin & Bistro

2 Nights (Friday and Saturday)

Room Type: Standard double room

Price: ₤360 (room, tax)

Overall Grade: A-

3+

The hotel is well located for all the great parts of Brighton - the beach, the pier(s), the Lanes and North Laine shopping and restaurants/bars. The hotel is easily accessible from the train station via foot, although the trip to the hotel is much easier as it is all downhill! Going back to the train station was a little more work.
Staff/service. Eddie had originally booked a superior double room but when they gave us the one on the ground floor of the hotel overlooking the front entrance and the sidewalk outside we were slightly disappointed. Fortunately, they were able to accommodate us with a different room on the first floor. It was only a standard double room (₤10 cheaper per night) but it was surprisingly bigger than the superior double we were in originally. The staff were great about the whole thing and while the new room didn't have the stand alone tub, it was much quieter and felt more like part of the rest of the hotel. Actually, apart from the stand alone tub and the walk in shower the standard double was identical to the superior (the standard room still had the monsoon shower head.) The staff were extremely friendly and accommodating about the move.
The hotel building was very interesting, on the outside and inside. The style of the building is Gothic revival and mock Tudor (according to their website) and it is unlike any other hotel we have stayed in. While the lobby was small, it opened up to a two storey lounge/bar area that had big comfy couches and was constantly packed from late afternoon. Although I have read complaints online about the lack of elevator in the hotel the carved wooden staircase in the lobby was quite the showpiece. Outside, right off the lobby and lounge was a patio that definitely looked like it belonged to a beach hotel.

If you stay in a room in the front of the hotel or one near the outdoor patio, it gets very noisy, especially at night. The window in our room had double glazing which helped with the street noise but the window in the bathroom did not. It seems kind of cheap that they would only do one window.
The place needs some sprucing up, especially the room floors and the tiles in the bathroom. In both rooms we saw the carpets were noticeably stained and the caulking on the tiles was either stained or falling off. The "bones" of the room are good but some things definitely need to be replaced, especially for the prices they charge for the rooms.
Breakfast was not included in the rate and at ₤9.95/person for continental only, we decided to search for our own breakfast both mornings.

Brighton, UK - July 18 through July 20, 2008

2008-07-21T16:54:00.016+01:00

Passing on buying Annie the customary gift of leather, I booked a surprise trip down to Brighton to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary. Less than an hour away on the train it proved to be a quick, relaxing seaside (albeit chilly and windy) getaway. I also thought it was cool to get to see the setting of one of my favorite books of all time, Graham Greene's "Brighton Rock".

3+

You can get to Brighton in under an hour from London Victoria. It is a quick and easy trip, putting you at the seashore in no time. It was nice not having to deal with the hassle of getting to/from the airport and all the waiting that is involved. Instead we could just get on with enjoying our weekend. Little need to worry about your carbon footprint too!
There are lots of restaurants, especially vegetarian ones. We had extremely good meals at Food for Friends and Terre a Terre but also saw several other enticing cafes which we'd like to try in the future (such as Wai Kika Moo Kau).
Shopping in the North Laine was a fun and worthwhile experience. Annie really liked some of the shops and I was really pleased with the abundance of record stores. The antique store, Snoopers Paradise, was a lot of fun to explore with its mixture of stalls. The Lanes also offered great shopping but those stores were the normal run of the mill high street stores.

Because of Brighton's location relative to London it is a really popular place for hen and stag parties (aka bachelor and bachelorette parties). At night the large groups come out in full force and really live it up. Nothing wrong with the celebrating but it can be a bit noisy.
Entry fee into the Royal Pavillion was ₤8.50 which we deemed to be too expensive given that you could not take pictures inside. We opted instead to enjoy it only from the outside.

We couldn't think of a third minus for Brighton!

Overall Grade: A

Angel Food Bakery - Brighton

2008-07-21T15:02:00.012+01:00

While wandering around The Lanes in Brighton we came across a shop that looked very similar to one we have seen in London. The shop, Angel Food Bakery, looks very much like The Hummingbird Bakery in London, a place we have raved about for their delicious red velvet cupcakes. The window displays and the interior decorations of the Angel Food Bakery are so reminiscent of The Hummingbird Bakery. When we looked at the flavors of the cupcakes and even the packaging we were convinced that the two were related. But as they say, the proof is in the pudding, and the cupcakes at Angel Food Bakery did not live up to those that we have had at The Hummingbird Bakery. The cupcakes we had in Brighton, red velvet and chocolate, were much drier than their equivalents at The Hummingbird Bakery. However, the frosting on those in Brighton was delicious. We don't know the relationship between the two places, if there is any, but the similarities are so striking that it is hard not to compare the two.

Terre a Terre - Brighton

2008-07-19T22:28:00.015+01:00

On our second night in Brighton we had dinner at Terre a Terre, voted the best for Vegetarian UK in the Observer, 2008. The restaurant definitely deserves the high praise. The menu is extremely creative, especially the written descriptions, and very well priced. When we arrived for our reservations at 7:30 the place was already in full swing and it showed very little sign of dying down by the time we left around 10. This restaurant is no secret at all but the quality is still very high.

My choices:
Smoked Sakuri soba (₤7.95) - loved this dish, especially the miso and white wine dressing. The pomegranate seeds were a nice touch as well.
Asta la pasta (₤14.65) - loved the broad beans and the wine thyme shallots. The pasta in this dish and the soba noodles in my starter were both wound into extremely tight little mounds which I found impressive.

Eddie's choices:
Soup of the day (₤5.90) - Caramelized shallot with peas and broad beans. Served in an absolutely massive bowl with a huge chunk of garlic foccacia bread.
Indi house (₤13.95) - Eddie thought this dish was good but had way too many onions.

To share:
Rain Vodka Cherry Chocolate Churros (₤7.70) - Three large doughnut sticks that were very nice. Cherrys in vodka had a little too much vodka.

Total cost for food, drinks and service: ₤75

All our food was extremely good but we both felt that the portion sizes were too big, especially the starters. Both starters we ordered could have been meals in themselves. Next time we visit we will know to maybe share a starter rather than each getting our own!

Service during our meal was very friendly and helpful, although very slow at times, which our waitress always apologized for. It was good though to have some time between courses to allow the massive portions to settle!

As the night wore on the restaurant got really hot. The place was entirely full the almost three hours we were there and while they had fans running it really was a little unbearable. I made the mistake of going to the even hotter bathrooms in the basement of the restaurant where the kitchen apparently is. Speaking of the bathrooms they need some serious TLC. They don't match the smart, sleek decor of the restaurant at all and were quite disheveled when I used them.

So, as a comparison to Food for Friends we found that Terre a Terre wasn't as intimate as Food for Friends. Both restaurants had very appealing menus with a ton of choices. They both offer great value for money with Terre a Terre serving massive portions of food and Food for Friends serving massive portions for drinks. Both restaurants were definitely some of the best we have been to in the UK and we plan on returning to both of them.

Food for Friends - Brighton

2008-07-18T22:49:00.016+01:00

Brighton has the most vegetarian restaurants I have ever seen in such a small area. Most of the ones along Gardner Street and Kensington Gardens in the North Laine appear to be cafes but there are two proper restaurants in The Lanes, Food for Friends and Terre a Terre. We dined at Food for Friends on our first night in Brighton and Terre a Terre on our second.

Advertised as Brighton's oldest vegetarian restaurant Food for Friends clearly knows what they are doing as the place was completely full. The menu had a large selection and we loved how it was labeled with "Main food for friends" and "Salads for friends."

Annie's choices:
Sangria (₤3.95) - made with mulled wine and served in a massive glass (maybe 20 ounces?).
Stuffed portabello with asparagus and pesto (₤12.45) - absolutely delicious; something I could probably create at home but so much nicer when someone else does it for you!

Eddie's choices:
Soup of the day (₤4.45) - carrot, lentil and ginger - I contemplated getting a bowl for myself as the soup was so good. It was a creamy, spicy lentil soup that really warmed us up on the cold, windy summer night.
Special of the day (₤9.95) - green thai curry - served with green beans, potatoes and basmati rice. Eddie really liked this dish and thought the flavors were just right.

To share:
Sticky toffee pudding (₤5.95) - when we cut into the massive portion, steam escaped and toffee oozed out and we were loving it! The vanilla ice cream went so well with the cake.

Total including two beers, a coffee and service: ₤53.30

Dinner was great value for money as all the portions were quite generous. The atmosphere was really nice and the restaurant was adorable with lots of windows. It was divided into a few rooms but the one we were in didn't feel separated from the others. It almost felt like you were dining inside someone's well-lit house. The service was really good with the host taking care of us the majority of the time as our waiter was quite busy. It was nice to see the teamwork and to not feel ignored at all. Because Brighton is such a quick, easy trip from London we plan on returning to this fantastic vegetarian restaurant!

Moro - London

2008-07-18T22:32:00.016+01:00

For our third anniversary Eddie surprised me with dinner at Moro, a restaurant I've been wanting to try ever since I have seen their cookbooks. I am a big fan of the cookbooks and one of my favorite recipes I have tried, a couscous with broad beans and greek yoghurt, has become one of our regular dinners at home. I even shared the recipe with my Mom who absolutely loves it too! Needless to say I was really excited to try the restaurant.

Their weekly menu online had some dishes I was really excited to try, especially the deep fried mussels. When we arrived at the restaurant though there was a menu of the day as opposed to the menu listed for the week online. I was slightly disappointed I didn't get to try the deep fried mussels but was super excited there was a soup listed that I had been contemplating making myself, ajo blanco.

My choices:

Ajo blanco with sultana grapes (₤6) - an almond soup. I was impressed by the level of coldness and it would have been perfect for a warm summer day. After trying it in the restaurant I think I will skip making it at home. The portion served at the restaurant was smaller than a bowl we would use at home and it was more than enough for me. I am not sure we could make a meal out of the soup.

Poached chicken and vegetables with farika, seasoned yoghurt and sumac (₤18.50) - good dish that had a ton of flavor. I loved the yoghurt sauce over the grains which calmed the taste of all the seasonings. The whole, large roasted carrot was perfect.

Eddie's choices:

Charcoal grilled new seasons onions and leeks with salsa romesco (₤7.50) - Eddie liked this appetizer with the salsa romesco being his favorite part.

Mixed vegetable mezzee (₤14.50) - a huge plate of vegetables and flat bread; too much that Eddie couldn't finish all of it. The vegetarian option almost seems like an afterthought with as many vegetables they could fit onto one plate. Although Eddie liked the food (loved the flatbread!) it would have been nicer to see something a little more creative and thoughtful.

Total cost for food, half a bottle of wine, one beer and tip: ₤75

Moro is located in Exmouth Market and is a lot farther from Farringdon Tube station than it appears on their map! When we arrived we were one of the first tables seated but when we left the place was completely full and extremely lively. Moro is definitely not the place to go for a quiet, intimate dinner. The decor of the restaurant was nice but sparse and was reminiscent of the tapas restaurants (with more tables) that we saw in Spain, minus the ever present leg of ham on the counter!

While the food was great and the experience nice I would have liked to have had a few more choices than those presented on the menu. I guess you have to go multiple times to see what they are offering that day or maybe order tapas in addition. I would love to go back with my parents when they visit next month. I guess I should try to make a reservation now!

Day trip to Whitstable, Kent, UK - July 13, 2008

2008-07-13T19:46:00.015+01:00

Seeking a bit of fresh sea air Annie and I headed to Whitstable for a quick day trip. The trip there was extremely easy on Southeastern trains and the walk from the train station to the center of town is about ten minutes. Whitstable is a really cute town with lots of shops and plenty to eat - especially oysters.

It was a beautiful day and there were lots of people out enjoying the weather on the beaches and in the restaurants. We were one week early for the oyster festival but we still really enjoyed the trip. Next we want to visit Broadstairs which supposedly has nice sandy beaches, maybe someday when it gets above 75 degrees...

British Grand Prix at Silverstone - July 6, 2008

2008-07-12T19:40:00.001+01:00

Annie's brother Pat came to the UK last week for his first visit since we moved over. As he is a huge F1 fan, we decided to surprise him with tickets for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

After hearing all about Silverstone traffic we were expecting a nightmare of a journey but were pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to get to the course. We booked tickets on Megabus for 20 GBP each out of Victoria coach station. It took a little over an hour and a half to get to the course and the return journey took a bit longer, mainly due to traffic in London. It wasn't as fancy as arriving via helicopter at the onsite heliport but it got us there just the same.

