Posts made in September, 2010

Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Cleo

Posted by Andrew on Sep 21, 2010 in London, England | 2 comments

So remember when we told most of you how excited we were to be visiting so many places without having rent a car and drive in a foreign land? Well forget about all that. Today we rented a car and drove to Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. It was quite the adventure. We started the morning around 8:30 am with of course TomTom coffee, orange juice and Poilâne croissants (our favorite). I had a brief issue with the order when they got two coffees and one orange juice instead of one coffee and two orange juices and then forgot to give me change for my 20, but that was resolved pretty quickly. Then we picked up our Renault Clio from the local Eurocar rental place. Once we climbed the million stairs to the parking garage and found our car we discovered…bum bum bum, it was a manual transmission. Not a big deal because Andrew loves to drive a stickshift, but since the driver sits on the right-hand side of the car, the stickshift was on the left and this complicated things a bit. Not to mention the driving on the other side of the road thing, the suicidal pedestrian thing, and the different traffic rules in general thing. At least the clutch was still on the right side. Andrew thought he would practice driving in the parking structure and it was one time around and then we were off…well, off after the brief misplacement of the ticket that would get us out of the parking structure that is. The GPS that we got with the car was a lifesaver, but it was still a quiet and very tense drive out of town. Once we got on the highway it was much better. We sill felt like we were on the wrong side of the road, but we got used to it quickly. Once we became comfortable enough to start having a conversation again we named our car Cleo because it’s a Renault Clio. At the time we were heading West out of town.

We decided to do Stonehenge first which is about a two-hour drive. The guidebooks warn you that it is right off the highway, but I only half believed them. When we rounded the final turn, we peaked over a small hill and there it was. You could probably throw a rock from the highway and hit it so the guidebooks really weren’t kidding. We parked Cleo and crossed the parking lot to the entrance. As part of your entrance fee they give you an audio tour on a headset which was just wonderful. It gave us the history of the site and why it is so special. Andrew got some fabulous pictures as the sun slipped in and out of the clouds for a very dramatic effect. We spent about an hour and a half enjoying the site before grabbing some lunch and gift shop items and heading back toward Windsor Castle.

About 40 minute from London we reached Windsor Castle which we had to drive by a few times until we figured out where to park. (Hey, it’s hard to navigate those weird streets.) We arrived at just the right time, they weren’t closed yet, but most of the tourists had already left for the day. In case you have never seen it, Windsor Castle looks just as you imagine a castle would. Large imposing gray walls made of stone, towers, moats, etc. It was pretty breathtaking. We saw Queen Mary’s amazing dollhouse with working plumbing, St. George’s chapel, and the state rooms where the kings and queens of distant past entertained guests. St. George’s Chapel is the place where many of the actual Kings and Queens of England’s past are interred. The roof and choir are amazingly detailed. It was a shame they didn’t allow photographs, but we understood why. The whole place was so beautiful. We made sure to leave early enough so we didn’t need to drive in the city at night as daytime driving is hard enough. When we finally returned the car we were so relieved that we didn’t kill anyone. We celebrated by eating delicious Italian with Mickey and visiting this really cool wine bar that is half in an underground cellar. We also spent some time walking around taking “night shots” which I thought was some exotic alcoholic beverage, but was actually just Andrew just walking around again at night taking photos. Tomorrow we have to get up really early to leave for France. Au revior, Chelsie and Andrew