We arrived around 10:45, in the midst of horizontal rain and crazy wind, and tried to stroll around the F1 village. It was a difficult task in the weather and amongst all the umbrellas! Eventually we headed to our seats in the Farm section of the course. The course is not very well signed and it took us awhile to find our seats. Once we dried off our seats and got situated under all our rain gear we never made any attempt to leave our seats - too much of a hassle!

On a dry race day Farm seats may be slightly boring, but the soaking wet track provided lots of slipping, sliding and just general entertainment. We saw countless cars spinning out and 3 getting lifted out of the sand and off of the track completely. Most of the action that happened during the race happened right in front of us. Pat was extremely pleased with our seat selection!

Not being followers of F1 Annie and I found it very difficult to follow what was going on during the race. There was a jumbotron across the track but it was a bit too far away to read clearly and with our earplugs in and the loud cars we couldn't hear the voice of the announcer on the loudspeaker. After the race was over we had to consult with Pat as to who actually finished second and third!

While the weather was absolutely miserable at times and Pat's beloved Ferrari team didn't fare well, we all had a great time. It was pretty cool to see British driver Lewis Hamilton win his first British Grand Prix and to see the crowd go wild every time he drove by. It was an expensive day, about 512 GBP for three tickets, but we thought it was a great experience.

Jersey, Channel Islands - June 8 through June 11, 2008

2008-07-11T21:07:00.003+01:00

Mont Orgeuil & Gorey

Inspired by the BBC show "Coast" Annie and I decided to take a short break, following my CFA Level III exam, in the Channel Islands on Jersey. Jersey turned out to be even better than we expected and provided us with 3 very enjoyable, relaxing days. We are already planning our next trip back!

Jersey is very easy to get to from London. We took a quick flight (~30 minutes) from Luton on EasyJet and landed almost as soon as we had taken off.

Walking along the North Coast cliffpath from Bonne Nuit Bay to Rozel was the highlight of our trip. The walk provides some beautiful scenery and is difficult enough to provide a sense of accomplishment without killing you in the process! The path is well marked (except for at the very end in Rozel), well maintained and not too crowded, we saw maybe 10 or 15 people on the path during walk. The path runs along almost the entire North Coast and when we go back we plan on doing the other half.

The cliffpath along Bonne Nuit Bay

Elizabeth Castle in St. Helier and Mont Orgueil in Gorey are two of the best castles we've visited in Europe. The location of Elizabeth Castle 3/4 of a mile off shore in St. Aubin's Bay is its best feature. You can walk out to the castle at low tide or take the Norman's sponsored bus at high tide. The castle is a blend of old and new with a mixture of fortifications built in the 1600s all the way up to the modifcations installed by the Nazis during the German occupation. The castle also provides great views of both St. Helier and the bay. On the east coast of Jersey, Mont Orgueil is high above the town of Gorey. It contains several interesting exhibits (we learned all about how to use a halberd!) along with well maintained gardens. Great views can be had from the castle as well, it was so clear the day we were there we could see France! Mont Orgueil is definitely worthy of its spot on seemingly 90% of all the postcards in Jersey.

Norman's coming back from Elizabeth Castle

The traffic in St. Helier was terrible! There seemed to be traffic at all times of the day. While we did not rent a car, we took the bus everywhere and it was always nice to be out of St. Helier where the bus could move faster than 2 mph!
While the bus service is very useful for getting around the island, it takes a good bit of planning as the hours are limited on some bus routes and service can be infrequent.
For such a beautiful place, Jersey has a serious lack of good postcards. We always send ourselves, and our families, postcards wherever we go, but the selection in Jersey was terrible. There was no variety and most seemed to be from the 1970s. All the ones we ended up sending were of of either Mont Orgueil, Gorey or both!

Overall Grade: A

Iron Maiden at Twickenham Stadium, London - July 5, 2008

2008-07-05T23:49:00.007+01:00

We joined 50,000 or so Iron Maiden fans at Twickenham Stadium last night for 2 hours of great British heavy metal. This was our second time seeing Iron Maiden in London, the first being last year at the much, much smaller Brixton Academy. Seeing them in a stadium was a much different, but still great experience.

This was my 3rd time to Twickenham Stadium (and Annie's first) and it proved once again to be a great venue. They have great food options (we ate at one of my favorites, Square Pie) and the staff are surprisingly friendly throughout the venue. On the whole it is a clean and comfortable place whether you are there for rugby game or for a concert.

Avenged Sevenfold, Within Temptation and Lauren Harris (the daughter of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris) were the opening acts. We didn't watch any of them, instead we arrived late and spent our time before Iron Maiden took the stage wandering around the stadium and checking out the Rugby shop.

UFO's Doctor Doctor came on at about 8:15 signalling that Iron Maiden were about to begin. After a brief silence Winston Churchill's voice came out over the loudspeakers and Iron Maiden ran out onto the stage playing Aces High. It was a great start to the show. Both the crowd and the band were going berserk until the show ended 2 hours later with Hallowed be Thy Name.

The concert proved to be a great one. Bruce Dickinson is one of the best frontmen in the business. A month away from his 50th birthday it is amazing that he can keep up such a high level of energy. The Somewhere in Time era Eddie made his appearance during The Clairvoyant and did battle with guitarist Janik Gers. Another plus of the concert was the Jumbotrons (Annie was a big fan!). The picture quality was great and the camera work was exceptional for the entire show. While we had a good view of the stage, the video screens really added to the experience.

The only negative (other than Annie getting annoyed with people paying for seats but standing!) was that the sound seemed to be a bit off for most of the night. I know it is probably difficult to get the sound great in a massive stadium but there were times where it was on the border of being unacceptable.

Overall it was a great show. Iron Maiden proved once again why they are still one of the biggest bands in metal. I am already looking forward to the next time they come through town.

The full setlist for the night was as follows:

Aces High

2 Minutes to Midnight

Revelations

The Trooper

Wasted Years

The Number of the Beast

Can I Play with Madness

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Powerslave

Heaven Can Wait

Run to the Hills

Fear of the Dark

Iron Maiden

Moonchild

The Clairvoyant

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Wing Yip - Croydon, London

2008-06-29T17:47:00.016+01:00

We were in Croydon last week to visit Ikea and one of Eddie's coworkers told us we should also go to Wing Yip, a massive Chinese grocery store nearby. We didn't make it to Wing Yip at the time but went this weekend. What a store! It is advertised as a Chinese store but really carries more than just that including Japanese, Filipino, Thai and American (skippy peanut butter, coke) products to name a few. The whole Wing Yip complex includes the grocery store, a few restaurants and other various small businesses.

The grocery store is quite large and is broken up into two sections: bulk and normal size. In the bulk aisle there are some great deals to be had, especially on drinks (including beer). Unfortunately, using public transportation limits the amount of stuff you can carry comfortably, so we were unable to partake in the 24 cans of soda for less than 5 GBP. We did get a 5 kg bag of Thai Jasmine rice for 8.25 GBP, cheaper than what we paid for it around Victoria station awhile back.

In the normal section there are a ton of products on the shelves all at really great prices. The variety is tremendous and to me was most evident in the amount of ramen noodle package choices. There were so many choices that I decided to try a few to see which one most reminded me of the kind you get in any American grocery store, 4 or 5 for $1. I was happy to see Cup of Noodles there!

My ramen selection

The selection in the frozen food section ranged from standard frozen shrimp to imitation cod fillets to giant bags of chicken feet. Almost two full aisles were devoted to frozen shrimp and prawns in various sizes and styles. A quarter of one aisle had all sorts of imitation, vegetarian products and there were of course frozen vegetables. The store did have fresh meat, seafood and vegetables to choose from in addition to the frozen.

I was very happy with the selection of products and the prices were really, really good. Our only complaint about the store was that they didn't let us bag our own groceries. It is a small complaint though and it won't prevent us from going back. Now I know where to go in search of certain Asian products (Halo-halo in a jar?) or if I want to just get great deals!

(While doing our regular grocery shopping at our local Waitrose this morning I did notice that they carry a large amount of Wing Yip sauces.)

Jersey, Channel Islands - Eating

2008-06-28T17:41:00.001+01:00

Jersey to me means potatoes and seafood, both of which I was really excited to eat for three days straight. I was extremely pleased with the amount of seafood I got to eat on our trip but was disappointed that the jersey royal potato did not make a more prominent appearance in our meals. I happily ate a pot of mussels every day we were there, much to Eddie's amusement, and enjoyed scallops and prawns as well. Here are some of the places we ate:

1. Dinner at Cafe Zephyr, St. Helier - on our first night (sunday) we were tired and we couldn't find any open restaurants. We decided to eat at our hotel and it was really quite good. There was a lot of choice and it was a very relaxed atmosphere. My mussels here were my second favorite of the trip.

One starter, two mains, drinks: 37 GBP

2. Lunch at The Waters Edge Hotel, Bouley Bay - we had spent all morning on the absolutely beautiful coastal cliff walk that we started in Bonne Nuit Bay. We reached Bouley Bay right at lunch time and there were three options for eating. We chose the cafe of the hotel, overlooking the beautiful bay and pebble beach. I had a huge bowl of mussels and french fries (jersey royals?) which took me an extremely long time to eat! It gave us a chance though to rest up for the remaining part of the walk while enjoying the calmness of the bay. My mussels here were my favorite of the trip but on the flip side Eddie absolutely hated his sandwich, cheddar and pickle.

Lunch cost: 24 GBP

3. Dinner at The Green Olive, St. Helier - on my usual search for vegetarian restaurants this is the one that came up. The restaurant is interestingly described as specializing in vegetarian, chicken and seafood options. As strange as that sounds for a restaurant it somewhat describes the way I cook at home so we decided to give it a shot. It was a very nice meal but it wasn't as good as I was hoping it to be.

My pot of mussels here had a spicy twist to them but far too many of them were not cleaned properly and I ended up biting down on some grit more times than I would ever forgive. Eddie dined on their Menu du Terroir and his starter and main were not nearly as good as we thought they could be. His leek and potato soup sounded delicious but the soup was overpowered by the taste of pepper. You couldn't taste anything but the pepper, which is a shame. His main of stuffed peppers while good, did not seem a strong enough dish to enter into a competition. The restaurant redeemed itself on Eddie's dessert, a summer berry pudding with balsamic ice cream. My basil creme brulee was extremely good but the slightly burnt top did distract a little from the great flavor.

The restaurant had a very warm feeling and the service and staff were extremely friendly. There seemed to be quite a few repeat customers dining while we were there which was a good sign. The menu has a wide variety and the prices were reasonable. All in all, it was good, but not spectacular.

Two starters, two mains, two desserts and one beer: 58 GBP

The Royal Yacht Hotel - St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands

2008-06-27T16:35:00.004+01:00

The old and new buildings of the Royal Yacht Hotel

The Royal Yacht Hotel

3 Nights (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday)

Room Type: Silver Double Room

Price: 312 GBP (room, tax, breakfast)

Overall Grade: B+

Location - the hotel is centrally located in the busy town of St. Helier. Everything we needed was no more than a ten minute walk away. The main bus station (Liberation Station) was on the next block which we used quite frequently as we did not rent a car. Elizabeth Castle was the farthest thing we walked to and that was less than ten minutes. The restaurants and shops of St. Helier were just around the corner.
Breakfast - there was a huge breakfast spread every morning with a ton of choices. There were hot and cold options and extremely good fruit. A cook was available to make custom eggs as well. The staff was always really friendly at breakfast and all three mornings we ate out on the front balcony, watching the harbor and the locals going to work.
Excellent value for money - A terrific rate that included a very nice breakfast and other amenities. There is an indoor pool and sauna that although we didn't use, looked quite nice. There is a resident's only lounge/bar that was quite comfy looking and there is a roof terrace overlooking the front of the hotel (see picture below). In addition there are multiple eateries and bars to choose from in the hotel. We ate and had drinks at the Cafe Zephyr.

No towel racks in the bathroom - the only available option was the door handle of the shower (see picture below). However, it wasn't all that functional as it was a little too far from the sink for hanging hand towels and the enormous bath towels would not fit on the handle. There was plenty of room on the walls for a railing to be placed and even a bar underneath the sink would have worked. Not sure why the quite important, and simple, feature was left out of the extremely modern bathroom. (Otherwise the bathroom was fine with a nice shower and large sink).
Light switches/controls - there was an insane amount of switches and controls in the room that we never got around to mastering. The room required you to put the key in a slot to use the lights, which is usually nice for when you leave as all the lights go off when you take the key out. Not here. When you take the key out, the only thing that happens is the air conditioning comes on full blast (which was unnecessary in itself). We had to walk around the room flipping all the switches to get every light off. A minor inconvenience.
Bed frame - the room was not the biggest of rooms, which was fine, but the space between the foot of the bed and the wall was slightly narrow. Well, the mattress sat in a wooden bed frame that stuck out into this narrow walkway. On the first day Eddie ran right into the corner and cut his leg up pretty badly. Every time we walked by the corners of the bed we reminded each other to watch out for the bed frame!

Paris, France - May 2 through May 5, 2008

2008-06-20T22:09:00.024+01:00

This was our second trip to Paris, the first being in 2002. We loved Paris as "poor" college students then and love it even more that we are adults with jobs!

Museums - the museums in Paris are world famous and rightly so. We chose to see the Louvre and the D'Orsay Museum, both of which we were highly impressed with. There is so much to see in both that you most certainly need some sort of plan of attack, especially for the Louvre, and need to allow plenty of time. The buildings of both museums are architecturally beautiful as well, especially all the different rooms in the Louvre. At the D'Orsay make sure to go to the cafe/restaurant area at the top of the building as there is a roof terrace to go out on. It overlooks the Seine and the Louvre and you can see the Sacre Coeur in the distance. It is a beautiful spot. Fortunately, we were in Paris for the first Sunday of the month when many of the museums are free. We went to the D'Orsay
Museum for free on that Sunday (assuming the Louvre would be the most crowded) and paid a reduced entry into the Louvre as we went Friday evening after 6 (6 Euros each, as opposed to 9). We only saw a small portion of the Louvre (and the museums Paris has to offer) and are looking forward to exploring more of it in the future! Unlike the museums in Spain, you can take pictures inside both of these museums and in Versailles. A definite plus!
Inside the Louvre, looking at the famous glass pyramid

View from the top of the D'Orsay
Transportation - Getting to Paris from London is extremely easy and comfortable on the Eurostar (and very well priced if you book early enough). The new St. Pancras Station in London is very snazzy but clashes quite noticeably with Gare du Nord in Paris, which is in need of a serious overhaul to match St. Pancras. Getting around Paris is also super easy via the Paris Metro system. We bought carnets of 10 tickets and used those rather than buying any sort of day passes. The system is quite extensive and was really reliable the entire time we were there. The Metro is one of the most efficient we have been on as the trains had no delay time at the stations. Far too many times you sit on the Tube in London for what seems like forever at some stations. In Paris, the trains seemed to always be in and out. It was fantastic!
The charm - Paris has a certain feel that really can't be described. It is a gorgeous city that is easy to fall in love with. There is so much to see and do there that you definitely need multiple trips to see it all. One thing not to miss though is the Eiffel Tower at night as it sparkles with flashing lights - it is mesmerizing! There are so many good things to say about Paris and Eddie and I both agree that it is one of our favorite cities out there.

Crowds at the Sacre Coeur/Montmarte - the crowds here were unbearable. The scenery on the top of the hill is worth the trip but as to wandering around the streets of Montmarte, it wasn't really possible without an insane amount of patience.
Long lines everywhere - Paris in the springtime is beautiful but also extremely crowded. The longest lines were at Versailles and the Eiffel Tower. We suffered through the one at Versailles but opted not to wait in the Eiffel Tower line as we have been to the top before. Make sure to allow for plenty of time to wait in lines for all the top attractions.
Overwhelming - Being a tourist in Paris is a daunting and exhausting experience but it is so worth it!!

Overall Grade: A+

Hotel Le Sainte Beuve - Paris, France

2008-06-16T19:05:00.018+01:00

Hotel Le Sainte Beuve

3 Nights (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

Room Type: Standard Double Room

Price: 444 Euros (room and tax)

Overall Grade: B

Decor - the decor of this hotel was very charming. Although our room was done in dark reds and heavy fabrics it was still very thoughtfully put together. The lobby and bar area were also tastefully decorated and well stocked with international magazines and newspapers.
Location in relation to metro stops - the hotel is easily accessible by three different metro stations, two of which we used quite often. Montparnasse-Bienvenue station has multiple lines running through it which is extremely convenient for getting around. The hotel is also situated a few minutes walk away from the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens. The gardens are full of sculptures and you could easily spend a few hours wandering around and exploring.
Super clean bathroom - in contrast to the dark room the bathroom was very bright and was always extremely clean. There were floor to ceiling French doors in the bathroom opening onto a beautiful railing which gave the bathroom a very French feeling. Unfortunately, it looked out onto an air shaft (see #2 below).

Thin walls - the walls in this hotel were extremely thin and we regularly heard our neighbors in the hallway talking and slamming doors. This hotel rivals the Abbey Court B&B in Kenmare, Ireland as having the thinnest walls we have experienced.
Air shaft view - the natural light in our room was nonexistent. We were on the second floor (out of six, I believe) and no sunlight reached our windows at all. We did have the lowest class of room but the lack of sunlight was a little depressing.
No shower curtain - which, of course, resulted in water everywhere. Not sure why there was no curtain (or railing for one, for that matter) but in addition to the water everywhere, it was quite cold taking a shower with no curtain or door to keep the heat in. But, despite the mess we made every morning, the bathroom was spotlessly clean when we arrived back later in the day. I guess they don't mind cleaning up the massive amounts of water that sprayed onto the sink and floor!

Paris, France - Eating

2008-06-15T20:27:00.013+01:00

Before our recent trip to Paris, I did some research online for vegetarian restaurants. What I found was that Paris was not as vegetarian friendly as cities like New York or London. The names of a few restaurants appeared on multiple web pages and the one that appealed to me the most was Maceo (15 rue des Petits Champs).

Maceo is the kind of restaurant that caters to both vegetarians and meat eaters, therefore making it a great choice for Eddie (the vegetarian) and I (the meat eater). The restaurant's website is extremely helpful with an English version and online reservations, although a multi-step process, were quite easy. I was extremely excited to try out Maceo and it did not disappoint.

The outside of the restaurant is somewhat unimpressive but inside it is all elegance and smart decor (see top picture). The interior felt very grand, with high ornate ceilings and moldings, but not stuffy. The clientele was qute mixed with some older, elegant French diners, young hipsters in jeans and a little bit of everything in between. We heard a number of American (or Canadian?) accents amongst the other diners.

Vegetarians at Maceo really only have a choice of the Menu 'Au Vert' while meat eaters can choose set menus or order a la carte, which I chose to do. The Menu 'Au Vert' is an extremely good value at 30 Euros, which includes a starter, an entree and a dessert (or cheese).

Eddie's choices:

Bouquet of aromatic garden vegetables, grapes and argan oil - a fancy description of a salad - good though
Pasta risotto, herbs oil, artichokes and broad beans - Eddie enjoyed his first experience with risotto
Sauteed pears, yoghurt crisp with sangria caramel - this dessert was divine! Even though I don't normally like pears, I enjoyed sharing this with Eddie!

Annie's choices:

Sauteed king prawns, mixed vegetables and crab meat - 17 Euros - this was a nice starter, but not as good as I was expecting
Sirloin of 'Bourbonnais' steak, polenta, broad beans and asparagus - 30 Euros - I was enticed by all the accompaniments to this dish rather than the steak itself. It was a huge dish but I managed to eat the majority of it besides the really red bits of the steak (I ordered medium and as expected it was more rare). My only complaint is that I was not given a proper steak knife and it was somewhat difficult to cut into the steak. I am not sure if that is normal protocol in France.

The total for our food, a half bottle of wine and a bottle of water was ~ 115 Euros.

There are a lot of things we liked about Maceo and very little we didn't. I personally loved the fact that I could order a steak while Eddie still had a great selection of food rather than the predictable vegetarian options. The restaurant has a very elegant, French feel to it and the service was very attentive (and bilingual). The few things we didn't like were the coffee that Eddie ordered and never got and the amount of time it took to get our check. We understand that in America the check is handled in a different manner than in Europe but it seemed to take an exceptionally long time to get it.

The next time we return to Paris, we definitely plan on returning to Maceo.

One of the other restaurants that came up quite a few times on my search was Le Grenier de Notre Dame (18 rue Bucherie), one block over from the famed Cathedral. There is not much to write about this place though as after we sat down and looked at the menu (with pictures) and the prices we decided against it. The restaurant looked nice enough but we felt like the prices were more than what we wanted to spend on a quick lunch. We also felt that there was a pretty noticeable premium on the food due to the location right near Notre Dame.

Instead, we wandered up the street and stumbled across Mexi & Co (10 rue Dante, 5th). As expected from a "Mexican" restaurant there were quite a few vegetarian options and the prices were exactly what we wouldn't mind spending on a quick lunch. It turned out to be a great choice as both Eddie and I loved our dishes.

Eddie's choice: Burrito vegetariano, 8 Euros

Annie's choice: Nachos de Pollo, arroz y guacamole, 8.50 Euros

To share: Nachos Fromage, 5 Euros - really good nachos with a variety of cheese including goat's cheese. This dish was probably unnecessary though as both our choices were quite large.

The total for our food and two cans of soda ~ 27 Euros.

The service was really friendly and the inside of the restaurant was adorable. I read some reviews online after we ate there and people complained about the authenticity of the food and claimed that it was more of a drinking place. We however, were really happy with the place and enjoyed the food, no matter how authentic it really was. Eating "Mexican" food in Paris does seem a little odd but hey, why not? - all great cities have a vast selection of cuisines to choose from.

I had wanted to see so much more concerning food in Paris - the chocolate shops, the markets, the bakeries, etc. Unfortunately, sightseeing all day takes a lot out of you and either we were too tired or the shops/markets were closed. Next time we visit, which hopefully will be in the near future, I will be able to indulge more in the way of food. I can't wait!

Opeth at Brixton Academy - April 26, 2008

2008-04-26T23:49:00.008+01:00

Continuing our trend of only seeing bands from the Nordic countries, Annie and I went to see Swedish metal band Opeth on Saturday night at Brixton Academy. This was our third time seeing them (the previous two being in New York) and despite some changes to their lineup they put on a great performance.

We arrived at the club after all three opening bands had played. The opening bands were 3 Inches of Blood, DevilDriver and Arch Enemy. I was upset about missing 3 Inches but as they were due to play for less than 30 minutes and the club doesn't allow re-entry, we decided to skip it. I don't think I could have kept my sanity sitting through the other two bands. Once we arrived, I was even happier with the decision as it was insanely hot and humid inside the club. It was like watching a metal show inside a sauna!

Despite the heat, Brixton Academy is a great venue medium-sized venue (I believe it holds about 5,000 people). It appeared to be either sold out or close to it for Opeth last night.

Opeth played for around 75 minutes. They played about 10 songs covering a good chunk of their albums, including a new track off of their upcoming album Watershed. The new track was on par with their previous material although it did have an absolute ridiculous amount of double bass! Opeth once again proved that they are fantastic musicians although the sound during the show was not the greatest. It sounded a bit muddy and muffled for most of the show. I believe the band may have noticed as well, as Mikael Åkerfeldt apologized for technical difficulties at the end of their set.

The band themselves aren't the most mobile people on the stage. Singer Mikael Åkerfeldt barely moved during the entire concert; it was as if his feet were nailed to the stage. Though keyboardist Per Wiberg did enough headbanging for the entire band!!!

Tickets for the show were ₤18.50 plus ₤3.43 ticket charge.

Tortilla - London

2008-04-19T20:21:00.013+01:00

Tortilla
13 Islington High Street
London N1 9LQ

Annie's Naked Burrito

I was a huge fan of Chipotle when I lived in America and frequented it for lunch far too many times for me to remember. Unfortunately, there is no Chipotle in London but there are two similar concept eateries in Islington: Mucho Mas and Tortilla.

We tried Mucho Mas a little after it first opened and weren't very impressed with it. They were out of chicken (which Annie wanted) and tortilla chips and lunch had only just begun! It was a decent meal but not worth the trek from Pimlico. However, in the Angel tube station there were advertisements for another eatery, Tortilla. We decided that if we were ever in the area again we would try it out. This weekend, we were in the area and tried out Tortilla.

We were glad we did because we both really enjoyed it. Here is what we had:

Annie - Naked Burrito with lime-cilantro rice, sauteed peppers and onions, grilled chicken and mild salsa (and other various toppings)

Eddie - Large veggie burrito with lime-cilantro rice, black beans, sauteed peppers and onions and guacamole (and other various toppings)

We both really liked the lime-cilantro rice (and how they call is cilantro instead of coriander) and the mild salsa, which was really flavorful. Annie liked the distinct, grilled taste of her chicken and was happy that it wasn't too spicy. The guacamole on my burrito was of a good standard for the UK and was free on the veggie burrito (50p otherwise). Another thing we really liked was the crushed ice out of the drinks machine!