Read More

Soho, Hyde Park, Indian Food, The Thames at Night

Posted by Andrew on Sep 19, 2010 in London, England | 2 comments

Today we did much less walking than we have the previous couple of days. We woke up early and had breakfast, orange juice and coffee at TomTom, but this time it wasn’t croissants. We had eggs benedict which was wonderful. We sat for a while at the little communal table before going back to Mickey and Cheryl’s flat where Andrew helped get some things ready for the move. Did I mention they are moving to a new place very soon? We have been trying to be as helpful as possible as we know it can’t be easy to have houseguests while you are trying to pack up. After that we took a cab to a tapas restaurant where Cheryl was meeting up with a few friends from San Francisco. They were very nice and lunch was excellent. I had sweet corn and blueberry fritters with chorizo and a salad of baby greens and Andrew had a specialty egg dish that was basically a poached egg sitting on top of some yogurt, drizzled with chili oil. We both enjoyed it very much. After lunch we headed off to do some shopping at John Lewis, a department store much like Macy’s in the States because Cheryl thought they might have some unique British branded items that weren’t too touristy. She was right. What a great selection. We ended up getting a few things there and then splitting with Mickey and Cheryl so we could do some more shopping. They pointed us to the Soho neighborhood with lots of ecclectic shops and fun stuff. If you have ever heard of Liberty of London, this is where they have their main store. It was great although we tried to go over one street where the mainstream shopping is (Banana Republic, Armani, Gucci, etc.) and the amount of people trying to navigate the sidewalks was insane. They were everywhere and we could hardly move. After that we decided we needed a little wide open space so we walked to the Barclay’s bikes and hopped on for a ride through Hyde Park. We saw the Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park where people can go to protest and speak their mind to anyone who will listen. After riding through the park and along the large lake that runs through the center called The Serpentine, we returned the bikes and got on the Tube as our dinner reservations were looming. Mickey booked us a reservation at a modern Indian restaurant with small plates called Imli. We showed up 20 minutes early and were seated right away. We took one look at the menu and immediately knew that we wanted a taste of everything so we ordered the tasting menu which consisted of six small courses plus dessert. The food was out of this world. It was the best meal here we have had so far and we both stuffed our faces like nobody’s business. We couldn’t even decide which courses we liked best as they were all phenomenal. And the fig and ginger ice cream that came as dessert was to die for. Just amazing. After we were nice and stuffed we hopped the Tube again to Big Ben and the Houses or Parliament because Andrew had been wanting to take some night shots. They came out wonderful as you can see below. Well, we’re once again pretty tired and calling it a night. Au revior, Chelsie and Andrew

Read More

Borough Market, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Jack the Ripper

Posted by Andrew on Sep 19, 2010 in London, England | 1 comment

Wow, today was busy! We started the morning at Borough Market in Southeast London, a farmer’s market of types with vendors selling everything from exotic meats to freshly-baked breads (and everything in between). The best part about it all was the fact that almost every vendor had samples you could try of their delicious offerings. Every booth had a specialty and some of the cheese shops were just amazing, many selling cheese from just one area of the world. One of the best things we found that Cheryl recommended was this little booth called Pate Moi which sells nothing but a delicious creamy pate made of a mix of beautiful woodsy mushrooms. I bought two containers in the hope that the American Customs Agents will be nice and let me keep them. I’m crossing my fingers already. We also bought some delicious caramel chocolate and a jar of a spicy pepper jam. Yum! Another highlight was an amazing french butter with crunchy sea salt. We supplemented all that sampling with croissants and coffee and that was basically breakfast and lunch for us.

Next it was on to Westminster Abbey which we missed the first day when we saw the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. (Westminster Abbey is literally next door.) Unfortunately when we got there, it was closed in preparation for a visit from the Pope. We were able to get some amazing photos however of the outside of the building which is just magnificent. There were people and news crews everywhere so we cut our visit short and hopped on the Tube to the Tower of London. The Tower of London, famous for the executions and torture of prisoners for centuries also houses the Crown Jewels which turned out to be both of our favorite part of the Tower. We got to see them up close and personal in all their sparkling glory, even the Royal Sceptre which holds The Great Star of Africa, the largest cut diamond in the world weighing in at over 530 carats. It was breathtaking! The only disappointment was that they didn’t allow photography, but we understood why. Also noteworthy were the modern exhibit on armor made for English kings and the display of torture implements.

At 7:30 we strolled over to the Tube station and met our tour guide Steve for the Jack the Ripper walk. What a fun and slightly morbid way to spend the evening. Our guide took us through dark alleyways and described, in grisly detail, each of the five murders. We were able to visit the location of three of them on the tour, even poor Mary Jane Kelly whose place of demise is now a lovely four story parking garage. Okay, so many of the places have been morphed into more modern buildings, but a few of the locations still looked similar to what they did in the late 1800s when the murders took place. He also spent some time describing a half dozen of the main suspects in the cases. Despite being tired from being on our feet all day, Steve kept us awake and entertained (except for Andrew’s brief nod off against the wall) with his riveting descriptions of the how the events unfolded. He was an excellent performer and we enjoyed it immensely. You would think that after all that, our adventures for the day would be over, but no. Steve, although a great tourguide, spent two hours walking us in what appeared to be circles and then left us somewhere completely different than (and a mile away from) where we started. It was now 9:30 p.m. and we already missed the closest Tube station (Steve’s directions weren’t the best) and just kept walking to a station we were familiar with. At the beginning of our walk, there were lots of people around filling up noisy pubs, but as we kept walking there were less and less people and the people that were around were more and more intoxicated. We were lucky enough to see only two people urinating in public. Thank goodness only one was facing us while doing so. In spite of the drunkards it still seemed pretty safe, as long as you could avoid being hit by a taxi. We finally got to Cheryl and Mickey’s place around 10:30 p.m. ready for bed. I am writing this in the morning because I again fell asleep with the laptop in my lap. Au revior for now, Chelsie and Andrew