Our meals together with a side of tortilla chips and salsa and a bottomless soft drink was ₤12.40, a great price for a very large amount of food!

A few dislikes include Annie not liking the shape of the cardboard box her Naked Burrito came in. She found it hard to eat out of and ended up ripping off some of the lid flaps to have better access. Also, we could see seating being a problem as there isn't a whole lot of it. We were a little early for dinner so seating was fine but when we left a large group just walked in. The seating is on four large, long tables with benches which isn't that flexible. When we go back we will have to make sure to go at an off time again.

Even though we visited Mucho Mas quite awhile ago we both agreed that we liked Tortilla much better. The debate on the two places has been documented in a few places including on UK Yankee and Londonelicious. Both Mucho Mas and Tortilla are worth checking out but the next time we are nearby or craving some Mexican, we will be going to Tortilla.

Pimlico Road Farmers' Market - London

2008-04-12T22:40:00.022+01:00

Our local farmers' market is the Pimlico Road Farmers' Market in Orange Square and we try to go as often as possible. Now that we are slowly easing our way into Spring the selection has been quite good and it is a pleasure to go and look to see what all the stalls have to offer. New stalls seem to be popping up every week as a few weeks ago it was the venison stall (complete with a pile of antlers to buy!) and this week it was the garlic and asparagus stall. Annie was quite excited to see that there was wild garlic this week as she has seen it called for in a few of the vegetarian cookbooks we use.

Browsing the stalls we really get a feel for what is in season and lately it seems as if Kale (all sorts of varieties), purple sprouting broccoli and Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes) are everywhere. We are huge fans of globe artichokes but have never tried the Jerusalem variety. After seeing them the past few weeks at the market, we found a tastey looking receipe for a Jerusalem artichoke and spinach soup, which we are going to try this week.

The apples and pears are always a treat at the Chegworth Valley stand. We pick up a mixed bag of apples/pears every time we go and were shocked to see these organic monsters this week:

We really enjoy the tomato stand as the guy that oversees it is very generous on how much he gives out. A punnet costs ₤3.50 but he overflows the punnet before putting it into a bag for you and then just keeps throwing in handfuls afterwards. I would estimate we got two punnets worth of Santa, Yellow Santa and "teardrop" tomatoes!

The only downside of the market is that some stalls are not there every week. We have been disappointed a few times when the goat cheese stall was not there and we really wanted goat cheese! All in all it is a great market and seems to be growing as the weather is getting nicer. There are a few bread/pastry stalls, lots of meat stalls and a few fish/seafood stalls although we mostly stick to the vegetable and flower stalls.

We had been to Borough Market a few times before discovering this one and found that we can get so much more for our money at the Pimlico Road Farmers' market than at Borough. Of course the variety is not as large but there is the posh Dayslesford Organic right across the street and the location is so much better for us. We are looking forward to what else may be coming into season soon!

On a side note, apparently Mozart composed his first symphony nearby in 1764 at the age of 8!! The statue below stands in Orange Square.

The Snowmen of Pimlico

2008-04-06T15:32:00.008+01:00

We saw our first British snow today! It wasn't much but it was enough for quite a few snowmen to pop up in our neighborhood.

Athens, Greece - March 21 through March 24, 2008

2008-04-05T22:06:00.007+01:00

Braving the hoards of fellow travellers at Gatwick Airport we headed to Athens for the long Easter weekend. We were a bit apprehensive after hearing mixed reviews on Athens, but we loved it. The city has so much to offer and the weather was absolutely perfect during our stay.

There are a plethora of sites to see in Athens. The Acropolis and the Ancient Agora are both must sees. Note, they are also both free on Sunday November through March. The Panathenaic Stadium, the main stadium for the 1896 Olympics, near the National Gardens is definitely worth checking out. When you do make sure you walk around to the back entrance (staircase at the left of the stadium when looking at it) so you can go in and walk around the seats. Most people seemed to just stand at the front entrance. In addition to the ancient sites, there are also some great museums. We would highly recommend going to the Cycladic Art Museum.

"The Cup-Bearer" from the Early Cycladic II period (circa 2600 BC)

The Greeks know how to cook! We grew to love Greek food while living in Astoria, Queens and the food in Greece did not disappoint! Greek food has some great vegetarian options which is always a nice plus. For a sweet fix, Pagotomania has some unbelievable gelato with great flavors like Nutella and Bounty. For a food roundup, see Annie's post on eating in Athens, Greece.

Fantastic Gelato @ Pagotomania

The metro link to the airport is a big plus. It is clean, easy to find and drops you off right in the heart of the city. Plus the cars have a lot of designated space for luggage so you don't feel intrusive to other riders. It costs 10 euros for 2 people together, or 6 euros for a single.

The streets are very crowded and chaotic. There are people, cars and scooters everywhere. On our last day in Greece we walked up Athenias to the National Archaeological Museum and as it goes by the Central Market it was extremely packed with Athenians carrying about their daily business. The hustle and bustle didn't exactly provide us the chance to just stroll and check out the surroundings.

The lack of a smoking ban is very annoying. After living in New York and London (post smoking ban) it is almost unbearable sitting in a smoke filled restaurant/cafe/airport! In some parts of the airport you almost needed an oxygen mask to breathe!
The outdoor patio heaters at every restaurant/cafe were a bit unnecessary. It was decently warm outside yet they still had them blasting. On a few occasions, we had to turn them down ourselves. The city is polluted enough without all that extra CO2 being spewed into the air. Al Gore would go nuts!

Smog hanging over Athens

Overall Grade: A

Athens, Greece - Eating

2008-04-04T16:55:00.044+01:00

Sugary doughnuts.

One of the aspects of our Athens, Greece trip I was especially looking forward to was the food. The location of our hotel, in the Psyrri neighborhood, provided easy access to all the restaurants along Adrianou in Monastiraki and all those in the hip Psyrri neighborhood. Here is a rundown of our dinners in Athens:

1. Kuzina (Adrianou 9, Thissio)

I absolutely loved the decor and feel of this restaurant! We sat upstairs as we didn't have reservations but it provided me with a good seat to check out the whole restaurant. The furniture and walls were all white washed and the decor made me think of the Mediterranean meets Cape Cod. The food was very good with a nice selection of seafood and vegetarian dishes. I thoroughly enjoyed my mussels in a rosemary retsina wine sauce and only wished that it wasn't only appetizer size. (I had never heard of the wine but may have to check it out since I liked the dish so much!)

One negative I have about this place is that the menu is a little confusing about what is an appetizer/starter and what is a main dish as there is no distinct separation. The prices were sort of an indication but I ended up having to order more food after I realized my mussels were not enough for a full meal.

A nice touch of Kuzina was the free ouzo shots at the end of the meal. I probably wouldn't have ordered ouzo while in Greece but I was definitely interested in trying it.

Overall: Great food, so-so service.

2. Ineas (Aisopou 9, Psyrri)

The decor of this restaurant was also very charming with vintage posters on the colorful walls inside and a striped awning covering the outdoor seating area. Other than the decor and location I don't have much positive to say about this place. The food actually wasn't that bad here, but the service was so incredibly terrible that it really tainted the food. My appetizer of mussels (yes, I really like mussels!) was really quite good and my mushroom, prawn risotto was not necessarily bad although Eddie wasn't exactly impressed with his spaghetti with halloumi.

The service was so horrible: long waits for lukewarm food, no refills on drinks and leaving the appetizer dishes on the table when the mains were served, leaving little room for movement. The only consolation was that the whole outdoor seating area had similar experiences and not just us. The food did not make up for the terrible service and we were quite disappointed. To make matters worse Eddie was sitting facing Pagotomania, watching everyone enjoy their delicious gelato. At one point while waiting for our food he was ready to just leave the restaurant and have gelato for dinner. I was far too hungry for that!

Overall: So-so food, terrible service.

3. Adrinanou Taverna (Dia Tafta?)

For our last night we decided to eat at one of the places along Adrianou with views of the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora. It turned out to be a good choice because the service was attentive, the place wasn't too crowded and the food was quite good. We decided to order several mezes from the menu and share which worked out well as we got to try a little of a lot of different things. I really enjoyed the Fava dip (which I would like to recreate at home) and Eddie liked the Tzatziki (which he insisted on ordering everywhere we went!).

We hung out at our sidewalk table, admiring the view, long after the food was gone but were never pressured to leave or order more, which we really liked. We already had the bill on the table so there was no need to flag the waiter down for that and even if we needed him, he was always nearby.

Overall: Good food, good service.

On our last day we had lunch at the cafe part of Orizontes Lycabettus, on Lycabettus Hill. The food was great and the view was gorgeous. It was definitely worth the walk up the hill! (It can also be reached by a cable car.)

Lunch view from Orizontes Lycabettus

Other random food bits:

There are quite a few vendors on the streets selling snacks and we tried a sesame bread ring and a sugary doughnut (top photo), both of which were delicious!

Greece is big on the cafes and as the weather was so nice we sat one afternoon at a cafe along Adrinou. Eddie had Greek coffee and I had an infamous Greek frappe. When we lived in the hugely Greek neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, almost everyone in the sidewalk cafes drank frappes. I never tried one while living there but had to try it while in Greece. After first declaring it great and then drinking a quarter of it, I decided that maybe that was all I needed!

O&B | Ochre & Brown Hotel - Athens, Greece

2008-03-29T20:32:00.025Z

O&B Ochre & Brown Hotel

Balcony view.

3 Nights (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Room Type: Deluxe Double Room with view of Athens Observatory & Thissio
Price: €495 (Room, tax, breakfast)

Overall Grade: A

3+

The bathroom in the room was the kind of bathroom we would want in our own home: bright with lots of counter space and shelves and a great shower. The shower stall was big enough for two with a seating area opposite the shower and a rain shower head.

Hotel staff - extremely friendly and professional staff. Upon arrival our bag was whisked away as we checked in at the front desk. We were then shown to our room and the many controllers in the room were explained to us (TV, satellite TV, DVD, stereo system). About ten minutes later room service arrived with welcome drinks and a fruit plate for two. The turn down service every night was impressive as well. They changed the bedspread to a down comforter, cleaned off the bathroom sink, emptied all the trash cans (important in Greece where you can't flush the toilet paper down the toilet) and of course, left yummy chocolate on each side of the bed. The staff at breakfast was great too, making great foamy cappuccino!

Welcome drinks and fruit plate.

The Ochre & Brown is everything we would expect a boutique hotel to be: small, friendly, visually appealing AND functional. The decor in the room and the hotel was very modern and sleek but everything was functional. The lighting was fantastic - unlike the Roommate Alicia in Madrid and the service was phenomenal - unlike the Hotel de Orangerie in Bruges. It is a very classy hotel that makes their guests feel welcome and offers a nice, relaxing, comfortable place to stay.

Although the room was very nice it was on the small side with nowhere to sit but on the bed. There was a desk/table but the seating for that was a small, leather stool, which isn't the most comfy option to relax on. At least one lounge chair option would have been nice; although there would be nowhere to put it. (The small balcony had no seating either.)

The street/neighborhood may not be to everyone's tastes. The hotel is in an area that includes lots of empty buildings that appear to not have been inhabited for awhile. We were a little concerned at first when arriving at the Monastiraki Metro station but after walking around for a bit we realized that the area is completely safe and very trendy. If you are looking for a neighborhood with curb appeal though then this is not it. (But note that the location is actually extremely central to everything in Athens. We never had the need to take the Metro and there are tons of dining options nearby in the Psyrri and Monastiraki neighborhoods.)

Leokoriou Street with Acropolis in background.

In regards to the streets around the hotel, they are quite busy with few crosswalks. Although they are only one-way (Leokoriou) or two lane streets (Ermou), they constantly have cars going by. It became somewhat of a chore to cross the streets to get to and from the hotel.

Classical Spectacular - Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London

2008-03-15T21:07:00.022Z

Eddie and I attended the afternoon performance of Classical Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, which was an interesting performance to say the least. On paper the idea of indoor fireworks, canons and laser light shows accompanying some of the most popular classical songs seemed like an interesting idea. In reality though, we were glad we only spent ₤19.50 per ticket. It wasn't that the show was bad but I think I am impressed enough with the actual pieces of music that there is no need for all the extras. However, it was certainly like nothing we have ever experienced before.

The show delivered on all that it promised and even included an enthusiastic, joke-telling, narrating conductor, audience members with Great Britain and English flags, and red, white and blue balloons being dropped from the ceiling during Rule! Britannia at the very end. We felt a little left out during the sing along parts of the event as we don't really know the words to God Save the King, Pomp and Circumstance and Rule!Britannia, and we didn't have any flags to wave. Listening to Pomp and Circumstance did bring us back to all the graduations we have ever attended and made me wonder if they play that song here during graduation as well.

The second half of the show included a section for "Hellos" as the conductor called it, but we referred to it as the shout out section. There were the usual birthdays and anniversaries but the best was the Birthday shout out to the Oldest Man in Britain who is 111! That was quite cool although we didn't actually see him.

The Royal Choral Society sang during the choral pieces, the Moscow Militia did some marching and flag waving at the beginning of the second half and real life couple Jacqueline Miura and John Daszak sang pieces from Puccini's La Boheme and Verdi's La Traviata. The Royal Philharmonic did an excellent job and there were no angry orchestra members like when we saw them play at the Celebration of the Spanish Guitar, so that was nice.

We had some major complaints about our seats and the venue itself. First off, we sat in the choral section which is behind the orchestra. From there, the sound was really muted and not very intense. However, we were right next to the gigantic organ pipes (the second largest organ in Britain) and when the organ played that is basically all we could hear. It is a bizarre perspective to sit behind the stage, especially when the soloists were singing as we only saw the back of their heads it was hard to get the visual of them actually singing.

The problem with the venue is its location relative to Tube stations. We chose to go to the South Kensington Station and from there it was quite a hike to the Royal Albert Hall. Kensington High Street and Knightsbridge are also nearby but seem to be pretty far as well. The bus appears to be the way to get closest to the Hall. One plus about the venue though is that it is across the street from the Prince Albert Memorial, one of my favorite things in London.

All in all, it was an interesting event that really is quite tacky. Growing up outside Washington, DC, we are both more accustomed to hearing the 1812 Overture played at the end of the 4th of July celebration on The Mall. Indoor fireworks and canons don't have nearly the same effect and smell really bad in an enclosed space. It was however, a very well organized event that seemed to be much loved by young children and pensioners alike.

Overall Grade: B-

Abbey Court Bed and Breakfast - Kenmare, Ireland

2008-03-12T22:14:00.007Z

Abbey Court B&B
4 Nights (Thursday through Sunday nights)

Room Type: Double Room En-Suite
280 Euros (Total, incl. tax and breakfast)

Overall Grade: C+

We had a wonderful view from our room. We could see beautiful fields, a lake and lots of sheep!

The location. Being located in Kenmare is a big plus for this B&B. On a visit to County Kerry you are likely to be exploring the entire region and Kenmare provides a great base and is loaded with great restaurants to dine in after a long day exploring the beauty of Kerry.
The common areas in the hotel are very nice. There are two lounges, both of which have many comfortable couches and chairs in which to relax. The breakfast room is spacious and provides a nice place to enjoy the homemade breakfast.

Ok, I realize we comment a lot on showers, but the shower in our room was terrible! The worst we've ever had. After about 1 minute the shower stall was flooded. It was ridiculous!
The walls in our room, and throughout the hotel, were very thin. We could clearly hear the conversations going on in the room next to us and even in the lounge down the hall. It was pretty much like the conversations were going on in the same room.
While being in Kenmare is a plus, the hotel is a bit far from the town center, probably about a 15 or 20 minute walk along a very busy road. As we had a rental car, we ended up just driving into town.

County Kerry, Ireland - Oct 11 through Oct 15, 2007

2008-03-09T22:12:00.022Z

We took a trip to County Kerry, Ireland for Annie's birthday in October. We had heard that it was a nice place to visit but the deciding factor for the trip was the price of the flight. We paid 1p each way and ₤10 to check a bag for a total flight cost of ₤10.04 on RyanAir. For once the advertisements were actually true!

The trip turned out to be a great one, as County Kerry was more beautiful than we expected, and the weather was surprisingly great too!

3+

The Dingle Peninsula. We landed in Kerry at about 7:45 am, picked up our rental car and headed straight for the Dingle Peninsula. It was one of the most beautiful drives we have ever done, better than the Ring of Kerry which we experienced a few days later, and on par with the drive down the Pacific Coast from San Francisco to Monterrey in California.

We stayed in Kenmare which is about a 45 minute drive from the airport and just off of the Ring of Kerry. Kenmare was a picturesque town with lots of brightly painted houses and a beautiful church that looked like stone from far away but was actually made of wood. The town also has loads of great dining options, although some were closed as we were a bit out of season. The best meal we had was at Mulcahy's, which we would highly recommend, but make sure you have a reservation.

While the town of Killarney itself did not make much of an impression on us, Killarney National Park certainly did. It is a beautiful park with lots of interesting, well marked trails. Ross Castle is also in the park and is well worth wandering around, though to get inside you have to pay (which we declined to do).

The roads in Kerry are not for the faint of heart. Not only do they drive on the wrong side of the road (if you are an American), they are generally narrow, full of twists and turns, and not always paved. And at night, don't count on any streetlights. While in Kerry, we'd recommend you rent the smallest car possible; we had a Toyota Corolla and thought that was almost too big. For the sake of our marriage, Annie did all the driving and was awesome!

During the off-season many of the restaurants have limited hours during the week and several were closed on Sunday, so make sure to call before heading to the restaurant.
We can't think of a 3rd minus for County Kerry. This really was one of the best trips we've taken.

Overall Grade: A

The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army at The British Museum, London

2008-03-09T20:49:00.011Z

"The (Children's) Terracotta Army"

After a long wait, we finally went to see The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army exhibit at the The British Museum. We booked our tickets about six months ago and have been looking forward to it since. The exhibit turned out to be well worth both the wait and the ₤12 price of admission.

The layout of the exhibit provided a very good history of both the first Emperor of China and his Terracotta Army. There were many interesting artifacts such as: coins, weapons, bells, etc...all of which provided a good context for different bits of life back in the time the Army was made. There was also a very interesting display on how the Terracotta Army was constructed which added to our appreciation of the overall exhibit.

The exhibit was more than just terracotta soldiers, but also included terracotta acrobats, horses, civil officials, even a strongman! The statues were very well preserved and it was amazing to look at them and think they had been created so long ago. We were surprised at the size of the soldiers, as they were all around 6 feet tall. The fact that the figures have different facial features and expressions was also very impressive.

While there is only a small selection of statues in the exhibit, you get an idea for what the actual site in China must be like where there are thousands upon thousands of statues, and supposedly rivers of mercury, surrounding the tomb of the Emperor. Overall, they were definitely some of the most interesting artifacts we have seen in quite sometime.

While overall we really enjoyed the exhibit, there were several things we found annoying:

The exhibit was far too crowded! Entry into the exhibit was done based on specific timed entries (chosen online when purchasing the tickets) but once you are inside you are free to stay as long as you want. All of the displays were packed with people which made it very difficult to read the posted descriptions. I realize demand for the exhibit is extremely high but the overbearing crowds really do make it hard to enjoy. We did go in the afternoon but as tickets were so limited, we didn't have a choice.

In true Communist fashion they strictly controlled entry and didn't allow you to take pictures inside the exhibit (hence why the picture at the top of the post is not from inside the actual exhibit). But, in true capitalist fashion charged ₤25 for the softcover guidebook! ₤35 for the hardcover (on sale from ₤40)! And, the audio guide was an extra ₤3.50 on top of the ticket price. If we had both opted to get the audio guide and the exhibit book, which we usually buy, the whole trip would have cost over ₤50, which is a lot more than we like to spend to visit a museum.

Overall Grade: B+

Hanoi Rocks at The Astoria 2 in London - March 7, 2008

2008-03-07T23:05:00.006Z

We saw Finnish rockers Hanoi Rocks at the Astoria 2 in London on Friday night. I've always wanted to see Hanoi Rocks live as they are one of my favorite bands but figured I would never get the chance. Before the show I was a little concerned on how they would be after so many years, but they came out and put on a fantastic show!

We arrived at the club during the opening act the Soho Dolls, who were generally a pretty boring electro-pop type band. Not my type of music at all and a bit of an odd pairing with Hanoi Rocks. I don't have much good to say about them other than the fact that they do have quite a flashy website!

By the time Hanoi Rocks took the stage at about 8:30 the place was near capacity. I'd guess there was about 800 - 900 people at the show.

Hanoi Rocks kept the crowd rocking the whole night. Michael Monroe is a great front man and full of energy. He was constantly running around the stage, jumping into the crowd and climbing the amps all night. At one point he was swinging his mic stand around so violently I was sure someone was going to get killed! In true glam fashion he was wearing some classic outfits and changed regularly throughout the show. He wore wild sequined pants and several different vests along with an awesome silver jacket which looked like something from outer space!

In total they played for about 90 minutes set and covered both their classic era and the new albums they have released since 2002. From the classic era they played Malibu Beach Nightmare, Back to the Mystery City, Don't You Ever Leave Me, High School, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Taxi Driver, Oriental Beat, Motorvatin', Tragedy and Up Around the Bend. Newer songs they played included: Street Poetry, Fashion, Highwired, Powertrip, People Like Me, Teenage Revolution, Day Late and a Dollar short (during which Michael Monroe paid tribute to Razzle and played a bit of Million Miles Away), along with several others I can't remember. While the older stuff was the highlight, the new stuff was of good quality and fit in well. I will definitely be tracking down a copy of their latest album Street Poetry.

Thoughts on the Astoria 2:

The venue has very good sound and pretty good vantage points with very few obstructions. Overall it was a great place to watch a show, but upon exiting the club I came to realize that the place is a deathtrap! The stage area is downstairs with two staircases leading upstairs to the exit. The stairs were mobbed with people pushing and shoving to get out of the club at the end of the night. If there had been a fire, I don't even want to know what would have happened.

Tickets to the show were 15 GBP with a 3.50 booking fee.

Busaba Eathai - Bird Street - London

2008-03-02T22:09:00.021Z

I have been wanting to try Busaba Eathai for awhile now and we finally did this weekend after visiting The British Museum. We chose the one behind Selfridge's (8-13 Bird Street) but there are two other locations (22 Store Street and 106-110 Wardour Street).

Thankfully when we went it was early dinner on Sunday and not very crowded at all. That was a benefit based on the way they do their seating. I don't mind the communal tables at Wagamama that much but wasn't that impressed with the ones at Busaba Eathai. The tables are huge squares that fit three people on each side, so rather than sit across from your companion you sit around a corner of the table (for two people). The only other option was to sit at the bar-like seats at the windows.

I quite liked the decor otherwise and felt like it had a very warm feeling with low lighting and minimal decorations.

So, for the food:

Annie:

Phad kwetio (₤7.50) - rice stick noodle with smoked chicken, prawn and holy basil - I really liked my dish and was happy they could make it not spicy for me (it is listed as spicy on the menu)

Cranberry presse (₤2.40) - it was actually cranberry and acai and was like juice with seltzer water which I always enjoy

(I had wanted the Pandan chicken (₤7.30) - marinated in garlic and coriander root, wrapped in pandan leaf - but they were out!)

Eddie:

Phad Thai jay (₤6.50) - Vegetarian Phad Thai with tofu and no egg - Eddie liked his choice but wasn't raving about it

Guava collins (₤3.00) - guava, passion fruit, lime and ginger - Eddie has a knack for picking out the best drinks on the menu; a very delicious juice that he wasn't happy to share!

One thing that I was a little puzzled by was why some of the Sides cost almost as much as some of the mains, especially when the Sides were just vegetables! Of all the Sides, including the predictable Chicken satay (₤4.40), the most expensive ones were vegetables (French bean and mange tout (snow peas) (₤5.60), Chinese broccoli (₤5.60), Grilled aubergine (eggplant) (₤5.70)). Of course I am no expert in the cost of food but I know when we grocery shop meat and seafood is much more expensive than vegetables! We opted out of any of these but I would hope that the portions were huge for those prices.

My only other gripe is that for a restaurant with multiple locations and extremely fancy digital menus outside you would think they would have a website. I have tried searching for one online to no avail and they don't advertise one on their menu.

So, all in all eating there satisfied my curiosity about the place but we weren't impressed enough to return.

A Celebration of the Spanish Guitar @ The Barbican - Feb 20, 2008 - London

2008-03-02T20:31:00.003Z

"A Celebration of the Spanish Guitar"

Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
Fuat Mansurov conductor
Rolando Saad guitar

We went to see "A Celebration of Spanish Guitar" at the Barbican Centre a couple of weeks ago. The Barbican is a Performing Arts venue in the center of London which we have visited before. The Barbican Hall is slightly dated looking but is a large hall offering seats at a wide variety of prices. Our seats were in the center section of the second level and provided us with a perfect view of the stage, while only costing us 12 GBP each! One thing that we really like about the Barbican Hall is the spacious seats with lots of leg room, which to me is way more comfortable than places like Carnegie Hall in NYC.