Read More

Buckingham Palace and Harrods

Posted by Andrew on Sep 17, 2010 in London, England | 1 comment

Hi again! Today we had another early morning filled with croissants and cappuccino. I don’t typically drink coffee so I asked for orange juice and I was pleasantly surprised that the Barista at TomTom fresh squeezed my orange juice promptly and gave it to me in a little orange paper cup with tomtom hand-stamped diagonally on the side. It might have been the best orange juice I have ever tasted. After that we walked a few blocks to Buckingham Palace because we had tickets to see the State Rooms which are the rooms that invited guests of the palace use and the places where the Queen entertains. We were so lucky to see them because they are only open briefly once a year. You won’t see any pictures of us inside the Palace because we weren’t allowed to take any. We had a little bit of a scare when we went through security because they wanted to take the iPad that Mickey lent us and hold it until the end of the tour. I guess laptops are a security threat. I was reluctant to give it up because it’s not ours, but I really had no choice. I handed it over and got the equivalent of a coat check ticket for it. At the end of the tour I crossed my fingers that it would be waiting for us and it was. Phew, what a relief! That thing has been a lifesaver for us as it has an internet connection and the streets in London can be confusing. Buckingham Palace is breathtaking inside and out. The audio tour they gave each of us was good and told us about the rooms, what was in them, and how they are used. The entrance staircase and the ballroom were my favorite parts. They also had a really good special exhibit on the Queen since 2010 is apparently the Year of the Queen. Some of the gowns the Queen wore for past occasions were on display and they were just stunning.

After finishing the tour we walked along Green Park towards Harrods, the infamous London department store. People have told me how big it is before, but nothing, absolutely nothing prepares you for that kind of experience. It was room upon room upon room of high-end shoes, gowns, handbags, perfume, coats, scarves, musical instruments, furniture, lighting, entertainment, chocolates, toys, couture for children etc. etc. etc. They also had a pet boutique that was at least 5,000 square feet of nothing, but high-end pet gear. Nothing chintzy about it. This was the Prada of dog boutiques. We bought the Pugs a robot plush. It was the only non-consumable item we purchased there. I think we were overwhelmed more than anything else. I would have shopped for clothes, but I was almost in a trance wandering around because there was too much to look at. There was even an opera singer complete with red couture gown singing in the escalator corridor. All that and I haven’t even begun to describe the best part of all…the food area. I believe they called it Food Hall and it really was as big as a large hall if you add up all the rooms. They had a whole room of nothing but chocolates, another of candy and pastries, another of fresh seafood and meats, one more with prepared foods, yet another of dairy and cheese and another of just fruits and vegetables, not to mention the wine cellar and all the restaurants sprinkled around. And these aren’t just any meats/seafood/fruits/veggies. These are the cream of the crop, just butchered/caught/picked from the farm hours ago foods. This place makes the two-story Whole Foods in Pasadena (which I still love, by the way) look like a Seven-Eleven. We were lucky enough to go during their British Food Festival where all the best England has to offer was on display. I had a wonderful English mushroom, goat cheese, and spinach lasagna with homemade pasta and Andrew had a Sicilian pizza with spicy salami. And on top of that, the guy that made our pizza sang to everyone in Italian every few minutes. Just amazing. All-in-all we were in there over 2 hours. When we left our heads were spinning. After that we walked about a mile back to Mickey and Cheryl’s flat. Tonight I think we are going to eat in. Mickey wants to use the BBQ one last time before they move as the new flat doesn’t have any outdoor space. Tomorrow Mickey and Cheryl are taking us to a large farmer’s market type of thing and we are really looking forward to that. Oh, and one more thing…we’ve been walking about 10 miles a day and it looks like that is a trend that will continue. Hope you are all well back at home. Miss you all. Au revior, Chelsie and Andrew

Read More