The first 3/4 of the event were great. Both the orchestra and Rolando Saad were amazing. He is truly a gifted guitarist and was a pleasure to listen to. Near the end though the event starting to get a bit weird.

Although we opted not to buy a program we were pretty sure that what was happening on stage was not planned. At one point, the second clarinetist got up and abruptly left the stage. The rest of the orchestra fumbled around with their music for a bit and after a few minutes they began to play without her. Upon her return, they started a new song but this time one of the bassoonists and the conductor almost got in a fight during the middle of the song. There was some very angry gesturing coming from the bassoonist (he looked like he was going to explode!) before he decided to play with the rest of the orchestra.

The last three to five pieces all ended with lots of bowing and handshaking which we usually take to indicate the end of either a) a spectacular number (with a special guest) or b) the concert. Since all the pieces were short little ~2 minute pieces done without the guitarist, we had no idea what was happening. And to make matters worse, after each of these pieces more and more people decided to get up and leave, thinking the show was over. It was wildly confusing!

Despite the madness at the end, overall it was a great concert with a beautiful selection of pieces (many recognizable selections from Bizet's Carmen) and well worth the price of admission.

Overall Grade: B

Edinburgh, Scotland - Feb 16 through Feb 18, 2008

2008-03-01T21:22:00.005Z

For our first trip of 2008, Annie and I headed north to Edinburgh, Scotland. We took the train from London, which was about a five hour trip. While it was long, it was relaxing and there was some beautiful scenery especially on the Scottish side of the border.

While Edinburgh Castle gets most of the press, Arthur's Seat was by far our favorite site in Edinburgh. Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano in Holyrood Park, at the opposite end of the Royal Mile as Edinburgh Castle. We took the long (and steep) route around the Salisbury Crags to the top of Arthur's Seat. Although it was a tiring walk, it was well worth it. Thankfully, it was a bright, clear and sunny day, which allowed us beautiful views of the city, the water and the Highlands in the distance. If you have only one day in Edinburgh and you are reasonably fit, I'd highly recommend going to Arthur's Seat. (There are easier routes than the one we took, we just chose the first path we saw.)

Arthur's Seat

On top of Arthur's Seat

Calton Hill was another one of our favorite spots in Edinburgh. There are several interesting (and some unfinished) monuments on the hill and it provides panoramic views of the city. Wandering to the hill and around it was a great way to spend our last morning in Edinburgh.

Calton Hill and Scottish Parliament

There are lots of great cafes and restaurants in Edinburgh. We spent most afternoons enjoying a cup of coffee in the cafes and enjoyed several good meals. Some restaurants and cafes we enjoyed were: Le Sept, Chocolate Soup, Always Sunday, Barioja, David Bann and Henderson's Bistro. Just make sure you have reservations for dinner! (See number one of the three minus list.)

If you are in Edinburgh on a Saturday night make sure to have dinner reservations before you go out for dinner. The phrase "Do you have a reservation?" became very familiar to us as we strolled the streets of Edinburgh looking for somewhere to eat. We were rejected by several places (including 3 different Mexican restaurants!) before we gave up and had dinner at one of the many Pizza Huts. And even that was crowded!

The streets of of the Old Town are extremely slippery when wet. We saw one poor girl totally wipe out.

As you can tell from our number two reason, we are really grasping at straws to find flaws with a city that didn't really have any. For the amount of time that we spent there we could only come up with one reasonable minus (number one). Overall, it is a great city for a weekend trip.

Overall Grade: A

Fried Mars Bar - Edinburgh, Scotland

2008-02-23T21:47:00.002Z

It's not pretty, but it's good!

Scotland is known for some interesting food such as haggis and black pudding but seeing as Eddie is a vegetarian and I am quite a picky eater, the only Scottish delicacy we decided to try was the deep fried (or battered) Mars bar. It was so much better than I expected and I didn't feel like I was going to have a heart attack while eating it! Although it is battered before frying you can hardly taste the batter and basically you are just eating a warm, gooey Mars bar, which to me was quite a good thing! We bought ours from a chippy shop (Clam Shell Fish and Chip Shop on the Royal Mile) and they used an entire Mars bar which we shared. I think it would be great to use the fun size bars instead, then you can get a fix of it but don't have to eat an entire fried chocolate bar.

So, if you like fried foods and you like Mars Bars (or melted chocolate and melted caramel) then you should definitely try a deep fried Mars Bar whenever you get the chance! Bon Appetit!

(Another item on the menu at the place was "fried pizza." We decided to stay away from that one!)

Radisson SAS Hotel - Edinburgh, Scotland

2008-02-22T17:46:00.017Z

Radisson SAS Hotel

2 nights (Saturday and Sunday)
Room Type: Standard Double
Price: 240 GBP (total, incl. tax)
Overall Grade: B+

3+

The hotel is perfectly located on the Royal Mile, about half way between the Castle and Holyrood Park and about five minutes away from Waverley Train Station. It is in the Old Town which is more touristy but to us the New Town felt just like it could be any UK city. The Old Town has way more character.
The room was extremely large and well equipped with free internet (and wifi) and a large Sony LCD TV.
There is a nice, large lounge area behind the reception. There is plenty of seating to enjoy a drink from the bar or just relax.

The shower had one of those half glass doors that swivels on a hinge connected to the wall, and at the wall the shower leaked all over the floor. Either we don't know how to work shower doors/curtains or we just get stuck with all the leaky showers!
I know it was a vacation weekend for us but I was annoyed there was no clock in the room.
Eddie didn't like the unnecessary "placemat" decorations on the bed. While there was nothing inherently wrong with them it was the only other minus we could come up with for a hotel that was just average; there was nothing truly exceptional about the hotel but also there was nothing bad about it.

Dark Tranquillity @ Barfly in Camden - Feb 9, 2008

2008-02-10T12:18:00.001Z

Annie and I went to see the Swedish heavy metal band Dark Tranquillity (my choice) on Saturday night at the Barfly in Camden. This was our second time seeing them, the first being in May 2005 at BB Kings in New York.

The club has both an upstairs and a downstairs both of which are small. Dark Tranquillity played in the room upstairs. The room was roughly square with a bar at the back and no balcony. In total you could probably fit around 200 people in the club and the show appeared to be sold out. We stood in the very back for the show as to avoid any mayhem that may have broken out.

We missed the opening band OMNIUM GATHERUM, as when we exited dinner before the show Camden was on fire! We watched the fire in awe for about an hour and then headed into the club a few minutes before Dark Tranquillity took the stage. From listening to the clips OMINUM have on their myspace page, I'm confident we made the right choice in watching the fire instead!

Dark Tranquillity played a strong 75 minute set. They played several songs off of their latest album, "Fiction", as well as some older tracks such as: Wonders at Your Feet, Final Resistance, There In, Lost to Apathy, Punish My Heaven, and a few others I can't remember. The sound in the club was not the greatest but Dark Tranquillity still came off sounding good.

Singer Mikael Stanne is without a doubt the happiest man in all of heavy metal (which makes the shows more enjoyable for Annie, who isn't necessarily a fan of heavy metal). He was smiling throughout the show and must have thanked the crowd for being there at least 100 times. He was the same when we saw them in New York. It was good to feel appreciated after spending my hard earned cash to see them play. The exact opposite of how some acts seem to treat their fans.

Tickets for the show were 10 GBP plus 2.26 service charge from Ticketweb.

Overall Grade: A

Riverside Walk Guest House - York, UK

2008-02-10T12:13:00.003Z

Riverside Walk Guest House

2 nights (Friday and Saturday)
Room Type: Executive Double ensuite with river views
Price: 160 GBP (total, incl. tax)
Overall Grade: C

The view from our room.

The family that own and run this B&B are great. They were friendly and available if you needed anything but they did not pry too much into your life like some owners do.
The breakfast was perfect. A Full English breakfast was included in the rate, but while neither of us eat pork or eggs, we did not go hungry. They had loads more to choose from.
The B&B has a very pretty location along the River Ouse (despite the Yobs hanging around along the river) and is an easy walk from the train station.

The room was in definite need of an update. The carpet was worn and the sheets were well used. The ensuite bathroom was also in need of a good scrub.
The decor in the breakfast room was definitely dated. The faded pink walls looked as if they had been last painted in the 1960s.
While the canal side location provides pretty views, lots of youths hang out and drink along the river day and night, causing quite the disturbance.

York, UK - Sept 7 through Sept 9, 2007

2008-02-10T10:08:00.001Z

We visited the English city of York in September to see the famous York Minister Cathedral and the walled city (and the original version of our previous home, New York). We were originally meant to arrive Friday morning but I was forced to go into work, so we ended up arriving right around midnight instead. Despite the loss of a day in the city, we still had an enjoyable trip and were able to see all York had to offer.

3+

The York Minster is the star attraction in York and with good reason. The Cathedral is absolutely massive and the inside is beautiful with all of its stained glass windows. We opted for the ticket that allowed you access to the Cathedral, the Undercroft and the tower. The Undercroft tells the history of the Cathedral through an audio guided tour and houses old Roman walls and a broad range of jewelry and antiquities. The climb to the top of the Cathedral is definitely worth it as it provides beautiful views of both the Cathedral and the city of York. The Chapter House, off the main hall of the Cathedral, is definitely not to be missed as it is a room like nothing we had ever seen before, with an amazing ceiling and breathtaking stained glass windows. I would suggest arriving early, as by the time we left (around Noon) the place was packed!
The medieval city walls surrounding the old city make for a great afternoon walk. The walls are well preserved and provide an interesting perspective from which to view the town and the surrounding area.
The city is easily accessible from London via train (we left from King's Cross) and the train station is well located within York. You can easily spend a weekend without the burden of a car.

Lots of Yobs hanging around night and day.
The Shambles, while interesting, was overrun with tour groups from the coach buses making it almost impossible to move.
Expensive. The train tickets, hotel and food were all relatively expensive for the quality. For less money we could have taken a trip to the Continent. No wonder most English people I meet rarely holiday in their own country!

Overall Grade: B-

CyberCandy - Covent Garden, London

2008-02-03T15:09:00.001Z

While waiting to be seated at Wahaca Eddie and I wandered around Covent Garden with a stop in CyberCandy. This is a small store filled with mostly American candy and other goodies such as American sodas and cereals. There is a good selection there of some of our favorites: Nerds, Reese's pieces, Jelly Belly, Almond Joy. Of course you pay a premium for the candy, about 1 GBP for each piece, but it is worth it for us as we haven't seen these treats anywhere else. (We did discover a little bodega near our flat that sells a three pack of Reese's Peanut Butter cups for 99p, as compared to 97p at CyberCandy.) The Lucky Charms and packages of Oreos seem outrageously expensive at 5.99 GBP a box but people were buying multiple so I guess there is a demand. Overall, it is nice to know we can find our American candy at the store even if we have to pay more than we would in dollars in America.

Wahaca - Covent Garden, London

2008-02-02T23:21:00.001Z

This weekend Eddie and I ate at Wahaca in Covent Garden. It was my first time there and Eddie's second (he had an office Christmas lunch there). I really enjoyed it and Eddie liked it much better the second time around, most likely because he wasn't with a large group eating a set menu.

We were told the wait would be an hour but after wandering around Covent Garden for 30 minutes we came back and were surprised to be seated immediately by the really friendly host. Our waiter was also really friendly and paid the perfect amount of attention to us: not too much that it was overbearing but enough that we didn't feel ignored.

The concept of the restaurant is Mexican street (or market) food where you get multiple small dishes either for yourself or to share. It is kind of like tapas or mezes with Mexican food.

My selections included:

Agua Fresca - a flavored water that was really refreshing and good.
Chicken Taquitos - could have used more filling but still great.
Mushroom Quesadilla - a little blackened on the outside and not enough cheese, would have been better served with crème fraiche (or sour cream).
Green Rice - not my favorite, kind of bland, wouldn't order it again.

Eddie's were:

Tortilla soup - I tried this and regretted that I hadn't order the chicken version...I plan to on our next visit. They bring out the liquid part of the soup in a pitcher and the "fixings" in a bowl and then pour at the table for you. It was a nice touch but not done in a pretentious way.
Frijoles Tostadas - Eddie thought they were tasty but was not blown away by them.
Esquites - I also tried and really liked these, I only wish there had been more!

And to share:

Wahaca nuts - really good, but really spicy, even for Eddie who likes spicy food.
Churros y chocolate - the churros themselves were great but as a whole dish it wasn't as good as what we had at La Marina.

For all of the food above including a coke, beer and coffee we paid 34 GBP which we thought was great value for money.

Overall Wahaca has a great concept with lots of options (including several vegetarian options). The food is the best Mexican we have had in London, it is great value and the staff is really friendly. We would definitely recommend it and will definitely be going back.

ResCards!

2008-01-29T21:23:00.000Z

They have finally arrived, our Westminster Resident's Cards (ResCards)! A benefit of living in the City of Westminster is the FREE ResCard which gives you discounts on attractions, restaurants, classes, libraries, etc. The discounts apply mostly to places in London but there are some discounts available elsewhere in England and even in Scotland! The discounts vary from place to place with the best discounts at 20% off and then the not so special 50 p off.

We have specifically been holding off on going to St. Paul's so that we can get our 20% discount. If Eddie is fortunate enough to not have to work two weekends in a row we will try to visit St. Paul's this weekend. Some of the other discounts we are interested in include concessionary rates to special exhibits at the Tate Britain and National Portrait Gallery, 25% off the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall and discounts on CD, video game and DVD rentals from the Westminster libraries.

Applying for the cards was super easy to do online. First you have to create a City of Westminster account and then you can fill out an online form to apply. You get a confirmation number and a phone number to call in case you don't get your card within 10 days (ours took 11). During those 10 days they have to confirm if you truly do qualify as a Westminster resident, although they don't say specifically how they do that (Council Tax or utility bill maybe?).

In a city as expensive as London any discount is quite helpful and we look forward to using our cards!

Hotel de Orangerie - Bruges

2008-01-14T22:05:00.001Z

Hotel de Orangerie
Number of Nights: 2 (Saturday & Sunday)
Room Type: Standard Double Room
Price: 475 euros total for two nights (incl. tax, no breakfast)
Overall Grade: B

The Hotel de Orangerie covered in ivy.

The location of the hotel can't be beat. It has a beautiful canal side location in the middle of the old city. The hotel is a short walk from all of the tourist sites and is near all of the restaurants and shops of Bruges.
The hotel has a very nice patio with tables where you can enjoy tea or drinks right on the canal. When we arrived our room was unfortunately not ready but we enjoyed complimentary drinks on the patio while we waited.
While I would not rate the entire staff of the hotel as a plus, Glen was a standout. He showed us to our room and made sure we knew how to work everything in it: the TV, the Bose radio, the wall air conditioning unit, etc. He even explained the Pageant of the Golden Tree to us and made restaurant recommendations. It was a nice personal touch to our stay.

We were disappointed that the bathroom only had a shower, albeit a very fancy one. For the amount they charge for the room you would imagine there would be a bathtub to soak in, but unfortunately we had to settle for a shower stall only.
We were charged twice for our stay. We used a different card to pay when we checked out than we had used to hold the reservation when we booked online and they charged both of the cards. It took 3 or 4 phone calls to Belgium, and about 3 weeks, for us to get our money back.
While there was nothing completely wrong with the room we were disappointed that it was one of the three rooms on the ground floor. Our windows were directly next to the entrance of the hotel and although it wasn't noisy at all and you couldn't see in, we still wished that it could have been at least one floor up.

Bruges, Belgium - Aug 25 to Aug 27, 2007

2008-01-14T21:25:00.001Z

In order to have a complete record of our trips, we'll be posting about the trips we took before we started this blog. This is the first of several posts to come....

On our first trip out of the UK, Annie and I headed to Bruges, Belgium on August Bank Holiday weekend. We had hoped to take the Eurostar but by the time we got around to booking, it was ridiculously expensive, so we ended up flying into Brussels and then taking the train to Bruges.

Bruges is a very well preserved (and possibly somewhat restored) medieval city. One of the greatest pleasures in Bruges is wandering around along the canals and through the ancient streets admiring the beautiful buildings.
The Food. The Belgians know how to eat: chocolate, beer, waffles, chips (aka fries) and mussels. Annie is trying to plan another trip just for the food!
We were lucky enough to be in town for the Pageant of the Golden Tree. It is basically a large, elaborate parade that happens once every five years. From what we gathered it recounts a wedding that took place between the House of Flanders and the House of York several hundred years ago. If you are in town the parade is not to be (and cannot be!) missed!

Crowded. The city was packed with both tourists and locals. The crowds were no doubt magnified by the Pageant and the fact that it was Bank Holiday weekend in England. I'd bet every hotel room in the city was booked.
It is a major pain getting from Brussels airport to Bruges. We had to take take 2 trains and it is quite a hike from the train station to the center of Bruges.
We don't have a third minus for Bruges. It is an awesome city and is perfect for a weekend away.

Overall Grade: A+

The Hummingbird Bakery

2008-01-12T22:49:00.001Z

The Hummingbird Bakery

Treating ourselves after the Natural History Museum, we hit up the Hummingbird Bakery in South Kensington. They are famous for their cupcakes and for good reason! The red velvet cupcakes at Hummingbird are ridiculously good...far better than the cupcakes you can get at New York's famous cupcakes shops (Magnolia Bakery or Crumbs).
If you've yet to try them, do yourself a favor....shut down your computer and go now!!!

Natural History Museum, London

2008-01-12T20:07:00.001Z

Today, Annie and I visited the Natural History Museum in South Kensington for the first time.

To begin with, the building itself is extremely impressive. It looks like a combination of a cathedral and a classic train station (if that makes any sense!). There are countless engravings on the building (inside and out) of plants and animals. Even without the exhibits you could spend a good amount of time just admiring the museum building itself.

As for the exhibits, they were a bit overwhelming in number. I would not recommend trying to see the whole place in one visit, especially as it is crowded with families (if I had a kid, I think I'd be there everyday!). We wandered through most of the exhibits admiring the dinosaurs, lots of ancient "bling", a simulation of the Kobe earthquake, a very graphic exhibit on human biology and a cross-section of a Giant Sequoia that was cut down when they started the Panama Canal after having grown for approximately 1300 years!

We would highly recommend the museum. It is a great way to spend an afternoon and its free!

Overall Grade: A

The Rock Hotel - Gibraltar

2008-01-08T21:34:00.002Z

The Rock Hotel

Number of Nights: 1 (Monday)

Room Type: Junior Suite (we were upgraded from a Seaview Room with Balcony)

Price: 144 GBP total (incl. tax, no breakfast)

Overall grade: B+

3 Plus:

The room, bathroom and two balconies were huge. Our room had a loveseat, two club chairs, a king size bed and a desk. Even with all of the furniture you could have fit 6 people in the room comfortably.
The welcome drinks (sherry and scotch) in decanters,along with a personalized note in our room when we arrived were a nice touch.
The views from our balcony were gorgeous. We had a view overlooking the Bay of Gibraltar and we had a perfect view of all of the ships in the harbor. From the balcony we could see Gibraltar, Spain and even Africa!

3 Minus:

The entire hotel is in dire need of a refurbishment, starting with the front desk which reminded me of a customer service desk in a low level department store. It is not what you would expect in a four star hotel. The wallpaper was also ripped in several places and the paint was stained and peeling on the front of the hotel.
The lighting in the bedroom was very poor. There were no overhead lights, just lamps next to the bed and on the desk and given the massive size of the room this was insufficient. Sitting on the loveseat between the desk and bed you did not get enough light from any of the lamps in the room.
It is hard to complain about the two massive balconies adjoined to our room, but the severe lack of furniture struck both of us as a bit of a shame. Despite being roughly 10ft x 8ft each, there was only one small metal table and two chairs combined between the two balconies. The weather was gorgeous during our visit and would have loved to have made better use of the balconies if they had been better equipped.

Gibraltar - Dec 31 through Jan 1, 2008

2008-01-07T19:29:00.004Z

On New Year's Eve we left Cadiz on the 11:30 bus to La Linea. On our arrival to La Linea we crossed the border with Gibraltar (a UK overseas colony) on foot. It was the easiest border crossing we've ever had. We simply flashed our passports (they didn't even open them!) and walked through.

We didn't have high expectations for Gibraltar (which turned out to be a good thing!), we figured we would see the Rock and maybe watch some fireworks before we caught our flight out of Gibraltar airport back to London on January 1.

3 Plus:

The Rock of Gibraltar is the main attraction. The Rock is beautiful in its own right but also provides great views over the bay and is a place of historical significance. Surprisingly, there is a population of apes that live in the wild on the Rock. Be careful around them though, they might look cute but are known to be quite skilled thieves. One of them, jumped through the window of our minibus, just to steal a jar of peanuts!

Minibus tour of the Rock. We originally planned on taking the cable car up the Rock and then exploring on foot, but the cable car was shut for maintenance. Fortunately, there was a minibus parked in front of the shutdown cable car offering a guided tour for 15 euros per person (only a couple euros more than the cable car). We were a bit skeptical, but we didn't want to come to Gibraltar and not go up the Rock, so we went for it. Our decision turned out to be a good one. The ride was comfortable and our guide was very knowledgeable and taught us quite a bit we would not have known otherwise. Our guide even gave commentary in both English and Spanish.
Gibraltar is a curiosity. An odd hybrid of England/Spain that is worth experiencing for a day, but probably not much longer.

3 Minus:

Piccadilly Garden Bar. We had a terrible experience at this place. The staff was unbelievably rude and very unhelpful. In the end we just left without eating!
Unless you are interested in loading up on duty free perfume or cigarettes, there is not a whole lot of interest in Gibraltar other than the Rock. The whole place feels a bit rundown and tired.
I think the taxi driver who took us from our hotel to the airport on New Year's Day was still drunk from the night before. The taxi was filthy, smelled foul and he drove like an absolute maniac, all while barking a hybrid of English/Spanish into his cell phone. Needless to say we were happy, when the ride was over. The ride did have the benefit of making us a little less sad about the end of our vacation.

Overall Grade: D+

Arcos De La Frontera - December 29, 2007

2008-01-06T20:33:00.001Z

Wanting to see one of the famous White Towns of the Cadiz Province we took a day trip to Arcos De La Frontera on December 29. We took a bus out of Cadiz station which took about 1 hour 30 minutes and cost just over 5 euros each way.

3 Plus:

The town itself was unlike any other town we saw in Spain. Its dramatic hilltop location and whitewashed buildings make you wonder how the city was ever built. You can very easily spend a day just wandering the narrow streets of the city admiring the spectacular views of the surrounding country side, as well as exploring the many interesting buildings within the town.
St. Peter's Church. It is small and is in need of some repair but it turned out to be one of our favorite churches in Spain. It is well worth the 1 euro donation to enter.
There are a surprisingly large number of eating options in such a small town. We ate at Bar San Marcos (which is attached to the Hostal San Marcos) and had a great meal for under 15 euros for 2. In particular, their gazpacho was amazing!

3 Minus:

The bus station is in the new section of Arcos, down the hill, and they do not have any information in the bus station on how to get to the old part of town. Fortunately, we were directed by an old Spanish man to wait for the local bus, otherwise we might have ended up getting back on the next bus to Cadiz without having seen anything at all.
The bus station in Arcos is a dump! The station was covered in trash, the seats were filthy and the bathrooms were pretty much unusable. While in the station you basically had no choice but to throw your trash on the floor as the few trash cans that were in the station were filled well over capacity.
There is a dramatic 15th century castle high on a hilltop in Arcos that from the outside at least looks very impressive. Unfortunately, it is a private residence and not open to the public.

Overall Grade: B+

Hospederia Las Cortes de Cadiz

2008-01-05T22:55:00.001Z

Hospederia Las Cortes de Cadiz

Number of Nights: 3 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

Room Type: Double Room

Price: 288 Euros (total incl. room, tax, breakfast)

Overall grade: B-

3 Plus:

The hotel was well located in the old town within walking distance of both the train and bus stations. Tons of shopping and restaurants nearby.
Great value for money. Rate included breakfast, although not spectacular, it provided a good start to the day.
The front desk staff, specifically the guy who checked us out and chased us down the street with our credit card after we had forgotten it at check out.

3 Minus :

In the hotel you have a choice of either a room with a window overlooking the noisy, crowded street or a room with no exterior window. Note: We specifically requested a room with an exterior window when we reserved the room online. It was noisy, but we felt it was worth the extra light.
The beds were single beds on single bed frames that could not be pushed together. Eddie really disliked the linens on the bed as well, although they are what you would expect from a mid range hotel.
There was an ice cream bar wrapper under our bed when we arrived and it stayed there until we left. The room was clean overall but the oversight of the ice cream wrapper really annoyed me.

Cadiz - Dec 28 through Dec 31, 2007

2008-01-05T22:01:00.002Z

We arrived in Cadiz in the evening on December 28 and departed on December 31. Cadiz was certainly a bit grittier than Seville and took some time to adjust too, but we made the best of it and ended up having quite an enjoyable time in the city.

3 Plus:

Churros & Chocolate at La Marina in Plaza Topete (aka Plaza de las Flores). The churros and chocolate were cheap and some of the best we had in Spain. We had churros and chocolate and coffee all for only 3.30 euros. Be warned, they are closed on Sunday evenings, we learned this hard way, after being unable to get one last fix before our departure from Cadiz.
Both the bus and train stations were very close to the old town. We were able to walk to our hotel from the train station in about 15 minutes, while the bus station was about 10 minutes away. This came in handy as we had a day trip planned to Arcos De La Frontera and we needed to take the bus to La Linea when we left Cadiz.
The cathedral in Cadiz is in itself not one of the most spectacular I've seen, but its location makes it special. It is right on the Atlantic and the white cathedral with golden dome looks striking against the deep blue of the Atlantic.

3 Minus:

It is not really possible to get from the new town to the old town without taking the bus. This was annoying as a lot of the restaurants we wanted to try are in the new town, as are most of the best beaches.
We were definitely in the city during the off season. Most people who visit Cadiz do so during February for Carnival or during the summer months to make use of the beaches. While we had a great time exploring the city there are not a ton of impressive sites to see (like there are in Seville or Madrid).
The streets in the old town are almost always very crowded. It can feel claustrophobic at at times. I can't even imagine what it is like during Carnival or during the height of the summer.

Overall Grade: B

Hotel Alminar - Seville

2008-01-05T20:45:00.001Z

Hotel Alminar

Number of Nights: 2 (Wednesday and Thursday)

Room Type: Double Superior with Terrace

Price: 295 Euros total for 2 nights(room, tax, 5% discount b/c paid in cash)

Grade: B

3 Plus:

The location could not be beat. The Cathedral and Alcazar were at the end of our street, about a two minute walk away. There were also plenty of shops and restaurants nearby.
The view from our room and terrace was definitely worth the money. The room shares the roof with one other room and both have wooden tables and chairs to enjoy the view and weather.

The hotel offers a 5% discount if you pay in cash.

3 Minus:

The makeshift double/queen size bed - two singles pushed together with each single having their own set of linens. Not uncommon in European hotels but still annoying.
No lobby in the hotel, just a few small tables that were used for breakfast in the morning.
Breakfast not included in the room rate. It costs 6 euros to add, but we ended up just sourcing our breakfast elsewhere.

Seville - Dec 26 through Dec 28, 2007

2008-01-05T20:29:00.001Z

Continuing our Spanish adventure we left Cordoba on December 26 and headed to Seville where we would spend the next two nights.

3 Plus:

The Cathedral of Seville and the Alcazar. Both are phenomenal and must see sights on a visit to Seville. The Cathedral got its start as a mosque, but is now the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe. The scale of the place is just awesome. And, the Giralda tower begun in 1184 as part of the original mosque is one of he most striking features of the building and also provides excellent views of the city from the observatory at the top. The Alcazar in Seville provides some great examples of Moorish architecture and the Alcazar's gardens are one of the prettiest spots in all of Seville.

Orange trees in the courtyard of Seville Cathedral

The Artesania de Andalucia Christmas market. A great place to buy beautiful local handmade crafts.
The city is very walkable. Most of the city sites are in the pedestrian friendly city center, which has very few cars with the introduction of the new light rail metro system. One of the most enjoyable parts of staying in Seville is just wandering around on foot and discovering new things.

3 Minus:

There seems to be relatively few proper restaurants in Seville. Loads and loads of great tapas places but it was difficult for us to find a place to have a good, proper sit down meal.
A small complaint, but the free map given out by the tourist office is not the greatest. I am usually pretty proficient reading a map but got lost a few times in Seville given the fact that the street names on the map did not always match reality.
Seville's shopping district was very, very crowded when we were there. It reminded me of being back home in America going to Best Buy on Black Friday!

Overall Grade: A-

NH Amistad Cordoba - Cordoba

2008-01-05T14:36:00.001Z

NH Amistad Cordoba

Number of Nights: 2 (Monday and Tuesday)
Room Type: Standard Room
Price: 201 Euros (total)
Overall grade: B

3 Plus:

The location is extremely central to the main sites of Cordoba, including the Mezquita. It is located in the Juderia neighborhood which is famed for its charming narrow streets and is great for exploring.
The size of the room (and bathroom) was very large, comparable to what you would get in an American hotel chain (Hilton, Marriott, etc.). The room also had a lovely Juliette balcony with french doors overlooking the city walls and the back patio of the hotel.
The common spaces of the hotel were large, charming, varied and comfortable. You could sit outside in the central courtyard or in the back patio. There was also a large room inside with several comfortable seating areas near the bar and where breakfast was served.

3 Minus:

The biggest disappointment was that the hotel restaurant was not open on Christmas Eve. We specifically chose a large chain hotel in order to ensure that we would have food on Christmas Eve as we assumed no restaurants would be open (which turned out to be correct).
Breakfast was not included in the room rate and at 16 Euros was more than we would want to spend on breakfast.
Although the bathroom was large with a huge amount of free toiletries and a heated marble floor the shower leaked tremendously, not into the bathroom, but into the hallway between the bathroom and bedroom. It was only discovered when I slipped on it walking out of the bathroom. Fortunately I did not fall but it could be quite a dangerous situation.

Cordoba - Dec 24 through Dec 26, 2007

2008-01-04T20:16:00.001Z

On Christmas Eve we said Adios! to Madrid and Hola! to Cordoba.

Heading to Cordoba on Christmas Eve would turn out not to be the best of ideas but we still thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

3 Plus:

The Mezquita. The Mezquita is the main reason most people make the trip to Cordoba and it does not disappoint. It is striking both on the outside and inside. A former mosque with a cathedral built inside it is an almost surreal mix of styles. It is not often you see a Gothic cathedral built in the middle of a mosque.

The Juderia, or Jewish Quarter, now a World Heritage Site and where most of the attractions are located, is a maze of narrow streets full of character and interesting sites. Walking around at night, when all of the shops and restaurants are closed, you feel like you are back in the 13th century.
Christmas festivities. As in Madrid, Cordoba was covered in Christmas lights. On Christmas night we went to the Christmas Fair set up just past the Plaza Tendillas (in the new section of town) and browsed through the markets and had dinner from a local vendor selling "Monster" baked potatoes. They were both huge and delicious!

3 Minus:

Arriving on Christmas Eve was definitely a mistake. Absolutely nothing was open! We wandered around town for a couple of hours searching for food but ended up empty handed except for 3 oranges we pulled down from the thousands of orange trees growing in town (this was also a mistake as they tasted horrible!). We ended up resorting to Christmas dinner from the minibar.
A lot of the sites had signs with holiday hours indicating that they would be open on Christmas day, but when we showed up during these hours, most if not all were closed.
The train station is a bit of a hike from the city. Probably about 20 to 30 minutes depending on how fast you walk . If you have luggage you should probably get a taxi. Taxi to the train station is about 7.50 EUR.

Overall Grade: B

Roommate Alicia Hotel - Madrid

2008-01-02T21:04:00.001Z

Roommate Alicia Hotel

Number of Nights: 2 (Saturday and Sunday)

Room Type: Standard Room

Price: 235 Euros (total incl. tax and breakfast)

Overall Grade: B-

3 Plus:

Location. This hotel is ideally located off Plaza Santa Ana within walking distance of most everything that a tourist in Madrid would want to see: the three large art museums, the large plazas, the Retiro, etc. The hotel is easily accessed by the Sevilla metro stop and the Atocha train station is a 15-20 minute walk (down hill from the hotel). There are plenty of eating and drinking options nearby as well.
Large, yummy green apples in the room which were replaced daily.
Great value for money. The rate included a very reasonable breakfast in the adjoining restaurant.

3 Minus:

Lighting. The lighting in the room was to the point that it was almost impossible to read. We understand and appreciate the modern design of the hotel but feel as if the room still has to be functional, which it almost wasn't because of the lighting.
The shower. The first problem with the shower relates to the minus above, the lighting. The shower was done in dark grey/black tiles and was an oblong shape so when you were standing under the shower head you were basically standing in the dark. The other problem was the weird temperature cycle that the water went through. Basically it cycled through freezing cold to scalding hot in a matter of a minute or two so there were only short bursts where you could actually stand in the water.
Combination of no view and thin walls. The two windows in our room overlooked an air shaft in the back of the hotel. Luckily we were on the top floor though and could see the sky quite easily. The rooms that were below ours on the lower levels must have been completely lacking in any light, natural or artificial. The walls seemed more thin than your usual hotel. We would regularly hear our neighbor's conversations which unfortunately woke me up both mornings.

Madrid - Dec 22 through Dec 24, 2007

2008-01-01T18:28:00.001Z

Annie and I spent December 22 through January 1 in Spain, with Madrid being our first stop. We arrived in Madrid on December 22nd and left on December 24th and had a great time during our stay in the city. Our pluses and minuses are below:

3 Plus:

The Christmas decorations up in central Madrid were some of the best I've ever seen. It seemed liked almost every street was ablaze with lights. The Christmas atmosphere in the town was just amazing.

Madrid's museums are top-notch. During our stay we went to both the Prado and the Reina Sofia, taking advantage of the free admission times. At the Prado, El Bosco's "The Garden of Earthly Delights" and Francisco Goya's Majas were my favorites. The Reina Sofia has a lot of great Spanish art as well, but finally seeing "Guernica" after hearing about it in Spanish class for so long was the highlight for me, while Annie was impressed with all of the Dali. Note: During free admission time the line at the Prado can look a bit overwhelming but don't despair as it moves relatively quickly.
Strolling through the Retiro on the morning before we left Madrid made us both not want to leave. Despite the cold weather, we still enjoyed exploring all the park had to offer.

3 Minus:

I'm not sure if the cleaning staff was on strike while we were there, or if they just don't work on the weekends, but the Metro was filthy. The platforms and stations were completely covered in trash. I've been on a number of metro systems, but Madrid's is hands down the dirtiest I've seen. Despite the filth, we made good use of the system, as it is extensive and cheap.
This applies to all of Spain, but I'll post it for Madrid as this was the first city we visited. The fact that you can smoke in restaurants/bars/train stations/bus stations/pretty much wherever you want is really annoying (I'm surprised people weren't lighting up while admiring art in the Prado!). After living in New York and London both of which have smoking bans, there is nothing worse than going to a restaurant and being surrounded by smoke.
The Prado bookshop closing 15 minutes earlier than posted (and earlier than the rest of the museum) was a bit of a downer as we were really hoping to buy the book on the collection. Annie is still upset about this!

Overall Grade: A+

Frost Fair 2007

2007-12-16T17:54:00.001Z

Annie and I headed over to Bankside today to check out Frost Fair 2007. We were relatively unimpressed. While the vendors had interesting things to sell, there was not anything there you couldn't probably find at Spitalfields on a normal Sunday. They had a lot of activities for kids, but as we have none, we were left wanting a bit more. Also, the fact that the London Jazz Symphony weren't playing Christmas carols, really irked me.

Overall Grade: C+

Day trip to Canterbury, Kent - December 15, 2007

2007-12-16T15:57:00.003Z

Feeling the need to get out of London, Annie and I decided to take a day trip down to Canterbury in Kent. We wanted to see Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and hopefully some cool Christmas decor.

3 Plus:

Frequent and fast train service out of London Victoria to both Canterbury East and West.

Easy to walk around the city with lots of signs directing you to all of the major sights. It is pretty much impossible to get lost (this was not at all the case when we went to Dover!)

The Cathedral. While, it is not as impressive some other Cathedrals in the UK (e.g., St. Paul's or York Minster) the history surrounding it makes Canterbury Cathedral a must see.

3 Minus:

The host at Boho Cafe. Annie and I had been quite excited about trying this restaurant, but when we opened the door the host came running up saying "We are full!" and literally shut the door in Annie's face. I've never seen anything quite like it. We never made it in the door so I can't vouch for the food, but I would recommend anyone visiting Canterbury who does not want to be treated like trash avoid this place.

St. Augustine's Abbey being closed. Our own fault for not checking beforehand, but still a disappointment.

The numerous groups of teenagers hanging out drinking, smoking and making out in Dane John park.

Overall Grade: B-